Saugerties Shrug - Cast On!

Yesterday I received an inquiry from a fellow Raveler, apologizing for stash stalking and asking if I might be willing to part with a skein of my Plucky Knitting Scholar Worsted yarn in Bisque (the lighter color) as she had a sweater knit in that yarn and colorway with a sleeve in need of repair.  I had purchased this yarn back in 2016 as a kit from Plucky Knitter to make the Saugerties Shrug, so obviously I could not just send her off a skein if I ever wanted to knit that pattern.  Instead I offered to knit the pattern up and send her any leftovers.  So yesterday afternoon I pulled the yarn out of my stash, caked it up and cast on.  The darker color is Attaché.

I did not do a gauge swatch, after all, this is a shrug, and unless my gauge is way off it will still be wearable.  The needle sizes recommended for the pattern are US 6 (4 mm) for the edging and US 9 (5.5 mm) for the main body.  It should be noted that there is no recommended needle size on the skein band.  I went with my trusty method of comparing the double width of the yarn with the diameter of potential needles sizes and decided a US 6 would be too tight and a US 9 would be too loose, so I went with a US 7 (4.5 mm) for the edging and a US 8 (5.0 mm) for the main body.  My gauge is a little bit tighter than what the pattern calls for, but I’m good with it.  I like the fabric.  The pattern calls for 15” width of the folded fabric and mine looks to be about 12.5 inches.  Definitely smaller, but I’m petite, so it will fit me just fine.

I had forgotten how much fun colorwork in the round is, and the pattern is very easy.  The longest run of a color is 5 stitches, so I’m not bothering to catch my floats.  I’m almost done with the colorwork on the left sleeve, then there will be a long boring stretch of working single color back and forth on the body until I get the right length, then more fun colorwork on the right sleeve.  It should work up quickly.  I weighed all of my skeins before I cast on.  I try to do this so I can keep an accurate record of my yarn usage, and I’m very glad that I did as all of my skeins are underweight.  According to the yarn information on Ravelry the skeins are supposed to weigh 115 grams, but most of mine are coming in a little over 100 grams.  I have one skein that came in at close to the called for weight.  The pattern calls for approximately 363 yards of C1 (Attaché) and 910 yards of C2 (Bisque).  Based on the weights of my skeins I have approximately 456 yards of C1 and 933 yards of C2.  We’ll see how my yarn usage works out given my tighter gauge.

Pattern:  Saugerties Shrug by Jill Zielinski

Yarn:  Plucky Knitter Scholar Worsted in Bisque and Attaché 

Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 8 (5.0 mm)