A bracing, briny wind off the North Atlantic, cool rain in the air, soft heath beneath your boots… Transport yourself to the moors of Ireland with our Heather Wrap pattern and our new Wild Donegal yarn, a beautifully rustic chunky-weight tweed made by one of County Donegal’s last traditional mills.

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

The knitting is all easy and rhythmic here, allowing you to enjoy every nuance of this lively tweed yarn. You knit the wrap lengthwise all in linen stitch, and at the halfway point you’ll make two slits for your arms. We offer this simple pattern in 5 sizes, so your Heather Wrap can perfectly enfold you in rich, handmade beauty.

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

Linen stitch is the perfect stitch pattern for this sculptural piece. With the help of simple slip stitches, it knits up into a dense fabric with a woven quality. Combined with the firm hand of Wild Donegal, you get a super satisfying fabric that speaks to the homespun heritage of this yarn. Each side of the fabric is a different expression of this wonderfully wild yarn: one smooth, one nubbly, and one as beautiful as the other!

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho
Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

Wild Donegal is a timeless Irish tweed yarn rich with heritage and character. It’s made with 100% merino wool, a slight departure from tradition that still gives you the pleasantly toothy feel and honest, straight-from-the-sheep quality that puts you in touch with the way Donegal tweed yarns have been made for centuries.

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

Pick from a palette of 26 wild and rugged colors, each one a beautiful heather speckled with 7 or 8 colors of “burrs,” creating endless fascination and a rustic texture. This incredible Brown Cedar is a standout, rich and complex as if pulled directly from the earth, or choose another color straight from the Irish countryside… Delicate Pink Lavender, timeless Rock Wall, or verdant Forest Clover would each bring a special depth to your Heather Wrap.

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho
Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

Cast on for your Heather Wrap and enjoy the quiet cadence of the stitches, savor the beauty of the burr-flecked tweed yarn, and delight in watching a graceful swath of fabric take shape, destined to soften through seasons of wear yet stay forever steadfast against the wind and weather.

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!

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

Pattern designed and written by Purl Soho designer, Gianna Mueller. See even more of Gianna’s work on her Instagram!

Story written by Andrea Lotz for Purl Soho.

Want to print this pattern? On desktop, find the “print” icon in the right margin, and on mobile, scroll to the end of the pattern for it. Use the on-screen instructions to remove anything you don’t want to print!

Materials

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho
  • 8 (10, 12, 15) skeins of Purl Soho’s Wild Donegal, 100% merino wool yarn. Each skein of this chunky/bulky-weight yarn is approximately 139 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 1070 (1350, 1655, 1990) total yards required. We used the color Brown Cedar.
  • US 7 (4.5 mm), 47- or 60-inch circular knitting needles, depending on size you are making

GAUGE

21 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches in stitch pattern

SIZES

NOTE: To find your chest-plus-arms circumference, hold both arms to your sides and measure around the widest part of your chest, including your arms.

60 (68½, 78, 87)

To fit approximate chest-plus-arms circumference of 36–42 (44–50, 52–58, 60–66) inches 

  • Finished Dimensions: 60 x 22 (68½ x 24, 78 x 26, 87 x 28) inches wide x tall
  • Finished Armholes: 15 (17 19½, 21½) inches in circumference

SAMPLE: The wrap shown here is size 60.

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

NOTES

STITCH MULTIPLE

This pattern works over an odd number of stitches.

SLIP STITCHES

Slip all slipped stitches purlwise.

PATTERN

BEGIN

Cast on 313 (361, 409, 457) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.

TIP: When you have to cast on so many stitches, it helps to place a marker or piece of scrap yarn every 50 stitches. That way, you won’t have to start at the beginning every time you lose count of your stitches. Just remove the markers while you work the Set-Up Row, and you’ll be on your way!

Set-Up Row: (wrong side): Slip 1 (see Notes) with yarn in front (wyif), *p1, slip 1 with yarn in back (wyib), repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p1, slip 1 wyif.

BOTTOM

Row 1 (right side): *K1, slip 1 wyif, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.

Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 wyif, *p1, slip 1 wyib, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p1, slip 1 wyif.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 11 (12, 13, 14) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 2.

ARMHOLES

Row 1 (right side): [K1, slip 1 wyif] 40 (47, 54, 61) times, k1, bind off the next 39 (45, 51, 57) stitches (1 stitch remains on right needle after bind off), [slip 1 wyif, k1] 36 (40, 44, 48) times, bind off the next 39 (45, 51, 57) stitches (1 stitch remains on right needle after bind off), *slip 1 wyif, k1, repeat from * to end of row. [235 (271, 307, 343) total stitches: 81 (95, 109, 123) stitches each for Right and Left Front; 73 (81, 89, 97) stitches for Back]

Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 wyif, [p1, slip 1 wyib] 40 (47, 54, 61) times, turn work so right side is facing you, use a Cable Cast On to cast on 39 (45, 51, 57) stitches, turn work so wrong side is facing you, [slip 1 wyib, p1] 36 (40, 44, 48) times, slip 1 wyib, turn work so right side is facing you, use Cable Cast On to cast on 39 (45, 51, 57) stitches, turn work so wrong side is facing you, *slip 1 wyib, p1, repeat from * to last stitch, slip 1 wyif. [313 (361, 409, 457) stitches]

TOP

Work as for Bottom section, repeating Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 11 (12, 13, 14) inches from Armhole cast-on edge, ending with Row 2. [Piece measures 22 (24, 26, 28) inches total from original cast-on edge]

With right side facing you, bind off in pattern to end of row, knitting the knit stitches and slipping the slipped stitches.

FINISHING

Weave in ends and gently wet block.

Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Heather Wrap | Purl Soho
Heather Wrap | Purl Soho
Heather Wrap | Purl Soho

Learn About Wild Donegal + All Our Beautiful Yarns

This project is full of the adventurous spirit of Wild Donegal, our chunky-weight, rustic Irish tweed yarn made with 100% merino wool by one of County Donegal’s last traditional mills. Its firm, toothy hand knits into a resilient, earthy fabric that softens and blooms with washing and wear, and small, lively “burrs” of fiber speckle every color. Use it to knit weather-proof outerwear, classic accessories, or striking colorwork… Anywhere you want to feel the wild of nature!

More Free Knitting Patterns

More Chunky/Bulky-Weight Yarns

More Yarns With Similar Fiber

Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our knitting patterns (including tons of 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!