Chiaroscuro Wrap
Our Chiaroscuro Wrap ambles through the value scale, confirming what we knew all along, that without shadow, there is no light!
In simple seed stitch flowing from color to color, our Chiaroscuro Wrap is as if a light has cast its long shadow across a winter wood… Absolutely gorgeous!
This drift through nature’s subtleties? It is the work of our newest yarn, Cygnet. An exquisite blend of 70% undyed white cashmere and 30% natural-color baby alpaca, Cygnet’s four delicate shades span a range of soft gray-browns, like a little bevy of baby swans!
Knitting up at a fingering weight, Cygnet is nice and light but also as toasty as can be with its one-two cashmere-alpaca punch! We love the warmth, the softness, and the drape, but most of all, we love the natural beauty.
Special for this holiday season, our Chiaroscuro Wrap Gift Bundle includes enough Cygnet for either the scarf or wrap version of this pattern, plus a postcard with a link to this page and a Purl Soho tote… For all the knitters in your life who appreciate a trip from the shadows into the light!
If you love the yarn used in this project, you’ll love all of our other yarn, too! Explore our 35+ lovingly created yarn collections, in nearly every natural fiber and spectacular color you can imagine… Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn shop!
Share your progress + connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoChiaroscuroWrap, and #PurlSohoCygnet. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Update: Five-Shade Chiaroscuro Wrap
September 22, 2021
We’ve updated our original Four-Shade Chiaroscuro Wrap to include the newest addition to the undyed beauty of our Cygnet, a mix of 70% undyed white cashmere and 30% natural-color alpaca. We love how Rock Salt adds to the beauty of this Wrap. To see the newest addition to these stunning Wraps, click here!
Materials
Our Chiaroscuro Wrap Gift Bundle includes…
- 4 (8) skeins of Purl Soho’s Cygnet, 70% undyed white cashmere and 30% undyed alpaca. Each skein of this fingering weight yarn is 164 yards/ 50 grams; approximately 164 (328) yards required per color.
- Color A: 1 (2) skein(s) of Heirloom White
- Color B: 1 (2) skein(s) of Silver Stone
- Color C: 1 (2) skein(s) of Weathered Gray
- Color D: 1 (2) skein(s) of Ash Bark
- A postcard with a link to this free pattern
- A Purl Soho canvas tote bag
You’ll also need…
- US 2 (3 mm) straight or 24-inch circular needles
Gauge
30 stitches and 51 rows = 4 inches in seed stitch
Sizes
Scarf (Wrap)
Finished Dimensions: 7 (14) inches wide x 69 inches long
Sample: The piece shown here is the Wrap size.
Note
This pattern works over any odd number of stitches.
Pattern
With Color A, cast on 53 (105) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Row 1: *K1, p1, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.
Repeat Row 1 until you have used as much of Color A as you can, ending at the end of a row and approximately 17 inches from cast-on edge.
Switch to Color B and repeat Row 1 until you have used as much of Color B as you can, ending on the same side you ended Color A.
Repeat with Colors C and D, making sure to always switch colors on the same side. For Color D, end with a couple yards left over for binding off.
Bind-Off Row: K1, *p1, pass first stitch over, k1, pass first stitch over, repeat from * to end of row.
Cut yarn and pull through remaining stitch.
Weave in the ends and gently wet block.
LEARN ABOUT CYGNET + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Our Cygnet yarn makes this project extra special. A fingering-weight yarn in an exquisite blend of 70% undyed white cashmere and 30% natural-color baby alpaca, Cygnet’s five straight-from-nature shades span a range of soft gray-browns, like a bevy of baby swans! You will love the warmth, the softness, and the drape, but most of all, you will love the natural beauty.
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of free Cygnet knitting patterns and cast on!
More Fingering-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of fingering-weight yarn
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fibers
- Shop cashmere yarn
- Shop alpaca yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Do you think by changing the needle size and gauge you could use good wool? I love the yarn you’ve used but not sure I could afford it even though it would be much softer. Thank you.
Hi Jennyfer,
Thanks for reaching out! You could certainly use Good Wool to achieve a very similar look since both yarns are undyed and come in a similar offering of colors! I would recommend working a little swatch in the stitch pattern with Good Wool and an appropriate needle size and then you can adjust the cast on from there!
I hope this helps, happy knitting!
Gianna
Hello,
The Cygnet Wrap is stunning in its simplicity, however, I have a love, hate relationship with the seed stitch because my fingers some times ache. What would be your recommendation for another stitch that is simple that would work because the yarn is the show piece of this wrap. In addition, I would also like to do a second one using another Purl Soho yarn, what would be your recommendations? Thank you!
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for reaching out! I totally understand that! A simple garter stitch would look beautiful in the yarn or even a mistake rib stitch (you can find the pattern for how to work a mistake rib stitch in our Mistake Rib Scarf Story!)
Cygnet is a fingering weight so any of our other fingering weight yarns would work perfectly! I would recommend Posy, Linen Quill or Line Weight! Since these are different yarns I do recommend working a gauge swatch with whichever you decide on to insure you are consistent with the pattern!
I hope this helps, happy knitting!
Gianna
Hello, How to unravel the yarn. Do you leave as is or roll into a ball. I did roll into a ball what a mess What is the best way to unravel this yarn
Hi Carol,
Thanks for reaching out! If you leave it as is in skein form it is very difficult to knit with and can table very easily. We always recommend winding your skein into a ball before you start knitting, our Winding a Skein into a Ball tutorial is a great resource to use and shows you the best way to wind by hand without difficulty!
I hope this helps, happy knitting!
Gianna
Just making sure that the picture is the wrap, not the scarf.
Hi Emmy,
Thanks for reaching out! Yes that is correct, the photos show the wrap size!
All the best,
Gianna
I made this wrap as a gift for my daughter. It is a beautiful finished item. The wrap is warm and so light on the shoulders. It is not a quick knit but well worth the effort and the yarn is divine.
I ordered this kit, but I must have ordered the scarf not the wrap. Can I order the extra yarn needed for the wrap?
Hi Beverley,
Thanks for reaching out! Yes you can certainly order more yarn for the wrap size! If you need assistance with this, please email our team at [email protected]!
Warmly,
Gianna
I have a US 19 – 15 mm circular needles – will they work with this pattern?
Hi Fiona,
Thanks for reaching out! a US 19 would be way too big to use for this project, we wrote this pattern using a US 2 24-inch circular or straight needles since Cygnet is a fingering weight yarn!
I hope this clarifies things!
Warmly,
Gianna
Thank you! It helps a lot!
best,
Fiona
I purchased before Christmas the chiaroscuro scarf but the Wrap instructions were included with my purchase, not the scarf pattern. I only received yarn for the scarf. How do I find the scarf pattern
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for reaching out! Both the scarf and wrap instruction are included in the one pattern. For the scarf size you will follow the instructions outside of the parenthesis and if you were making the wrap size then you would follow the instructions inside the parentheses. For example the beginning of the pattern starts with “Color A, cast on 53 (105) stitches” you will cast on 53 stitches and then follow the pattern as written.
I hope this clarifies things!
Warmly,
Gianna
I love the cygnet yarn! I’d like to make a wrap wider than 14″ – so I can wrap it around my shoulders, and maybe a more interesting stitch than the k1p1 pattern here. Are there other patterns that would work with this yarn?
Hi Laura,
Thanks for reaching out! You can find out full selection of fingering weight wraps here! We have some great options that use a variety of stitch patterns, and they are all written for fingering weight yarns so Cygnet should work great with any of these! I do recommend working a gauge swatch in the stitch pattern of whichever pattern you choose prior to beginning to insure you are consistent with the pattern.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!
Warmly,
Gianna
How can I cast on 53 (105) stitches and end up with 69″ on both the scarf and the wrap? Or will I end up with extra yarn on the scarf at 69″
Hi Colby,
Thanks for reaching out. The wrap uses 2 skeins of each shade, while the scarf uses only 1! I hope this helps clarify things.
All the best,
Lili
Hi want a scarf that is apox 10-12″ wide. How many stitches should the cast on be?
I understand the length will be less if I do this. Thank you!!
Hi Connie,
Thanks for writing in! For a 10-inch wide scarf, you would need to cast on 75 stitches, and for a 12-inch wide scarf, you would need to cast on 89 stitches. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
I have 2 skeins of season alpaca dove gray and 2 skeins of mulberry merino toasted charcoal. Could I use these and what 2 colors and kinda of yarn would i add?
Hi Carol,
You can absolutely make this pattern with the yarn you have! I’d recommend using Season Alpaca in Gray Coast and Heirloom white to round out the gradient.
All the best,
Lili