Free pattern
Simple Crochet Cardigan Pattern in 5 Pieces
This cardigan is five flat rectangles of half double crochet — a back, two fronts, two sleeves — seamed into a drop-shoulder, hip-length shape, using about 1150 yards of worsted (category 4) yarn on a 5.5 mm (US I-9) hook for size M (44 in / 112 cm finished bust). There is no shaping anywhere except eight increase rows on each sleeve, and every size is derived from one gauge: 14 hdc and 10 rows to 4 inches. Block the pieces before seaming, not after — it is the step that decides whether the finished cardigan hangs straight.
A first cardigan fails in the buying and the seaming far more often than in the crochet. The stitches here are the same half double crochet as a blanket; what makes it a garment is one gauge held honestly across five rectangles, and an assembly order that puts every seam where a drop shoulder wants it.
Five rectangles is the real construction
Back, two fronts, two sleeves — no armhole shaping, no sleeve caps, no short rows. This is not the training-wheels version of a cardigan; it is how most chunky ready-to-wear cardigans are actually cut. A drop-shoulder box hangs from the shoulders and fits through two numbers: circumference and length. Everything difficult about tailored garments — set-in sleeves, waist shaping, armscye curves — exists to serve fitted silhouettes this design deliberately is not.
The trade is that gauge carries all the responsibility. A tenth of a stitch per inch off is invisible in a swatch and two inches of bust by the end; wash and dry the swatch before measuring, because worsted relaxes when it meets water and your cardigan will meet water.
The sizing table
| Size | Finished bust | Back | Each front | Sleeve top |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 40 in (102 cm) | 70 sts (ch 72) | 34 sts (ch 36) | 54 sts |
| M | 44 in (112 cm) | 77 sts (ch 79) | 37 sts (ch 39) | 56 sts |
| L | 48 in (122 cm) | 84 sts (ch 86) | 41 sts (ch 43) | 58 sts |
| XL | 52 in (132 cm) | 91 sts (ch 93) | 44 sts (ch 46) | 60 sts |
All sizes work 55 rows of body and 43 of sleeve; length is where personal taste edits most cheaply, at 2.5 rows per inch. Finished bust includes 8–12 in of ease — measure a cardigan you already like wearing rather than yourself, and match its width. The pattern text carries size M; the multiplications in the resizing tip generate every other number.
Blocking is a construction step
The instruction to block before seaming is load-bearing. Hdc fabric comes off the hook curled at the edges and compressed in the row direction; wet-blocked and dried flat, it settles into its true dimensions — which are the dimensions the seaming plan assumes. Pieces seamed first and blocked after fight each other forever, one seam permanently gathered against a panel that finally relaxed. Pin all five pieces out to their numbers, walk away until bone dry, and the mattress stitching becomes almost pleasant: two flat, true edges that match because they were made to.
The band does the tailoring
The only piece worked onto the garment rather than seamed is the two-row front band, picked up at seven stitches per five row-ends — the exact ratio that keeps a stitch gauge of 3.5 per inch flush against a row gauge of 2.5. Looser, and the fronts stretch into a droop; tighter, and they pucker closed. It is two rows of plain hdc carrying the entire difference between “handmade” and “homemade,” which is the usual size of that difference.
Abbreviations
US crochet terms throughout.
ch— chainhdc— half double crochetst(s)— stitch(es)inc— increase (2 hdc in the same stitch)RS— right side
The pattern
- Swatch first Ch 22, hdc in the 3rd ch from hook and across (20 hdc), and work 12 rows. Wash and dry it flat, then measure the centre: 14 sts and 10 rows must equal 4 in (10 cm). Off by more than a stitch, change hook size, not your hopes — every number below is this gauge multiplied.
- Back Ch 79. Hdc in the 3rd ch from hook and in every ch across — 77 hdc. Row 2: ch 2 (does not count as a stitch), turn, hdc in every st. Repeat Row 2 until 55 rows are done: a 22 x 22 in (56 x 56 cm) square. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for seaming.
- Fronts (make 2) Ch 39. Hdc in the 3rd ch from hook and across — 37 hdc. Work 55 rows exactly as the back. The two fronts together are 3 sts — about an inch — narrower than the back; that gap is where the band goes. Fasten off with long tails.
- Sleeves (make 2) Ch 42. Hdc in the 3rd ch from hook and across — 40 hdc. Work 4 plain rows. Row 5: ch 2, turn, inc in the first st, hdc to the last st, inc — 42 sts. Repeat the increase row every 5th row 7 more times — 56 sts — then work plain rows to 43 rows total, about 17 in (43 cm) from the cuff. Fasten off.
- Block everything Wet-block all five pieces to their stated measurements, pinned and fully dry before any seam. Hdc fabric curls and lies about its size until washed; seaming unblocked pieces bakes the lie in. This is the non-negotiable step — the site's blocking guide covers the method.
- Shoulder seams Lay the back RS up. Place each front RS down on top, matching the outer corners. Mattress-stitch each shoulder from the armhole edge inward across 24 sts — about 7 in (18 cm) — and stop. The centre 29 sts of the back (about 8 in / 20 cm) stay open as the neck, and the unseamed inner 13 sts of each front fold back at the chest into the small self-lapel this construction is known for.
- Set the sleeves Open the work flat, RS up. Mark the centre of each sleeve top and pin it to the shoulder seam, then pin the sleeve edge flat along the body — 8 in (20 cm) down from the seam on each side, which is half the 16 in sleeve-top width. Mattress-stitch in place. Drop shoulders have no sleeve cap; flat-to-flat is the entire operation.
- Side and sleeve seams Fold at the shoulders, RS together. In one pass per side, seam from the cuff along the sleeve underarm, turn the corner, and continue down the body side to the hem. Try it on before weaving in — a drop shoulder forgives, but a twisted sleeve seam does not.
- Band, round 1 With RS facing, join yarn at the bottom right front corner. Hdc up the right front edge at 7 hdc per 5 row-ends — 77 hdc over 55 rows — then 1 hdc per stitch across the neckline: the 13 unseamed stitches of the right front top, the 29 back-neck stitches, and the 13 of the left front top. Then down the left front edge at the same 7-per-5 ratio. Keep the tension slightly firm; the band is what stops the fronts stretching into a shawl collar.
- Band, round 2 and buttons Ch 2, turn, hdc in every st of the band. For a buttoned cardigan: before this row, mark 5 evenly spaced positions on the right front (first 1 in from the hem, last 1 in below the neck), and at each marker work ch 2, skip 2 sts — the buttonholes. Fasten off, weave in every end, and sew the buttons opposite the holes. Open-front wearers skip the markers and work the row plain.
Notes
- The rectangle construction is not the beginner compromise it looks like — most bought chunky-knit cardigans are cut as drop-shoulder boxes for the same reason: the shape hangs on the shoulders, so fit lives in two numbers (bust circumference and length) instead of a dozen. The craft here is gauge discipline and seaming order, not shaping.
- Buy all the yarn at once, in one dye lot, with one ball of margin. A cardigan is the project where a mid-torso dye-lot change is most visible — it lands at eye level across the flattest, largest field of stitches you will ever crochet.
- Why hdc and not double crochet: hdc is about 25% denser, which a garment needs — dc cardigans grow at the shoulders and gape between stitches by the end of a season. Hdc also keeps rows short enough that the row gauge stays honest across 55 of them.
- Resizing beyond the table is arithmetic, not adventure: finished bust ÷ 2 × 3.5 = back stitches; each front is the back minus 3 sts, halved and rounded up. Length is rows ÷ 2.5 per inch. Change the numbers, not the gauge — and re-swatch if you change the yarn.
- The long seaming tails are a deliberate instruction: seaming with attached tails means half the weaving-in disappears, and mattress stitch eats yardage — budget about 3 times the seam length every time you cut a fresh strand.
Common questions
How much yarn does a crochet cardigan take?
In worsted at this gauge: about 1000 yards for size S (40 in bust), 1150 for M (44 in), 1300 for L (48 in) and 1450 for XL (52 in) — five to eight standard 200-yard balls. Buttons and a longer body add; cropping subtracts about 150 yards per 3 in of length. The single most expensive mistake is buying one ball short of a discontinued colourway, so round up.
Can a beginner crochet a cardigan?
A confident beginner who has finished a blanket can, because this construction is five blanket-shaped pieces — the only new skills are mattress stitch and reading a gauge swatch honestly. What earns the intermediate label is endurance and consistency: 28 hours of hdc will expose any tension drift, and the gauge swatch is a promise you have to keep for 55 rows at a time.
Why is this cardigan worked in half double crochet?
Because hdc is the garment stitch: denser than double crochet so the fabric holds its shape at the shoulders and does not gape, faster than single crochet so five panels stay a month's project instead of a season's. It also produces a flat, even fabric that mattress-stitches nearly invisibly, which matters in a project that is one-third seams.
How do I make this cardigan bigger or smaller?
Every measurement is the gauge times a number: 3.5 stitches per inch of width, 2.5 rows per inch of length. Pick your finished bust (your bust plus 8–12 in of ease for this style), halve it for the back width, multiply by 3.5 and chain that plus 2. The table in the pattern covers 40 to 52 in busts; outside that range the same two multiplications keep working.
Should I add buttons or leave the cardigan open?
The pattern supports both from the same band — buttonholes are five ch-2 skips added in the final row, so the decision can wait until the cardigan exists and you have worn it once. Buttoned suits the boxy shape when closed; open shows the fronts hanging straight, which is what the firm two-row band is protecting. If undecided, work the band plain: buttonholes can be retrofitted as sewn loops, but holes cannot be unworked.