I saw this shrug and knew I had to make it for the upcoming Tori Amos show in Chicago. So, my deadline is December 10th!

This is my first project I’ve had to do so much straight purling. That’s really wearing me down and I think it’s taking me longer than it should to tackle the shrug. (=_=) I got side-tracked with Thanksgiving, but I’m fighting hard to get it done by the concert.

I’ve royally messed up the edges. Normally I slip a stitch at the beginning of the row and so far have never had a problem. This time the edges are all messed up. I think this calls for a crocheted edging once the shrug is completed.

Update 12/7

Hooray! Finally finished. (^=^) Just in time for the concert Saturday.

So. Much. Purling. (@_@)

Here are my row counts for the shrug.

I started with the sized Large cast on number. I did 24 rows of 2x2 rib. I placed the sleeve marker at ST row 28 (does not include the 24 rows in rib) and the midpoint marker at 70. There are a total of 140 ST rows. My tension was a little tight, but I had a little over 14” at the midpoint, including the rib. I finished with another 28 rows of 2x2 rib.

Note: The large calls for 16” at the midpoint, but I thought the shrug would hang too low…and I was running out of time. Turned out to be the right length, although I think the ribbing is too wide for me. Maybe 3” of ribbing would have been better.

I decided to crochet the seams together with slip stitch. I have not decided yet if I will add a crocheted border to the sleeve opening. I probably will in the future because it looks a little wonky, but I am swamped right now with Christmas projects.

This pattern is very, very simple, but difficult for those like me with short attention spans. (=_=)