crochetguideKnow these stitches: half double crochet, single crochet, single crochet decrease, back loop only, chain, slip stitch
Materials and yarn planning
Yarns we’ve reviewed that suit it: Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling yarn, Lion Brand Heartland yarn, Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted yarn. For the hook, choose by size and handle.
Yarn estimate for size Medium: the 12,744 half double crochets at about 6 cm of medium yarn each and the 1,388 single crochets at about 4 cm come to about 820 m. Add about a tenth for seams and tails and buy about 900 m, for example five balls of 180 m, all from one dye lot. Larger sizes take more: weigh your swatch and use the weighed-swatch calculator for your own figure.
For an exact figure in your own yarn, weigh a washed swatch in the pattern stitch: the weighed-swatch yarn calculator scales it to each flat panel or strip. Allow a little more for seams, edging and tails.
Finished size and gauge
Sized like the drop-shoulder sweater on this site, from the Craft Yarn Council’s women’s chest, upper arm and neck-to-wrist measurements. The back is half the chest plus about 20 cm of ease; each front is half the back, and the front bands add about 3 cm to each, so the fronts meet or overlap a little when pulled together. The counts below are size Medium (91.5–96.5 cm chest): a back of 74 stitches, about 57 cm at 13 half double crochets and 10 rows per 10 cm, fronts of 37, and 58 rows, about 58 cm, to the hip. Each sleeve’s top edge is the upper arm plus about 12 cm: 52 stitches, 40 cm. Sleeve length, shoulder seam to cuff edge: X-Small 44 cm, Small 43.5 cm, Medium 43.5 cm, Large 43.5 cm, X-Large 40.5 cm, 2X 41 cm, 3X 39.5 cm, 4X 39.5 cm, 5X 37 cm. For your size and swatch, read the back, sleeve and shoulder-seam stitches from the size table below and halve the back for each front, rounding down; the body length is yours to choose. These are calculations from the counts, not a measured sample.
Sizes from your swatch
Example: 13 half double crochets in 10 cm, the gauge the steps are written for. Type your own swatch over it to see your counts.
| Size | Back (each front is half) | Sleeve, top edge | Back stitches | Sleeve stitches | Shoulder seam |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X-Small (71–76 cm chest) | 46.8 cm (18.5 in) | 37 cm (14.5 in) | 61 (chain 63) | 48 | 10 |
| Small (81–86 cm chest) | 51.8 cm (20.5 in) | 38 cm (15 in) | 67 (chain 69) | 50 | 13 |
| Medium (91.5–96.5 cm chest) | 57 cm (22.5 in) | 40 cm (15.75 in) | 74 (chain 76) | 52 | 17 |
| Large (101.5–106.5 cm chest) | 62 cm (24.5 in) | 42.5 cm (16.75 in) | 81 (chain 83) | 56 | 20 |
| X-Large (111.5–117 cm chest) | 67.1 cm (26.5 in) | 46.5 cm (18.25 in) | 87 (chain 89) | 60 | 23 |
| 2X (122–127 cm chest) | 72.3 cm (28.5 in) | 51.5 cm (20.25 in) | 94 (chain 96) | 66 | 27 |
| 3X (132–137 cm chest) | 77.3 cm (30.5 in) | 55 cm (21.75 in) | 100 (chain 102) | 72 | 30 |
| 4X (142–147 cm chest) | 82.3 cm (32.5 in) | 59 cm (23.25 in) | 107 (chain 109) | 76 | 33 |
| 5X (152–158 cm chest) | 87.5 cm (34.5 in) | 61.5 cm (24.25 in) | 114 (chain 116) | 80 | 37 |
Counts are rounded to whole stitches and rows and to the pattern’s repeat. Check the first rows against your swatch.
The gauge calculator compares your swatch with the pattern. A stitch name you do not know is in the abbreviation chart; a UK pattern’s names are in the US/UK term reference.
The pattern
Count rows for this patternBack
- Chain 76. Row 1: half double crochet in the third chain from the hook and in each chain across: 74 half double crochets. The skipped chains do not count as a stitch.
- Rows 2–58: chain 2 and turn (it does not count), half double crochet in each stitch across: 74 stitches. The back is about 58 cm long; stop sooner or go on to the length you chose, and count the rows. Fasten off.
Fronts: make 2
- Chain 39. Row 1: half double crochet in the third chain from the hook and in each chain across: 37 stitches.
- Rows 2–58: chain 2 and turn, half double crochet in each stitch across: 37 stitches. Work exactly as many rows as the back. Fasten off.
Sleeves: make 2
- Chain 54. Row 1: half double crochet in the third chain from the hook and in each chain across: 52 stitches. This edge is the top of the sleeve.
- Rows 2–40: chain 2 and turn, half double crochet in each stitch across: 52 stitches, about 40 cm. For another size, stop about 3.5 cm short of its sleeve length above.
- Row 41, the cuff: chain 1 and turn, [single crochet in the next stitch, single crochet 2 together] 17 times, single crochet in the last stitch: 35 stitches.
- Rows 42–44: chain 1 and turn, single crochet in each stitch across: 35 stitches. Fasten off, leaving a tail about 60 cm long for the sleeve seam. Make the second sleeve the same.
Assemble
- Shoulders: lay the back flat, right side up, and the two fronts on top, right sides down, their outer edges and top edges matching the back’s. Sew 17 stitches in from each outer edge through both layers (for another size or gauge, the shoulder seam in the size table). That leaves 20 stitches at the top of each front and the middle 40 of the back, about 30 cm, open for the neck.
- Sleeves: open the cardigan out flat, right side up. Fold a sleeve in half along its top edge and mark the middle. Pin that mark to a shoulder seam and the ends of the top edge to the side edges of the front and back, about 20 cm down each. Sew the top edge in place. Repeat on the other side.
- Seams: fold the cardigan right sides together. Sew each sleeve seam from the cuff to the underarm, then go straight on down the side seam to the hem. Turn right side out.
Front bands and edges
- Right front band: with the right side facing, join the yarn at the lower corner of the right front. Row 1: chain 1, work 3 single crochets in every 2 row ends up the front edge (2 in the first, 1 in the next): 87 stitches. A half-double-crochet row is taller than a single crochet is wide, so one stitch a row would draw the front up. Rows 2–5: chain 1 and turn, single crochet in the back loop of each stitch: 87 stitches. Fasten off.
- Left front band: join the yarn at the top corner of the left front and work the same down its front edge: 87 stitches in each of 5 rows.
- Neck edge: join the yarn at the top of the right band. Chain 1, single crochet in the end of each band row, in each stitch of the right front’s neck, the back neck and the left front’s neck, and in each band row end: 5 + 20 + 40 + 20 + 5, 90 stitches. Fasten off.
- Hem: join the yarn at the lower corner of the left front, below the band. Chain 1, single crochet in the other side of each foundation chain of the left front, the back and the right front: 148 stitches. Fasten off and weave in all the ends.
Check the work
The back has 74 stitches, each front 37, half the back, and all three have the same number of rows, so the side seams and the bands match row for row. Each band has 3 stitches for every 2 rows of its front: 87.
- If a front band ripples, it has more stitches than the edge is long: work Row 1 again with 4 stitches in every 3 row ends. If it pulls the front up short, work 2 in every row end here and there.
- If the fronts swing apart when you wear it, the shoulder seams are short for you: sew each one 2 or 3 cm further toward the neck.
- If a sleeve is too long, the dropped shoulder already covers part of the arm: unpick the cuff, take out rows and work the cuff again.
Updated . Stitch counts checked row by row; we haven’t crocheted a sample of this one yet. How the patterns are checked. Keep your yarn label, hook and swatch on the printable project worksheet.