Elementary Wrap In Season Alpaca
An Elementary Wrap is our go-to project for pure yarn joy! When a yarn, a yarn combo, or a color has gripped us and won’t let go, we cast on for a simple swath of stockinette stitch and indulge in our obsession.
Currently on our mind? Season Alpaca in this insanely gorgeous Sapphire Blue. As if drawn from a deep sea abyss, this color has a mysterious and earthy richness, radiating its own inner beauty like a truly precious gem.
Season Alpaca itself is just as incredible as this color. It has the beautiful drape of 100% baby alpaca, but in a sport weight, not the heaviness. Its warmth and softness, beauty and elegance make it the perfect vehicle for an Elementary Wrap.
In Sapphire Blue, or any of Season Alpaca’s other nineteen colors, enjoy the treat of just sitting back and knitting!
Originally designed by Purl Soho designer, Laura Ferguson.
Share your progress + connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoElementaryWrap, and #PurlSohoSeasonAlpaca. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 5 skeins of Purl Soho’s Season Alpaca, 100% baby alpaca. Each skein is 218 yards/ 100g; approximately 1,090 yards required. We used Sapphire Blue. (NOTE: This color is no longer available.)
- US 5 (3.75 mm) circular or straight needles
Gauge
24 stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
Size
Finished Dimensions: Approximately 18 inches wide x 72 inches long
Pattern
Cast on 108 stitches. We used a Basic Long Tail Cast On.
Row 1 (wrong side): K1, p1, k1, purl to last three stitches, k1, p1, k1.
Row 2 (right side): K2, p1, knit to last three stitches, p1, k2.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures approximately 70 inches, ending with a wrong-side row.
Bind-off Row (right side): Bind off in pattern.
Weave in the ends and wet block flat.
Wonder if the edges roll? If so suggestions to stop this.
Hi Joyce,
Great question! While stockinette stitch does tend to roll into a tube, the width of this piece, its selvage stitches, and the nature of Season Alpaca, all conspire to keeping this wrap quite flat. It is normal for the edges to curl slightly, as you can see in our pictures. If you find that after some wear, it starts to curl, just wet block it flat again!
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Whenever I get to NYC I love to go to Purl because of the beautiful yarns and notions they have. My problem is I don’t get there enough.
i would love to make this wrap but wider. can you suggest how many stitches to cast on for 30 inch wide? thank you!
Hi Laurie,
Thanks for reaching out! To make this wrap 30 inches wide, you will need to cast on 180 stitches, and you will need nine skeins of Season Alpaca if you are making your wrap the same length as ours.
Happy knitting!
Julianna
This wrap is beautiful. I would like to make it as wide as presented but the length of a cowl. The picture is exactly how I want it to look around the neck. How many skeins would I need to do this? I prefer cowl size under my jackets or when eating out. I appreciate your help.
Hi Christine,
Great question! For a single wrap cowl, I would recommend making the wrap about 30 inches long before seaming it, which will take 2 skeins; however, you may find that a stockinette cowl is more prone to curling up than a wrap since it is always worn wrapped around the neck instead of spread out like a wrap. You might want to consider casting on double the amount of stitches and joining them into the round to knit a tube, and then joining the cast on to the cast off edges, as we did for our Cable Cloud Cowl. This will take four skeins, but will make sure the cowl stays nice and wide instead of curling up when worn!
I hope that helps, and happy knitting!
Julianna
What length circular needle
do I go with if I use the US 5 circular needle?
Hello Kelly,
Thank you for reaching out! I would recommend using a 24″-40″ cord for this project.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Hi, I’m thinking I want to make the wrap out of the alpaca. I’m 5 feet tall and as much as I would like to snuggle in it I don’t want to appear to be drowning in it. Could you help me with a suggested cast on number? Would I be able to get away with 4 skeins?
The yarn for the season alpaca says marled. As I look at the Sapphire Blue it looks a very gorgeous not marled to me. It looks more like a solid color to me, which I hope it is. Could you comment on that for me?
Thanks! I’m looking forward to your help, looking forward to ordering it and receiving it in the mail, knitting and wearing it!
– Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend reducing the width of the wrap enough to eliminate a full skein of yarn. One of the factors that encourages the stockinette stitch to lay flat is the width of the wrap so I wouldn’t make it too much narrower, but you could cast on 96 stitches for a 16″ wide wrap. Sapphire Blue does have a very subtle heather – not strong enough to be called a marl, but just enough to add beautiful depth and dimension!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
I ordered the Saphirei Blue Season Alpaca. I was disappointed that the color is not as vibrant as what was shown. I would like to reurn it. Do you recommend another blue that is brighter for this scarf?
Hi Bobbi,
Thanks for reaching out, and I’m so sorry that the color of Season Alpaca you received was not as you expected and did not work out for you! We try our hardest to make the colors as true to life as possible but as each device and monitor is calibrated differently, the colors can sometimes still appear a bit different. We also understand that sometimes the color just does not work as well in person. I’m afraid that Sapphire Blue is the brightest blue that this yarn comes in, but you may want to consider using Linen Quill in Cobalt Blue to knit our Elementary Wrap in Linen Quill instead as I think it looks a bit brighter in person. Either way, please reach out to us at customerservice@purlsoho.com so we can help you with this!
Best,
Julianna
Hi could you use a superfine wool for this project?
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for writing in! The Elementary Wrap is one of our favorite projects, so much so that we have created several versions of it using different types of fiber! If your superfine wool is more of a fingering weight, I recommend following our pattern Elementary Wrap in Mineral Silk + Tussock for a more accurate gauge. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting!
Gaby
If i want to make this wrap using fingering yarn (cattail silk)
How many is the cast on?
And how many skein of cattail silk that i need?
Hi Lily,
Thanks for writing in! We actually have a version of this pattern done in a fingering weight yarn, which you can find here – Elementary Wrap in Linen Quill. Converting the yardage, it looks like. you would need just over 2 skeins of Cattail Silk, and you could follow the Linen Quill version without making any changes to the pattern. I’d recommend swatching to figure out your personal gauge, but Cattail Silk knits up beautifully on size 4 needles. I hope this helps!
Happy Knitting!
Cassandra
Hi,
I would love to make this wrap 24 inches wide. I have calculated that I would need to cast on 144 stitches for that width, correct?
How many more skeins of yarn would I need, keeping it the same length? And, how do you calculate that?
Thank you for your help!
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for writing in! Yes, 144 stitches should result in a 24-inch-wide wrap! When increasing the size of a knitted piece, you should go by the square inches to determine how much more yarn you will need. In this case, the original wrap at 18″ by 72″ was 1,296 square inches, and increasing the width to 24″ by 72″ makes the square inches 1,728, which is a 133% increase. You can then increase your yardage by the same percentage, so you will need 1,450 yards, or 7 skeins.
I hope that helps, and happy knitting!
Julianna
I am currently knitting this wrap as a gift for my sister. Being g a “begjnner” I chose less expensive yarn and while I do live the way it is knitting up I know that when I make it for myself I will choose a more luxurious yarn. Can you tell me what is different about this newer pattern version?
Hi Marie,
Thanks for reaching out! Each version of our Elementary Wrap is essentially the same, but has been modified slightly to use a different weight of yarn. Our original Elementary Wrap, for instance, is written for Understory, which is a worsted weight yarn, but the version above has been reworked for Season Alpaca, which is a sport weight yarn. If you take a look at the materials and gauge for each version, you will see that the needle size and stitches per inch vary a bit from wrap to wrap. When you’re ready to get started on your own, you can just choose whichever pattern matches the weight of your yarn!
Happy knitting!
Julianna
I am so excited to start this in the Season Alpaca. I made one for myself in Understory a few years ago, and it is one of my all-time favorite pieces of clothing, bar none. It is so elegant! this one will be for my daughter-in-law, I hope she likes it as much.
Hi,
I am thinking about adding some horizontal stripes to this pattern. Would you recommend I start the new color on a Row 2 to start on the right side?
Thanks so much — and happy new year!
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for reaching out! Thats a great idea! Depending on the striping you are going for, I would recommend starting Row 1 with the color if you plan on changing colors every row, or if you plan on working 2 rows of the main color and 1 of the contrasting color I would recommend starting the new color on row 2!
I hope this helps and happy new year!
Warmly,
Gianna
Thanks, Gianna. I’m thinking about thicker stripes (2:1 ratio…maybe 8 rows main color and 4 contrasting?), so it sounds like the row 2 start is the way to go.
Thank you so much for your response,
jessica
Can this be done in Corrie? If so, what size needles anyhow many stitches? Thanks!
Hi Marcia,
Thanks for reaching out! Coorie would be a great option for this wrap, the gauge should be similar so you can probably cast on the same amount of stitches as we did in our version, but I do recommend working a gauge swatch prior to beginning to ensure you are consistent. For more information about gauge I would suggest checking out our tutorial All About Gauge, it is an excellent resource to use! We used approximately 1,090 yards for the wrap, so you will want 8 skeins of Coorie.
I hope this helps and please let us know how this turns out!
Gianna
Hello,
Can the elementary wrap be done in Good Wool with size 7 needles? Love this pattern and looking for a reasonably priced yarn.
Thank you!
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for reaching out. You can absolutely make this wrap with Good Wool on size 7 needles! Those needles are on the larger end for Good Wool, so you’ll probably get a larger gauge and looser stitches, but that will still make a lovely and even more drapey wrap! You may just need to adjust the number of stitches you cast on to make sure that your wrap ends up in the correct dimensions.
To figure out your cast-on number, you will want to first knit a gauge swatch in pattern (if this is daunting, we have a wonderful tutorial called All About Gauge). Once you know how many stitches you are getting per inch, you can multiply that number by the width that you would like and cast on the nearest whole number. Then you can follow the pattern as written!
All the best,
Lili
Would this be a suitable pattern & yarn to add size 6 seed beads spaced a few (or several) inches apart on the right side rows? I haven’t planned it out yet on graph paper and I don’t want to add much weight. I’m just in the planning phase.
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for writing in! I would actually recommend using a lighter and thinner yarn if you want to add beads to the wrap. Season Alpaca is a sportweight yarn, so it may be too thick to easily fit through the center of a bead. Alpaca is also a relatively heavy fiber, so it’s not the best choice if you’re adding more weight too!
However, the good news is that the Elementary Wrap can easily be adjusted to just about any yarn. I would recommend knitting a fingering weight version (you can follow this pattern) with a lighter weight yarn such as Line Weight or Echo Cashmere.
I hope this helps, and please don’t hesitate to reach out again once you’ve planned out the project more!
All the best,
Lili