Quaking Aspen Wrap
Our Quaking Aspen Wrap pattern will fill your spirit with all the sublime beauty of golden leaves under autumn skies, as you explore the breathtaking colors of Linen Quill Minis. Our two new 20-Color Bundles, the serene Beach Walk palette we used here and our lively Full Bloom Bundle, are both bursting with nature’s bounty!

This effortless design gives each beautiful color its time in the sun. You’ll cast on lengthwise and start knitting with your first Mini in simple garter stitch. When it’s time to switch to the next color, you’ll alternate Minis for a few rows to blend the transition, watching the colors shift as seamlessly as the change in seasons.


After blocking, you’ll use what’s left of your Minis to make a gorgeous fringe that will sway like the leaves of an aspen tree in the breeze. You’ll make single-color fringe to coordinate with the solid sections and two-color fringe to coordinate with the color-change sections, and one by one, you’ll attach them with a crochet hook to the stockinette stitch selvages… Easy and so satisfying!

To bring this beauty to life, we’re thrilled to bring you two exciting new palettes of Minis, each with brand-new Linen Quill colors that are exclusive to these 20-Color Bundles. Savor the earthy calmness of Beach Walk and be sure to check out our Pirouette Shawl pattern to revel in our bright, vibrant Full Bloom palette, too. You can use either bundle for either project!

Fingering-weight Linen Quill is one of our most popular yarns, bringing an appealing complexity to the Minis. A mix of 50% fine highland wool, 35% alpaca, and 15% rustic linen results in a hearty, springy, and soft yarn with incredible depth and fascination in each color.

Cozy and warm, while still creating a light and fine fabric, we love Linen Quill for generous wraps, and the new 20-Color Bundles of Linen Quill Minis are the perfect amount of yarn. Want more? Our original 40-Color Bundle is still just right for a big, colorful blanket!

You’ll love working through the natural beauty of your Linen Quill Minis as you make your Quaking Aspen Wrap. Cast on with our new 20-Color Bundle, whether in the Beach Walk palette for a tranquil radiance or in Full Bloom for a joyful explosion of color!
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, Gianna Mueller. See more of Gianna’s designs on her Instagram!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoQuakingAspenWrap, and #PurlSohoLinenQuill. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials

- A 20-Color Bundle of Purl Soho’s Linen Quill Minis, 50% fine highland wool, 35% alpaca, and 15% linen. Each bundle of this fingering-weight yarn is approximately 2,180 yards/ 500 grams; approximately 1,890 total yards required. We used the Beach Walk palette.
- US 3 (3.25 mm), 40-inch circular knitting needles
- A small crochet hook (for fringe)
GAUGE
24 stitches and 48 rows (24 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 19½ inches wide x 70 inches long, omitting fringe
NOTE: You work this wrap lengthwise, so the width listed above corresponds to the number of rows, and the length corresponds with the cast-on edge.
NOTES
COLOR ORDER
BEACH WALK
- Color A: Stillwater Blue
- Color B: Mountain Bluebird
- Color C: Salt + Pepper
- Color D: Gray Denim
- Color E: Twig Brown
- Color F: Peach Stone
- Color G: Weathered Blue
- Color H: Light Cerulean
- Color I: Stonewall Gray
- Color J: Oatmeal Gray
- Color K: Pale Oats
- Color L: Wheat Flour
- Color M: Honey Pink
- Color N: Golden Wheat
- Color O: Turmeric Yellow
- Color P: Butterscotch Yellow
- Color Q: Raw Sienna
- Color R: Fresh Nutmeg
- Color S: Pine Cone
- Color T: Ginger Brown
FULL BLOOM
- Color A: Chesnut Red
- Color B: Hazelnut Brown
- Color C: Kiln Red
- Color D: Sweet Potato
- Color E: Orange Cinnamon
- Color F: Super Orange
- Color G: Pink Pop
- Color H: Bright Flamingo
- Color I: Baked Earth
- Color J: Peachy Pink
- Color K: Cowrie Pink
- Color L: Peony Pink
- Color M: Pale Oats
- Color N: Pale Celery
- Color O: Celadon Green
- Color P: Sour Gooseberry
- Color Q: Lemon Lime
- Color R: Beach Grass
- Color S: Bright Mint
- Color T: Golden Green
TURN + SLIDE
When you work Color Change Rows, you either “slide” or “turn” the work at the end of each row.
“Turn work” means to do what you would normally do when knitting rows with circular needles: Transfer the needle from your left hand into your right hand and the needle from your right hand into your left, flipping the work around so the opposite side is facing you.
“Slide work” means to keep the same side of the work facing you and to push all the stitches to the right end of the circular needles. Without turning the work, start the new row as you normally would.
You will know that you’re doing this right if the yarn you need to complete the next row is right there waiting for you! To see a video of this technique in action, visit our Turn + Slide Tutorial.
COLOR CHANGE ROWS
The Color Change Rows transition from the Old Color to the New Color over the course of 8 rows. The Old Color is the color you were just using, and the New Color is the next color you will use.
Row 1 (right side): With Old Color, knit to end of row, slide work (see Turn + Slide, above).
Row 2 (right side): With New Color, k2, purl to last two stitches, k2, turn work (see Turn + Slide, above).
Row 3 (wrong side): With Old Color, purl to end of row, slide work.
Row 4 (wrong side): With New Color, p2, knit to last two stitches, p2, turn work.
Repeat Rows 1–4.
Cut Old Color.
PATTERN
With Color A (see Notes), cast on 420 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
A little tip: When you’re casting on so many stitches, it helps to place a marker or piece of scrap yarn every 50 stitches, so if/when you lose your place, you don’t have to start counting from the very beginning!
Solid Section
Row 1 (right side): Knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): P2, knit to last two stitches, p2.
Rows 3 and 4: Repeat Rows 1 and 2.
Color Change Section
Work Color Change Rows (see Notes), adding in Color B (or next New Color).
Continue
Starting with Color B, work the Solid Section, followed by the Color Change Section, adding in Color C for the Color Change.
Continue in this pattern for Colors C-T, working the Solid Section with the New Color, then the Color Change Section. Do not cut yarn after Color T.
With right side facing you and still using Color T, bind off all stitches knitwise.
FINISHING
Weave in ends and gently wet block.
FRINGE
Orient piece with right side facing you and right selvage at the bottom.
Cut four 10-inch strands of Color A. Insert crochet hook from wrong side of work to right side, right above the 2 stockinette edge stitches and in between the 1st and 2nd garter ridges of the Color A Solid Section. Fold the 4 strands in half, and use a crochet hook to grab the folded midpoint through to the wrong side of the work, forming a loop. Pass the strands’ tails through the loop, and pull gently to tighten.
Repeat along the whole edge, using 4 strands of the corresponding color for Solid Sections and 2 strands of each relevant color for Color Change Sections. Make one Fringe per Solid Section and 2 evenly spaced Fringes per Color Change Section, for a total of 58 Fringes: 20 solid ones and 38 two-color ones.
Repeat along the other selvage.
Trim all Fringe to 4 inches, and you’re done!


LEARN ABOUT LINEN QUILL MINIS + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Express your love of color with Linen Quill Minis! A unique opportunity to play, these 25-gram balls are mini versions of our super popular Linen Quill, a fingering-weight yarn that is a wonderful blend of 50% wool, 35% alpaca, and 15% linen. Pick up our spectacular 40-Color Bundle or one of our breathtaking 20-Color Bundles and go wild!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our growing collection of Linen Quill knitting patterns and cast on!
More Fingering-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of fingering-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 wool yarn
- Shop alpaca yarn
- Shop linen 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!
What are your suggestions for making this wrap into a scarf?
10 mini’s?
I’m excited to try this beautiful pattern.
Thank you!
Hi Krisanne,
Thank you for writing in! To make this a bit slimmer for a scarf, I’d suggest knitting to the desired width instead of the one written in the pattern. Since this pattern is started length-wise, you can cast on the same amount of stitches and just keep knitting. The wrap version of this pattern uses 1,890 total yards so I’d suggest about half of that amount for a scarf. I hope this helps and happy making!
All the best,
Gavriella
Thank you…I was also interested in making 2 scarves also
I also wanted to make 2 scarves, but I wanted to use all 20 colors. I’m doing 2 rows of the solid section and 4 of the color change rows and all is well.
Sound s perfect. These colors would be nice in seed stitch as well
I’m thinking I’d like to make this into a lap blanket rather than a wrap or scarf…so does it make sense to order two of the bundles in the color I like and follow the pattern and when finishing the colors in the wrap pattern and continue with a second group of the rows in the reverse order so the beginning and end row are the same color? so that makes a lap blanket that is 39” x 70” right?
Hi Terri,
That’s a great idea, and I think you’ve found a wonderful way to incorporate the second bundle! You could even make the blanket shorter so that you have more yarn to make it wider as well.
All the best,
Lili
Hmm…since the pattern works the width with the number of rows…the extra yarn from shortening it would be a challenge to plan the use of the extra yarn color rotations to retain the design the rotation of colors creates. I’m not sure how to figure how much yarn would be left for extra rows I’m thinking I’m going to stick to the 39” x 70” size …now I have to decide if I have time to take on this beautiful project! Thanks for your response!
Is there any possibility to make this in another type of yarn? I absolutely adore the color scheme, but linen is way too scratchy for me as a wrap/scarf (realized this when I’m working on the Daybreak Blanket). Any chance it’d be recontructable in a softer type of yarn?
Hi EJ,
Thanks for writing in! Yes, this pattern will work with any fingering weight yarn (and it’s also easy to modify for different yarn weights!), so you can absolutely choose to knit it with something else. Just a heads up though, we don’t offer very many of our yarns in mini-skeins. The only other option for small amounts of yardage would be Cotton Chirp, although this yarn doesn’t have quite the same color palette as Linen Quill. It would work great in other yarns though, but you’d need to purchase a full skein of each color you’re interested in!
All the best,
Lili
Hi! If we are doing this in the beautiful Full Bloom palette, does color A correspond to mini color #1 from the enclosed card received with the bundle, or is the order different. The pattern is written for the beach walk bundle. Thanks!
Hi Joanie,
We actually haven’t created a second color palette for this pattern yet, but our design team is working on creating one for the Full Bloom bundle as we speak! I’m hoping that will be ready within the next few weeks. Would you be alright waiting for that, or would you like me to make my own suggestion for the color order in the meantime?
All the best,
Lili
Lili, I can wait!
Thanks so much,
Joanie
How would you recommend ordering the colors for the Full Bloom palette? Love this design and thinking of knitting in both colorways. Thank you!
Hi Amanda,
We actually haven’t created a second color palette for this pattern yet, but our design team is working on creating one for the Full Bloom bundle as we speak! I’m hoping that will be ready within the next few weeks. Would you be alright waiting for that, or would you like me to make my own suggestion for the color order in the meantime?
All the best,
Lili
I’m interested in the color sequence for that one, too. I’m making 6 of these… 4 of the pattern colors and 2 of the bloom.
Hi Michelle,
We have completed the new color order by now, and you can find it in the COLOR ORDER section!
All the best,
Lili
Hi,
I am making this in linen quill and purchased the kit but I’m not too keen on fringe. Can you suggest another way to treat the ends?
Thank you!
Hi Monique,
Thanks for writing in! You definitely don’t need to add the fringe to the wrap–it’ll be beautiful either way! For the remaining yarn ends, you can weave them into your work instead of incorporating them into the fringe.
All the best,
Lili
I just love the color combination and would 🩶🧡💛💙 to make a large throw 48×60 size or close to it
Unfortunately, I’m just not good at figuring out how to make the adjustments needed.
Any suggestions?
Thanks😊
Hi Brenda,
Glad to hear that you love these colors! You’ll need 2 bundles to make a blanket of that size, and all you need to do is increase the cast-on number so that it comes to the correct length. To do this, just multiply the number of stitches per inch (6 stitches, according to the gauge of the pattern) by the length of the cast-on edge (which is 60 inches since this pattern is knit lengthwise). That comes to 360 stitches, so you can just cast that on and follow the pattern as written!
The only other thing I’d recommend considering is how you’re going to do the stripes. You can either add more rows to each stripe, or you can add additional stripes and repeat colors until you reach your desired width. That’s completely up to you, and I think both options will be beautiful!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you for the advice.:-)
If I’m reading the pattern correctly, it says in the solid color rows are knitted 4 rows and the color change rows are knitted 8 rows..
Perhaps for a blanket, do 8 rows in the solid and the color change do 16 rows ..
Since it’s knitted on smaller sized needles, it might be better to add more rows for each..
Thoughts??
Thanks
That’s a great idea! Since you’re doubling the number of rows, you’ll end up doubling the width of the project, so it would come to 40 inches. You had 48 inches in mind for the width, so I’d suggest adding an extra row or two (on top of doubling them) on some of the stripes to make up that distance!
All the best,
Lili
Question on solid color section regarding
Row 3 and 4. Do you repeat row 1 AND 2 for row 3 and same for row 4? Or just repeat row 1 for row 3 and repeat row 2 for row 4?
Thanks
Hi Marie,
Great question! You repeat only Row 1 for Row 3 and only Row 2 for Row 4. Hope this helps clarify things!
All the best,
Lili
Hi there,
I’m quiet sensitive to scratchy material, but I really love the colors of this type of yarn; is this a yarn for me? I’m living in Belgium with a daughter living upstate NY, so I cannot come to the shop now to ‘feel’ this yarn if it is itchy for me.
What do you suggest?
Kind regards, Ann
Hi Ann,
Thanks for writing in! Linen Quill is made primarily from highland wool, which does tend to feel prickly for those who are sensitive to wool. I’m more than happy to recommend some softer yarns you could use instead though! The first ones that come to mind are Quartz, which is made from a mix of merino wool and alpaca, and Santolina, which is made from a mix of different plant fibers. Both of these yarns are fingering weight yarns, just like Linen Quill, so they’d work with the pattern. The only thing is that they only come in full-sized skeins, so you would need fewer skeins and colors to reach the yardage of the pattern. I think that both of these yarns have a beautiful color palette though, and a wrap made from them would be gorgeous!
All the best,
Lili
Is there a picture available of the Full Bloom color combo for this project, thank you!
Hi Allison,
I’m afraid that we have not yet knit up a sample of this pattern in the Full Bloom bundle…. We’re so sorry about that!
All the best,
Lili
Love knitting this wrap!
Any progress on the full bloom option. Would love to see what that looks like
Hi Donna,
We’re so happy to hear that! We have created an option for the Full Bloom bundle, and you can find that in the COLOR ORDER section.
All the best,
Lili
When we are adding on the new colors and ending an old color, should we make the tail at least 6”, so it can be incorporated in the fringe?
Hi Michelle,
Yes, that’s a good length to cut the ends to!
All the best,
Lili