I don’t know what has gotten into me, but I’ve been crocheting for over a decade now and have never really been interested in making sweaters. And yet, here I am over the last few months, making a bunch. I’m blaming it on moving my sewing room out of the house, and needing to make things when I’m “not working” in the evenings. You can only crochet so many hats, gloves and blankets, y’all.

I’m dubbing this sweater my “Cupids Kiss Sweater”. I might as well give them names, right? By no means am I set up to write a pattern for this yet, but I’m considering writing it all out eventually. (Let me know if you’d be interested in how I made this happen in a more in depth way, it might push me into writing the pattern, or at least a guideline!)

Apparently this type of sweater is called a raglan. Though my sewing background tends to disagree with that. I feel like it’s structured more like a dolman sleeve. But you know…who am I to argue?

This is worked up in a top-down manner. I just winged the entire thing, so I can’t really guide you to anything that will show you how to make it yourself. I’m sure there are a million patterns out there already, I’m clearly not reinventing the wheel here. What I liked about making this was that it was simple and there wasn’t any sewing involved. I didn’t have to sew the sleeves onto the bodice, I simply attached them and crocheted it together all as I went.

Stick around to the bottom of this post if you want a little better understanding of how it all works. I took some progress photos that might turn on a lightbulb for you.

Now that I’ve made one, I’m 100% going back in and making another. I think I might actually use this method of construction to make Bennett a cardigan. He’s been asking for me to make him one and I believe this will be the perfect way to make something work for him, though I’ll need to do a ton of decreases on the sleeve because I’m certain he’s not a fan of balloon sleeves quite like I am. I’m excited to whip out some yarn and start another.

I don’t know what’s going on with my hair or face in any of these pictures. I apparently was really excited about my sweater AND the warm weather we are randomly getting. So I just let it all emote out of me. SORRY ABOUT THAT.

Okay, as promised, here are a few of my progress photos. You basically start out by crocheting 108 DCs, adding a 2ch space for corners. And then increasing the rectangle until it’s got enough depth to fit around your body and under your arms. And then you work the bodice in the round, then the sleeves in the round.

I did a total of 40 rounds for the bodice, and 37 rounds for each sleeve. And then I added ribbing on the bottom (12 DC), sleeve cuffs (12 DC), and neckline (5 DC) by doing a backloop only around each section.

I’m in love with the results. In case you’re wondering what I’m doing this weekend….another sweater is in my very near future.

Pattern: Self Drafted
Yarn: Big Twist Value in Magenta + Deep Red, from JoAnn