157 Sunrise Shrug - Free Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Southwick

157 Sunrise Shrug – Free Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Southwick

The Sunrise Shrug (Pattern #157) is a women's knitted shrug designed by Kirsten Hipsky and published as a free downloadable PDF pattern. It is specifically designed to coordinate with the Sunrise Tank, making it an ideal layering piece for a complete, cohesive outfit. The shrug features stylishly simple sleeves worked in the round and joined together at the back using the Kitchener stitch graft, creating a seamless, polished finish. Suitable for both dressy and casual occasions, this pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is an excellent project for knitters ready to explore lace knitting in the round.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a women's shrug — a minimal, open-front garment that covers the arms and upper back while leaving the front of the torso largely open. The Sunrise Shrug is designed with straight, elegant sleeves that are knit in the round and then joined at the back. The result is a lightweight, draped layering piece with a soft, flowing silhouette. It is available in two sizes based on arm circumference: 12 and 14 inches.

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round: The sleeves are worked entirely in the round using double pointed needles, creating a seamless tube with no side seams to sew up.
• Lace knitting: A four-row lace repeat forms the primary stitch pattern, incorporating yarn overs and paired decreases to create an open, decorative fabric with excellent drape.
• Kitchener stitch (grafting): Once both sleeves are complete, they are joined at the back using the Kitchener stitch, a technique that invisibly grafts two sets of live stitches together for a smooth, seamless join.
• Blocking: The pattern instructs knitters to block the finished shrug to desired measurements, which is especially important for lace knitting to open up the stitch pattern and achieve the correct drape and dimensions.

Stitch Pattern

The Sunrise lace pattern is worked over a four-row repeat. The right-side rows feature a combination of yarn overs (yo), ssk (a left-slanting decrease), and k2tog (a right-slanting decrease), which work together to create the signature lace motif while maintaining a consistent stitch count. Wrong-side rows are worked with a simple purl across, flanked by knit stitches at each edge for a neat border. The lace pattern is described as giving the fabric a soft, lovely drape — a quality well-suited to the Valley Yarns Southwick yarn used.

Stitches Used

• Knit (k) and purl (p) — the foundational stitches of the pattern
• Yarn over (yo) — creates the open eyelets characteristic of lace fabric
• Ssk (slip, slip, knit) — a left-leaning decrease: slip two stitches individually as if to knit, then insert the left-hand needle tip through both and knit them together
• K2tog (knit two together) — a right-leaning decrease that pairs with ssk to keep the lace pattern balanced
• Kitchener stitch — used at finishing to graft the two sleeves together at the back

Materials

• Yarn: Valley Yarns Southwick in color 07 Flamingo — a DK weight yarn known for its soft hand and beautiful drape, making it ideal for lace shrugs and layering garments
• Quantity: 5 skeins for the smaller size (12-inch arm circumference) or 6 skeins for the larger size (14-inch arm circumference)
• Needles: Size 5 double pointed needles, or the size needed to obtain gauge
• Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch in the lace pattern, slightly stretched, on size 5 needles