Big Beautiful Hug Wrap
Give the best hug ever with our Big Beautiful Hug Wrap pattern! Cast on with our fabulously curly, 100% alpaca Fiddlehead yarn, now in 6 spectacular new colors, and embrace someone you love with the beauty of this simple knit.
The knitting truly couldn’t be easier; just cast on the long way and knit every row until, in a jiffy, you’ve used up all 6 skeins of yarn. You’ll end up with over 8.5 square feet of the coziest, loftiest fabric you can imagine… Truly big and beautiful!
You might think a wrap this big would weigh you down, but not so in Fiddlehead. Your Big Beautiful Hug Wrap will be as light and fluffy as a colorful cloud, and so soft you’ll never want to let go. Wrap it around, loop it through, or drape it over!
That incredible lightness and the charmingly curly texture come from Fiddlehead’s unique bouclé-like structure. Lush alpaca roving runs in soft waves along central threads (also made of alpaca), making this super bulky-weight yarn unbelievably airy and shockingly soft.
We’re so excited to add 6 beautiful, bright colors to the Fiddlehead family! Every color in Fiddlehead’s palette mixes two shades of alpaca roving, sometimes very closely related colors, like in new Fuchsia Pink, and sometimes very different ones, like in new Starry Night… Either way, the resulting colors are wonderfully deep and complex.
Cast on with a new and exciting Fiddlehead color or with an old favorite, and knit up a Big Beautiful Hug Wrap, a wearable embrace that will keep you and your loved ones cozy all winter long!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. See even more of Hiromi’s work on her Instagram!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoBigBeautifulHugWrap, and #PurlSohoFiddlehead. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 6 skeins of Purl Soho’s Fiddlehead, 100% alpaca yarn. Each skein of this super bulky-weight yarn is approximately 65 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 390 total yards required. We used the colors Fuchsia Pink and Starry Night.
- US 11 (8 mm), 60-inch circular knitting needles
NOTE: We used every last yard for our wraps! To avoid running short, be sure to check your gauge, reuse your swatch yarn, and keep tails short.
GAUGE
9 stitches and 18 rows (9 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 18 inches wide x 70 inches long
PATTERN
NOTE: You knit this wrap lengthwise, casting on for the long edge.
Cast on 158 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Knit every row until piece measures 18 inches from cast-on edge, or if using Fiddlehead, until you only have several yards remaining for binding off.
Loosely bind off knitwise.
Weave in the ends and gently wet block, if desired.
LEARN ABOUT FIDDLEHEAD + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Fiddlehead brings joy wherever it goes! Delightfully curly, it is 100% alpaca and as soft as you can imagine. One characteristic of Fiddlehead that’s hard to convey in photos is just how surprisingly light and airy it is, so although it is a super bulky-weight yarn, it practically floats off your needles! Available in lots of gorgeous colors and in 2-skein gift bundles, too, Fiddlehead is as fun as it is beautiful!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of (mostly free!) Fiddlehead knitting patterns
More Super Bulky-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of super bulky-weight yarns
- 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 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!
I love the idea of knitting a blanket for my son in the Fiddlehead – but….hand washing a blanket in a large size seems daunting. Do you think it would survive a wash on delicate and hang dry?
Hi Michelle,
Fiddlehead is a great choice for a blanket! However, because it is made from animal fiber (alpaca), it will unfortunately felt and shrink in the wash. You will need to hand wash it gently in cold water and lay it flat to dry, but a good tip for any large project is to put it in a pillowcase to soak. That way, you can easily lift it out of the water and lay it flat to dry without stretching the knit fabric!
All the best,
Lili
Wow, that’s a brilliant tip! I’m actually making a blanket for my bed in this wonderful yarn. I was sold by “light”, as I can’t abide heavy bedclothes
I’ve just seen your pattern for a scarf in fiddlehead. There’s no mention of what size needles to use. Please advise.
Hi Jean,
Thanks for writing in! You can find the recommended needle size in the MATERIALS section on this page. We used size US 11 (8mm) needles to knit our samples of the Big Beautiful Hug Wrap, but we highly recommend knitting up a gauge swatch in pattern to determine what size you should use. You may need to size up or down your needles in order to get the correct gauge!
All the best,
Lili
Hi! Can you suggest how to size this down for an averaged size 6 year old? I appreciate your help!
Hi Janelle,
Thanks for writing in, and the good news is this pattern is super easy to resize! All you need to do is change your cast-on number. To do that, just multiply the number of stitches per inch (2.25 stitches, according to the gauge of this pattern) by your desired width and round the result to the nearest whole number. Then you can follow the pattern as written until it’s as wide as you want!
All the best,
Lili
I can’t justify a $100 + scarf 🙈
Hi Edith,
We’re so sorry that this project feels too expensive! We understand that sometimes our yarn suggestions are more of an inspiration than a reality for many people, and we are always happy to recommend less expensive (but still beautiful!) alternatives.
In this case, I would suggest making a smaller version. This wrap is extremely large, but you’ll still end up with a super cozy and warm wrap even if you make it smaller! We’ve also designed some other scarf patterns for Fiddlehead that require fewer skeins: Our Warm + Fuzzy Kerchief and our Loop + Tuck Scarf each only require 2 skeins!
Thank you again for asking. We’re sure that lots of other readers will thank you, too!
All the best,
Lili
Hey there! How many skeins does this pattern need? In the verbiage it says 7 but in the materials needed it says 6. Thanks for clarifying! It’s gorgeous!
Hi Angie,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention! The 7 in the story is a typo–you’ll only need 6 skeins of Fiddlehead for this wrap. We’ll be fixing the typo as soon as possible!
All the best,
Lili
I have ordered the yarn and look forward to its arrival! In the meantime, I’m curious about why you recommend casting on lengthwise? Would this work just as well if one were to cast on as one usually does for a scarf, starting at one end? Or do the long cast on/cast off provide structure for this smooshy yarn?
Hi Aara,
Great question! We designed this wrap lengthwise since it’s in garter stitch. Garter stitch stretches vertically, so if it were knit up along the width, the weight of the wrap would stretch the rows apart significantly when worn. When it’s knit up lengthwise though, the garter stitch hangs in the opposite direction so it stretches a lot less and maintains it’s original dimensions!
All the best,
Lili
I’d like to knit a sleeve scarf for my eight year old granddaughter in bright pink fiddlehead.
Could you give me some advice in how to calculate number of stitches and how much yarn I’d need for a 12 -14 inch scarf?
Thanks so much
Hi Patrese,
You would need 4 skeins of Fiddlehead to make a 12 x 70-inch scarf, and you would need 5 skeins to make a 14 x 70-inch scarf! And the cast-on number would actually be the same since this scarf is knit lengthwise, and it doesn’t sound like you’re looking to change the length. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Please recommend the best way to start a new skein… end of row? a few stitches in from the edge? or anyplace on a row? Also, how to weave in ends? Thank you!
Hi Carrie,
Thank you for writing in! Luckily there is no wrong or right answer here. You can join in the middle or at the end of your row. It is all up to you! You can also see our full tutorial on how to join a new skein for extra help!
All the best,
Gavriella
Are you knitting this in the round or straight. I see you recommend circular needles. Just curious
Hi Amy,
This wrap is knit flat! However, you will have 70 inches of stitches on your needles at once, which just won’t fit on straight needles!
All the best,
Lili
I am dying to knit this in the fuschia pink!! Any idea of when it will be restocked? Thanks!!
Hi Emily,
I’m afraid that we don’t yet have a restock date for Fiddlehead in Fuchsia Pink, but you can enter your email address on the product page to be notified when it’s back!
All the best,
Lili
Do you have any tutorials for knitting lengthwise?
Hi Bev,
Thanks for writing in! Knitting lengthwise ends up being exactly the same as knitting along the width. The only difference is that you’ll cast on more stitches for the length, since it’s longer than the width. But no matter what, you’re still just knitting every stitch on each row!
All the best,
Lili