I’m new to crochet and making the Easy Crochet Shawl by Maisie and Ruth (free pattern with YouTube tutorial). The YouTube video uses a #2 fine yarn with a 3 ½ - 4 mm hook. The maker says you can use any weight yarn.
I’m using Bag-O-Day Tonal Hues yarn-#4 worsted weight. The gauge calls for a 5 mm hook, but I decided to use a 4 ½ mm because I wanted the shawl to be a little more dense. I think I’m about 17 rows in and the shape is definitely wrong; its depth is too short compared with the width. If I continue, it will be extremely wide but not long enough. Is this because I used a smaller hook? If I use a 5 mm hook will that fix the dimension issue? I don’t know how to swatch when using a pattern. (I’m not sure if the picture shows accurately the proportion problem.)