crochetguideKnow these stitches: half double crochet, single crochet, single crochet decrease, 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 16,032 half double crochets at about 6 cm of medium yarn each and the 581 single crochets at about 4 cm come to about 990 m. Add about a tenth for seams and tails and buy about 1,100 m, for example seven balls of 180 m, all from one dye lot.
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, from the Craft Yarn Council’s women’s chest, upper arm and neck-to-wrist measurements: each panel is half the chest plus about 20 cm of ease. The counts below are size Medium (91.5–96.5 cm chest): panels of 74 stitches, about 57 cm at 13 half double crochets and 10 rows per 10 cm, and 58 rows to the hip, and sleeves of 52 stitches. The hood is the same for every size. Its 80 stitches are one for each stitch of the neck opening, 40 on the front and 40 on the back, so folded in half it is about 31 cm from the face to the back of the head. Its 33 rows, about 33 cm, are a starting point: for your own head, measure from the base of your neck at one side, over the top of your head, to the other side, and work rows to half of it. For your size and swatch, read the panel, sleeve and shoulder-seam stitches from the size table below. 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 | Front and back, each | Sleeve, top edge | Panel 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 patternFront and back: make 2
- 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, about 58 cm. Fasten off. Make the second panel the same, with the same number of rows.
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.
- 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 seam.
- Chain 38. Row 1: half double crochet in the third chain from the hook and in each chain across: 36 stitches.
- Rows 2–18: chain 2 and turn, half double crochet in each stitch across: 36 stitches, about 18 cm. Fasten off.
- Hand openings: join the yarn at one corner of a side edge, chain 1 and work 3 single crochets in every 2 row ends: 27 stitches. Fasten off. Edge the other side the same.
- Lay one panel flat, right side up: it is the front. Pin the pocket in the middle of the front, 19 stitches in from each side edge (the same number each side on any size), with its foundation edge along Row 6, about 5 cm above the hem. Sew the top and bottom edges down and leave the edged sides open for the hands. Sew it now, while the front lies flat.
Hood
- Chain 82. Row 1: half double crochet in the third chain from the hook and in each chain across: 80 stitches, one for each stitch of the neck opening.
- Rows 2–33: chain 2 and turn, half double crochet in each stitch across: 80 stitches, about 33 cm. Fasten off, leaving a tail about 50 cm long.
- Fold the hood in half, right sides together, so the short edges lie side by side and the last row folds in half: 40 stitches on each layer. Pin the two halves of the last row together. That is the seam over the top of the head; the fold is the back of the hood, and the short edges frame the face.
- Before you sew, hold the pinned hood on your head with its foundation edge at the base of your neck. The face edge should reach your forehead, and the seam should sit on the crown without pulling. If it does not, add or take out rows at the top. Then sew the seam with the tail.
Assemble
- Shoulders: lay the two panels together, right sides facing and top edges matching. Sew 17 stitches in from each outer edge (for another size or gauge, the shoulder seam in the size table), leaving the middle 40 stitches open for the neck.
- Sleeves: open the body 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 body 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.
- Hood: mark the middle of the front neck edge, 20 stitches from each shoulder seam. Pin the hood’s foundation edge round the neck opening, right sides together, with its fold at the middle of the back and its two face edges meeting at the mark. Sew one hood stitch to each neck stitch, 80 in all.
- Edges: join the yarn at a side seam. Chain 1, single crochet in the other side of each foundation chain round the hem and join with a slip stitch: 148 stitches. Join the yarn at the front of the neck and work 3 single crochets in every 2 row ends up one face edge and down the other: 99 stitches. Fasten off and weave in all the ends.
Check the work
Both panels have 74 stitches and the same number of rows, and both sleeves 52, so every seam matches row for row. The hood’s 80 stitches meet the 40 + 40 of the neck opening one to one. The face edge has 3 single crochets for every 2 of its 66 row ends: 99. The pocket leaves 19 stitches each side: 19 + 36 + 19 = 74.
- If the hood falls over your eyes, it is too tall: undo the top seam, take out rows and sew it again.
- If the hood pulls the neck up at the back, it is too short: add rows at the top.
- If the pocket sags, sew its top edge down again with smaller stitches, through the top of every stitch.
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.