Scrappy shrug recipe / tutorial

Scrappy shrug in recycled yarns: angora, wool, mohair, linen, handspun and handdyed wool, acrylic, cotton. Make your own with my little recipe!

This tutorial is more like a recipe; I am an intuitive, non-pattern-following knitter, so my attempts at pattern-writing are always a bit vague. This shrug is supposed to be a bit slouchy, and yours will still look great if it comes out a bit bigger or smaller. I got my original inspiration from the Baggy Bolero at Pickles; they do a much better job than I at explaining how-to!


I used my favorite circulars: size 15 and 19. This will seem huge to most knitters but this is how you achieve the loose, lacy effect. Big needles = super fast!

Gather your favorite scraps of yarn. (I never throw mine away! Even very short lengths of a beautiful handspun or brightly dyed yarn will stand out.) Make sure you have both bulkier and thinner yarns for the lacy effect of my shrug.


I (loosely) cast on about 24 sts with my smaller needles (size 15). The idea is basically to start with a small circle for the armhole, increase a lot until the circle is large, then cast off and do the whole thing again for the other arm. You finish by sewing up the back.

I knit in the round for about 5 inches, increasing about 10 sts in this section (I used yarn overs, but you can use whichever increase method you like). I switched yarns whenever I felt like it, and added random garter ridges for texture. Again, whichever stitch you want to use is fine!

After about 5 inches, I switched to the size 19s. I knit for about another 5 inches, increasing to about 60 sts total. You can try on your circle as you knit for guidance on how slouchy/fitted it will be! Keep in mind that most yarns will "grow" a bit after washing, so you can keep it on the smaller side as you knit.

Cast off loosely when you like the size of your big circle, then make another one in the same size. I kept good notes about how many stitches I actually increased in each round so I could do the same on my second circle.
Sew up the back (as much as you want!) and you are ready to show off!

Should I add a button? What color?