Valley Yarns Sunrise Shrug Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Sunrise Shrug

What is Being Made

The Sunrise Shrug is a stylish, versatile garment designed to coordinate with the Sunrise tank top. This intermediate-level knitting project features straight, simple sleeves that are knit in the round and joined together at the back, creating a shrug silhouette suitable for both dressy and casual occasions. The finished shrug offers an arm circumference of 12 or 14 inches, depending on the size chosen, and provides the soft, lovely drape characteristic of the yarn used.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs two primary knitting techniques. The sleeves are worked in the round using double pointed needles, which allows for seamless construction and continuous circular knitting. The back section transitions to flat knitting in rows, where stitches are cast on between the sleeves to create the back panel. The two completed sleeves are then joined together using the Kitchener stitch, a grafting technique that creates an invisible seam by weaving live stitches from both pieces together.

Stitches Used

The Sunrise Shrug features a lace pattern as its primary stitch work. The lace pattern repeats over four rounds and incorporates several fundamental knitting stitches and techniques:

• Yarn overs (yo) — loops created by wrapping yarn around the needle to add stitches and create the openwork characteristic of lace
• Knit stitches (k) — the basic knit stitch used throughout the pattern
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk) — a left-slanting decrease worked by slipping two stitches individually as if to knit, then inserting the left needle tip through both and knitting them together
• Knit two together (k2tog) — a right-slanting decrease that combines two stitches into one
• Purl stitches — used in the edge stitches and transition rows

The lace pattern alternates knit rounds with plain knit rounds, creating a balanced, open-work design that contributes to the garment's elegant drape.

Materials and Gauge

The Sunrise Shrug is worked in Valley Yarns Southwick yarn in the colorway Flamingo (color 07). The pattern requires 5 skeins for the smaller size or 6 skeins for the larger size. Construction uses size 5 double pointed needles, or the size needed to achieve proper gauge. The recommended gauge is 4.5 stitches per inch in the lace pattern when slightly stretched on size 5 needles. Achieving the correct gauge is essential for obtaining the desired finished measurements and proper drape of the garment.