IMPORTANT!
Now that I have worn this shrug for a while, I have to mention that it might stretch quite a bit, depending on the yarn used. Mine did, so it is now a bit too large for me (I’m considered “petite”, at 5’3”). Please take this into account. You might want to either use a finer yarn and smaller needles or to make one less pattern repeat on each side of the back part as well as on the width (casting on 12 stitches less than indicated in the pattern).

My ex-mother-in-law had woven a similar garment for me and I wore it for years to read in bed, until it started to fall into pieces.

I searched for patterns to knit myself another one, but most patterns either seemed too complicated for the beginner that I am, or their back part was too narrow and covered only the shoulders and a small portion of the back.

I wanted something warm and cozy that didn’t have a bumpy seam in the back, so at first, I thought that I would make it in a single piece. However, after knitting the first sleeve, I realized that the pattern’s direction was not reversible (up and down) and both sleeves would not look the same. So I decided to make two pieces and join them with a flat and almost invisible seam in the back, hence the Kitchener grafting method.

I used the Lion Brand’s Pound of Love yarn, because it was a test and I wanted something easy to wash.

This is my first knitting pattern, and although the instructions seem clear enough to me, I’m sure that there are a lot of things that could be improved, so all suggestions and comments are totally welcome!

I’m very happy with the result and I will certainly try to make another one with a reversible pattern, knit entirely in one piece!