Naturally Danielle

                               Easy Adjustable Cardigan

 Hey guy's !! so today i'm showing you how i made this super easy adjustable length cardigan. It has a open stitch pattern called the " sedge stitch" and it's really breath able and certainly NOT meant to keep you warn outside in the winter weather, unless you live on the west coast i guess lol. Anyway this cardigan is made in one whole piece and just needs to be stitched up the sides. SUPER EASY.


                                                              Design Process

 I get a lot of comments on my YouTube channel asking why did i make 2 panels instead of crocheting in a round & stuff like that, which is fine but i just don't enjoy crocheting in rounds so in an attempt to compromise & give my subscribers what they ask for, i decided to use the technique of an all-in-one cardigan with minimal sewing. And i LOVE it lol its so easy you can even use whatever stitch pattern you would like, just make sure you make a stitch gauge to get the right size. Basically we will be creating a back panel, 2 front panels & 2 sleeve panels on both sides, then we will stitch up the open sides and ass pockets for extra cuteness.

Sizing

 XS- bust 30"
 S- bust 34"
 M- bust 38"
 L- bust 42"
 XL- bust 46"

length is COMPLETELY up to you just make sure the 2 front panels match the back panel in length & width. I made my cardigan about 24-25 inches long.

* this cardigan is designed to be very fitted to the body, but it can also be made with a bit of ease & you can add ease by adding 2-4 inches to your original measurement and creating your pattern from there. exampe: 16 inches + 2 inches (ease) = 18 inches x 3= 54 chs to start the back panel

Stitch gauge
my gauge of HDC was = 3 sts per inch

so i used 3 as my # to multiply to find my size, i also used the https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/woman-size
 size chart to find my size shoulder to shoulder measurement , which was 14 1/2 to 15 inches so i multiplied 15 by 3 and got 45 . So my foundation chain to start the back panel was 45 chs.

 About the yarn

I used Red Heart "with love" it's a weight 4 yarn and it's SUPER soft, light weighht and perfect for a cardigan  the recommended hook is a 6.5 K hook each skein is 6 oz/ 170 g and 315 yards/ 288 m.

it's 100% premium acrylic fiber. It is also machine washable and you can put it in the dryer as well 

* however you can also hand wash and dry it to keep your cardigan nice looking*

Materials 

weight 4 worsted yarn ( with love red heart yarn )

J/10 6 mm hook

sewing needle

measuring tape

stitch markers

sedge stitch pattern 

 Multiple of 3+1

• place 1 hdc, 1 dc in the 2nd ch from the hook
• *skip next 2 sts
• place 1 sc,1 hdc, 1 dc in next stitch*
•  rep from * to * until 2 sts are left
• skip next st, sc in last st

GAUGE:

4 stitches & 2 rows = 1″

ABBREVIATIONS:

ch – chain
st(s) – stitch(es)
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
sk – skip

Pattern:

1. make a slip knot
2. ch XS 42, S 45, M 48, L 51, XL 51-54 ( sizes FOR A TIGHT FIT )

 3. hdc in the 2nd ch from hook and all the way to the end of the ch

4. ch 1, place 1 hdc & 1 dc into the 1st st

5.skip 2 sts , place 1 sc, 1hdc, 1 dc into the next st

repeat step # 5 until there are 2 sts left

6. skip next st and sc into last st

7. ch1 ,turn repeat step #4 - 6 for the complete pattern ( you can do as many rows as you like) i stopped when my back panel reached 24-25 inches in length.

this is what you should have so far, a panel as wide and long as you want it to be

Next we need to find the middle of our work by folding the panel length wise and place a st marker in the very middle (make sure you count your sts so your front panels will be even)

you will now need to continue the sedge stitch from the top of your back panel where your yarn should still be connected across to where the st marker is placed, repeat that row for as many rows as you would like i did around 46-47 rows for each front panel and i also had about 8 "sedge stitch clusters" measuring 8 inches across

XS 7-8 '' panels
S 7-8 '' panels
M 8-9 '' panels
L 9 - 10'' panels
XL 10- 11'' panels

this is pretty much what you should have now if you successfully completed a back panel and two front panels

Sleeves

 lay out the front panels and back panel so we can work on the sleeve panels

find the shoulder seam ( where you started making the front panel) and place a st marker there, then measure from the shoulder seam to where your armhole will stop

XS - 6 INCHES  total of 12 "
S - 7 INCHES     total of 14 "
M -7 INCHES    total of 14 "
L - 8 INCHES    total of 16 "
XL- 8 INCHES  total of 16 "

measure the front panel 1st

and the back panel 2nd,  your total should be double your armhole depth ( for me it was 14 inches )

so basically you are going to continue the sedge stitch from one stitch marker to the other and continue that with no increase for as many rows as you would like. do this on the other side of your cardigan also

XS - 16-17 inches
S -  17-18 inches
M -17 - 18 inches
L - 18- 19 inches
XL-  18- 19 inches

 here's what you should have so far

2 front panels ,1 back panel & 2 sleeve panels

now we need to fold our cardigan so it looks like an actual cardigan and we are going to stitch up the open sides with a really simple stitch. so where you see the green lines that's how you would stitch the cardigan up from the bottom to the top.

Now we are basically finished unless you wanted to add pockets and go around the neckline of the cardigan then continue following these steps

Neckline / shaping

in order to make my cardigan fit a little better i went around the whole cardigan to help create a certain shape, so basically i attach the yarn to the bottom front panel and continued the sedge stitch around to the other bottom front panel , i did this a total of 4 x which added about 1 1/2 - 2 inches to the front panels of the cardigan.

Pockets

1.  my pockets were 5'' x 5'' so i multiplied 5 by 3 and got 15
2. so i chained 15 
3. hdc,dc into the 2nd ch from hook, * sk 2 spaces, 1sc,1hdc,1dc in next st* rep from * to *, sk next st sc into last
4. repeat this pattern until you have 5 '' in length for you pocket
5. then we are going to place 4 st markers in each corner of the pocket to help it stay in place while we sew it to the cardigan 

6. sew the pocket's on the cardigan leaving the top open

We are officially finished with this super easy cardigan guy's , thank you so much for following my patterns i really appreciate it !!! please like , comment, subscribe & share my free blog patterns it really helps me out !! See you in the next tutorial

Video tutorial on my YouTube channel 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Am5jCSzeY

Click here