Pattern for the Faux Fur Shrug

The shrug you see pictured here is slightly different from the pattern.  Mine is too loose and bulky in the sleeves, so I wrote the pattern with a little more sleeve shaping.

Materials:  8 balls of any fake fur yarn that you like (approx. 700 yards).  Straight or circular (24" or longer) needles, size 10 (for the flat knitting); circular size 10 in 16" for the sleeve knitting.  If you prefer, you can knit the whole thing flat and seam up the sleeves when done.

Notes

I used the following yarns in the test shrug.  They all came from Wool Needlework (www.woolneedlework.com).

All of these yarns have sparkle to them.  Of these, Stars is clearly the softest, but the furry parts are shorter than the other yarns, making it seem more like fur, and less like a fur yarn.  I only used the Stars yarn for the collar and cuffs, where it would be near my skin.  For pattern purposes I'll assume you will use Stars for those areas, also, but of course, you can use any fake fur yarn.

I think this would look very nice knitted up in all one color that actually occurs in nature!  Sizzle Bright, Smash Irisee and Brazilia Lame are all approximately the same yarn, except that the Brazilia Lame is more than half sparkly, whereas the other two are about 20% sparkly.

It has been noted by many knitters that when using eyelash or fake fur yarns, the 'furry bits' generally end up on the purl side of the work.  For this reason, the shrug is knitted mostly in garter stitch, for an even fur distribution.  Cuffs are knitted for an inch (for a soft feel on your arm) and then purled for an inch (for a pouffier fur effect on the rest of the cuff).

Instructions

With 16" circular needle, cast on 45 stitches using Stars.  Place marker.  Join, being careful not to twist.  Knit 4 rounds.

On row 5, increase as follows:  *k2, knit into the front and back of next stitch,* repeat around row.  [60 sts]

Rows 6-10:  Purl.

 

Switch to yarn for the body (if you are changing).  From here on, the pattern is simply knitting in garter stitch, which means you will have to alternate purl and knit rows if you are working in the round.  If you are working flat, just knit every row.

 

Work the first row of the new yarn [row 7]. 

On row 8, increase as follows:  *k3, knit into the front and back of next stitch,* repeat around.  [80 stitches]

 

The shrug remains at a constant 80 stitches until the decreases for the opposite sleeve are started.

 

Work 30 rows in garter stitch [row 38].  If you are knitting in the round, stop here, and switch needles to your main body needle for working back and forth.  If you are knitting flat and seaming later, just keep going.

 

Work 90 rows [row 128].  If you are knitting flat, just keep going; if knitting in the round, switch back to your smaller circular needle for the sleeves.  Place marker and join.

 

Work 30 rows [row 158].

On row 159, decrease as follows:  *k3, k3tog,* repeat around row.

Row 160: purl.

Row 161:  switch to cuff yarn if you are using different yarns. If not, just keep going.  Knit.

Rows 162-166:  purl.

Row 167:  decrease as follows:  *k2, k2tog,* repeat around row.

Rows 168-171:  Knit.

Row 172:  Bind off.  Weave in any ends (boy, is fake fur forgiving for THIS part!) 

 

Collar:  Pick up 40 stitches along the center top of your shrug.  Make sure you pick them up from the INSIDE of the shrug - so that the join, and any color change, is hidden beneath the 'flap' of the collar when worn.  You wouldn't want a line of knit/purl color changes showing behind your neck, would you?

 

Work 16 garter stitch rows, increasing 1 stitch each edge, every row.  Bind off.  Weave in ends.

 

Voila!

 

Send me a picture of your shrug!  I'll put it in a gallery.