I enjoy watching episodes of "Uncommon Threads" - They have many interesting guests with creative projects. One week they had a woman demonstrate how to make a shrug very simply and she included several variations on the basic pattern.
I used her idea and created my own design in a child size version for one of my daughters - it turned out so well that I tried one in my size shown here. It works up very quickly since I used a large hook (M) which gives the garment a nice drape and regular 4-ply worsted weight yarn (Caron -Simply Soft - also washes very well). For my returning students we will also be working on this project this week.