One of the things I miss most about living in Washington DC (we moved a whopping 8 miles away across the border to northern Virginia) is my friend Mary Beth and her daughters, Brynna and Rory, who lived 2 blocks away and often accompanied us to the playground. Luckily they still come to visit us!
Brynna and Rory are my son's "unofficial sisters" and watching the three of them interact has been both hilarious and heartwarming. These two boisterous girls that I see running around like maniacs at the playground, jumping from the top of the slide and performing daredevil tricks are so calm and gentle around my 2-year-old. They hug and snuggle with him like he’s a little bird, treating him with the love and care that only an older sister can. He adores both them and the attention they shower on him, the little flirt!
No stranger to handmade clothing, Brynna and Rory’s mom is a talented sewer and a great knitter. With Brynna in mind, I grabbed some of Cascade’s super soft Sateen yarn and casted on a shrug for this little spitfire of a young woman whom my son has a crush on.
The best thing about Sateen is the softness and sheen. Unlike silk or bamboo yarn, I had no issues with splitting and it ran easily though my fingers, making it a pleasure to knit with. It’s machine washable and dryable (a MUST for an active 7-year old), comes in almost 35 colors (a shade for every picky kid out there!) and has hefty yardage at 301 yards a skein! Being a knitting mom on a budget, throw a machine washable yarn with 301 yards a skein my way and I’m a happy lady!
I don’t normally reach for a variegated yarn, but the ones offered in Sateen have quite a few subtle ones, which mean the lace pattern I knit up didn’t get lost in the colors. With so many color options you can knit one for all the girls in your life in their preferred color so they’ll actually wear it!
Knit in a rectangle starting and ending with ribbing, the rectangle is then tipped horizontally and seamed at the ribbing to create sleeves. Not only is this shrug adorable, but it’s simple to knit and easy to size up or down. For a bigger kid, knit a few more lace reps (measure the “wingspan” of her shoulders from end to end, add a couple of inches and that should be your lace portion not including the ribbing). You can also omit a few reps to make it smaller. The finished shrug is stretchy enough that it can be worn for multiple seasons and won’t be outgrown right away.
How cute would this be for grade school graduation or to wear to a summer wedding?
Free pattern available for download here.