Measurement-Based Crochet Cardigan for All Sizes

1. Introduction: I believe what we wear should be a reflection of who we are, and that's our style, our fit, and our creativity. And that's why I designed this measurement based crochet cardigan. Instead of following rigid stitch counts or fixed sizes, you're going to learn how to build a crochet cardigan that fits your body and your vision perfectly. Hi, there. I'm Alena Charity, and I'm the owner of siting crochet.com. I'm a knitter and a crochet with an absolute obsession for yarn. Over the years, I have explored countless techniques, and one thing that I've come to settle with is the absolute freedom of crocheting without limits. And that means not following rigid crochet patterns. I'm not here to tell you what yarn to use or how many chains to make. That is all going to be up to you. My job here is to guide you through the structures, the stitches, and over the construction of the cardigan. And we're doing this no matter the skill level in your crochet. Beauty of DIY is that it allows you to make something that's absolutely truly yours. Alongside the step by step lessons, you're also going to have a downloadable PDF pattern that's going to guide you through every single thing. I know that not all of us are visual learners. Some of us love to have something to read on the side, so don't worry. I've got all of that covered in this lesson. At the end of everything, you're not just going to have your own customized crochet cardigan. You're also going to have the skills to make other customized cardigans or sweaters, that would truly fit you and your look. So let's get started. 2. Supplies: Talk about the supplies that you're going to need to achieve this cardigan. First and foremost is the big boys, which is the yarn. So like I said, you have the freedom to choose the yarn. I've got three types of yarn here to show you from. This right here is a chunky yarn. This here is a three ply yarn, and this is a four ply yarn. These are the yarns that I have at hand so far. And recently, I made a cardigan using a chunky yarn. Similar to how we're making this cardigan right here, it's all measurement based. And the drape with this is not doesn't flow as much as it would if you used a three pon or a four plon. But nobody wants to use the yarns to make a cardigan because it's going to take a while. So what I did was combine use two strands of the three plon which gave me a decay weight yarn. If you have a DC urn, it's easier to do that. I did that because I do not have a DC we urn. So because I used a decay weight urn, I had to use a five millimeter crochet hook for the body, and for the bottom bands or the sleeves and the collar, I went down to a four millimeter hook. Assuming you were going to use a chunkier yarn, I'm going to suggest you either make a gauge swatch. If you have a tight attention or a loose attention, it's going to depend on the size of hook that you need. But for this, I used a six millimeter hook for the body, and for the rest, I used a five millimeter for the cuffs and the collar. Besides the yarn, you are going to be needing a measuring tape because this right here will be your next love going forward, and I'm using one hand because I am holding the mic with the other hand, so you're going to have to forgive me for that. And besides the measuring tape, you need a stitch marker, and, of course, your scissors. And one thing I forgot to bring onto this set is your needle. You are gonna need this bad boy to weave in all the funny bits at the end so that we have a seamless and neat looking cardigan. 3. How to follow the progress chart: So, together with your PDF pattern or what the PDFs are, you're going to find this project tracker. Forgive me the words I think I made them a bit too big. So if yours prints like this, I apologize. I'm going to try and edit the PDF before you guys can get to print it. So you're going to write your start date here, and this will be the day where you actually start to cast, not the day that you decide to make this card again. So from the day that you start to cast on or make your chains, you're going to write that date here. And the day that you finish where you're actually blocking you're going to write that ending date here. Now, let's walk through everything. The designer, obviously, you can write yourself because you are designing your own cardigan. I am just directing you on how to do ABCD. The gauge, you want to write my gauge. I'm going to write my pattern gauge. This is especially if you are going to be using my a supply the supplies that I'm using. That is, you're going to use the same yarn as I did, the same hook as I did that you might want to follow my pattern gauge. And then you might want to write your gauge. If you're not, that's absolutely fine, but you just want to write your gauge for the sake of the future. You never know you might want to remake it and you want to know what gauge you had and then you want to come to the yarn section. So you're going to write the brand, fiber, the yards or the grams that you need, the color you used, where you purchased it from the cost because you might want to know this for the future. And then the hook sizes. So I did two lines because you're going to be needing two hook sizes. If you happen to need more, that I highly doubt two is the most that we're going to need, which is the main body and for the cups. And here will be any added notes that you need, especially when we have to do the math. Yes, there's math involved. It's not so complicated. It's just so that you know how many rows you need to do for the bag. Depending on how many rows you had for the front. And then here is where the fun stuff is. You're going to decide the surge you're making, and after you do that, you're going to be taking the progress. And I loved this part the most because it helped me work through my cardigan faster without winding, because, you know, working cardigans with big projects can be a bit tedious, but this right here kept me motivated because it showed me that I was actually making progress. And here, you're going to write your reviews in case there's something that you did different. And you might need to know in the future. And then you might as well write the card again and see how much you loved it. So you don't have to use this, to be honest. This is just to make it more interactive and fun. You can always leave this part out. I just wanted to make sure I clarify so that you guys understand what this thing is for. 4. Right Shoulder : We're going to begin by estimating how long you want your cardigan to be. So grab a measuring tape, measure it from your shoulder down to where you want the cardigan to reach. Make sure the measuring tape is touching moving by your breast and get into where you want it to reach. And be sure to start from the very center of your shoulder as I am showing right here so that you have the exact length of your cardigan. Now that you know how long you want your cardigan to be, we're going to start by making a slip knot, and you will make a chain long equivalent to the lead that you want your cardigan to be. So to make a chain, you just yan over and put through, yo. Pull through and keep in mind, we're using the main crochet hook, so that's a five millimeter crochet hook. So I will make my main chain. Once I have the inches that I want or the length that I want my cardigan to be, I'll be right back. So I'm all done with my chain. Now, next up, I want you guys to get a stitch marker, probably preferably one like this because we are going to count from the beginning of the chain, we're going to count ten stitches, and this is for all sizes. Ten stitches up because we're going to mark the tenth chain. So that we know that after we reach that place or the bottom area, that's where we're going to be placing our bottom band. So the chain where the chain is the stitch marker, I mean, Where the stitch marker is going to be, that is where we're going to be switching the four millimeter hook to work the bottom band. So let's count ten chains. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten. And I'm just going to place my stitch marker into that back bump right there. So to begin on the actual cardigan. So row one is going to be a row one and every odd row is going to be a half double crochet row. And to start a half double crochet row, I want you guys to turn your chain so that you're seeing the back or the back bump as some people like to call it or the back of the chain. If you prefer working in the front, that's absolutely fine, but I prefer working into the back because it makes the edging so much neater because we are going to be ing the edge to pick up stitches for the sleeves of the cardigan. So you're going to skip the first chain and then into the second chain, into the back bump, you're going to yarn over and place your first half double crochet. Oh, there we go. Half double crochet. And then into the second one, still working into the bug bum, we're placing our half double crochet, and we are going to be placing half double crochets going all the way down. So you keep placing your half double crochets just like I am doing. Once you reach the stitch marker, I will meet you because that's where we're going to switch hook sizes to the four millimeter hook to work the bottom band. Reaching the stitch marker, I'm just going to take out my five millimeter and bring in the four. And for now, I would just remove that stitch marker. And we're still working into the back bumps. We're now going to switch to the single crochet. So insert. You've got tulops on your hook anova, and you're going to put through both. And you're going to single crochet, all the way down. So ten stitches in total. And remember this is true for all sizes unless you want to switch it up and you want a longer bottom band. Remember, we're designing this card against ourselves to our fit and to our liking. So if you want more, you are free to leave a bit more. So that's the last one. Now off to row two. You chain one and turn. Now, from here on and the rest of the rows, to get the ribbed effect, we're going to be working into the back bump. So to work into the back bump, I'm going to bring this up close to you. This right here, that's the chain that we just made that stitch. So this V, the first V that you can see, that's the first stitch. So we're going to be going in between that V to work into the back bump. Nona Luka Yan. You've got two loops on the hook. Yarova. Put both. Let me do that again. You see that V right there, you're going to go into the center, loop that ya, pull it through Yanova, put through both. We have just made two and the idea is to have ten. Remember? Now I have one, two, three, four. I need six more to get to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten. Now we bring back this stitch marker, and we replace five millimeter hook. Now, row two and every even row, we're going to be switching to a slip stitch. And that slip stitch alternating between the slip stitch and the half double crochet is what's going to give us the ribbed effect. So to slip stitch, where spillwing into the backwoods, remember? So it's still going between that pulling through and pulling through. And you want to make sure that you're making this stitch as loose, not too loose because you want to maintain a good tension. If it's too tight, then your carb is going to cringe up and you're not going to like that. So you want to maintain quite a good tension. So personally, I hold my hooks this way and this way. And when I'm working the slip stitch through, I like to switch to this method because I find that my tension is less when I hold my crochet hook like this. So we're just inserting and pulling through. Inserting and pulling through just like that, and you're going to continue to do this all the way up to the top of your work. And once you get there, I will meet you. I have reached the top of my work, and I just want to use this chance to show you the ribbed or the effect because right now the pattern is about to start forming or it's starting to form. But what we're looking at, at the end, or as we're working row two, you will be facing the wrong side of the work. When you turn it, you're going to see that there's this ribbed the rib is starting to show. So start in row three. So this is the right side and this is the wrong side. Row three is just like row one, and going forward will be repeat in row three and row two. Or row one and row two. So I have chain one and ten, no, just like we did, we're back to a half double crochet row because there is an odd row and into that back bump or back loop. No back bump, sorry. You're going to go in there and place your first half table crochet, just like so. You'll be placing these half double crochets in the back loops. Going all the way down up until the stitch marker. While you're going to switch back to the four millimeter hook, single crochet down, chain one, single crochet up, up to the stitch marker, switch back to the five millimeter and you will slip stitch go the way up. So all we're doing now is alternate in between row one, which is the haftable crochet and row two the slip stitch. Up until your card digan reaches the length that you want. So I was just doing this for demonstrations sake. I had already done mine and I needed about 31 rows because I was trying to get 10 " because that's how long I want my card began to drop down my shoulder. So there we go. I've got my 10 ". I don't know if that was a form. But yes, I've got my 10 " because that's how low I want this to go. And I am making a size more, as I already mentioned. So if you're trying to copy what I am doing, and if you're using the same gun I am using, then go ahead and work 31 rows. After that, then I will meet you so that we can start working on the back. 5. Back: That we're done with our front right shoulder. It's just time to come back to our progress tracker. And I've already ticked off, we decided on the size. I have decided on the size. I have decided on the yarn. I didn't have to order. I just picked the yarn. My crocery supplies, gauge watch, I have made all the necessary measurements, and I have finished the right shoulder. So go ahead and take that because that just shows you that we're making our way. Yes, this is the easier part, and this is going to take a bit longer, but it's nice to see that we're making progress. On to the actual cardigan. Next, before we begin the back, it's time to determine how wide you want your arm opening to be. I have already done that, as you can see my stitch marker right here. So I wanted my arm opening to be about 7 ". So I measured 7 ", and that ended up being 25 stitches. So counting from the top coming down. I have counted 25 stitches. So you want to get your measuring tape and determine how long how wide. Some people don't want a buggy or oversized arm. So if you want yours to be a bit smaller, be sure to do so. But you want to make sure that this however long you leave is not too big and it's not too small, 'cause you don't want your arms to be so tight on you when the actual cardigan is meant to be slightly oversized. So I have left 25 stitches. And if you're not sure how many stitches to leave out, I have written in the I have rated down in gradien pattern, how many you can leave out. That's if you're using decay like I am doing, or if your gauge swatch is similar or close to mine. So now that we have that out of the way, let's get started on the actual back. First things first, you want to obviously we ended at the bottom of our work. So first things first, you want to work back to your stitch marker and make your ten single crochets for the bottom band. I have already done that, so you might want to post the video and do that. But otherwise, we're going back to it's our even row, so it's a slip stitch row. So into the back loops, I was just getting all set up. Into the back loops, insert your hook and place your first slip stitch. Let me just replace my marker. That's your first. Now, remember you have placed your marker on the stitch you want your sleeve to begin. So don't remove that. Don't lose that. So you're going to be slip stitching all the way up until that stitch marker. So obviously, you guys already know how to slip stitch. I'm going to go ahead and slip stitch off camera, and I'll meet you guys at the stitch marker. Now we are going to make a chain equivalent to the number of stitches that we have left. So if you're doing a small or if we're doing the same work, we're going to be chaining 25 plus one to turn. So 26. If you have left out, let's say, 30, 30 stitches, then you're going to be chaining 30 plus one to chain to turn. So 31. As for me, I will be chaining 25. One, two, three, four, five, six, four, 25, and one more, 26. So turning around back to an odd number roll. So this would be row one for the back. We are going to Yarova just like we did at the beginning. Skip that first chain into that second one, place your half double crochet. Then you replace half double crochet all the way down until we're going to connect the body. So connecting the body might be a bit tricky if you're not used to this type of crocheting, the crocheting style. So just continue to half double crochet up until the last one, and I'll meet you there so that we can connect to the main body together. I have reached I've got one more chain to work into, and to make it easier for you, I like to turn my work to the wrong side and hold it up to me like that because that last chain is hiding behind just like so. And if you look closely, you're going to see that it's that little bump right there that we need to work into. So after I do so, I like to twist my work back right way round and that right there is our first stitch for the rest of the body. There we go. Working into the back bum, you proceed to work just as normal. Going forward, you know how to do the rest. That's our first stitch for the back or first row for the back. And now all you're doing is still working into the back loop of that previous slip stitch row until the stitch marker, where you switch the formulmeter, and you single crochet down chain one, single crochet backup, and slip stitch your way back up. And you'll be alternating between those rows, which is what we've been doing for the rest of the work throughout for the back. As for how many rows you need to do. Oops. Funk sheet. As for how many rows you need to do. So I would do the mask depending on my size. So I'm going to come to the notes area, and we worked I worked 31 rows for the right shoulder. So remember, the pattern is going to tell you that you know how many rows you need to work for the back, you need to do the front. The number of rows for the front times two. Plus five. So 31 times two is 62 plus five is going to give you 67. So I know that I need to work 67 rows for the whole back. Now, 67 y, or maybe you're wondering why do we add the extra five? At the end of the cardigan. Obviously, we're going to be adding a color. I recently made a purple cardigan, and I made the mistake of not adding an extra rose for the center. So let me show you how this is going to work. You have the 31 rows for right shoulder, and you're going to have another 31 rows. So imagine the other 31 rows are right here for the left shoulder. And for the back, that means it would be comprising of 62 rows. So if you have 31 31 and the back 62 rows, the neck the sides would literally just meet right here. So when we would be placing the color of the cardigan, it would the neck area would just crunch up. I would have the color would not have space to rest. So we add the extra five rows to give a little room between the front, left the right and the left shoulder panel so that your color is more relaxed. I believe that makes sense. So continue your half table crochet slip stitch rolls up into however many rows you need for your back. I will meet you back. I will meet you guys after I have done 67 rows. So right now, I am going to put on my favorite show, and I am going to relax and crochet. 6. Left Shoulder : I have completed my 69 rows, 67, sorry, you are looking at a whole row of 67. I don't think I can get everything on camera. But so far, that's what I have. So this right here, where the stitch marker is. This is 31 rows. And in between these two stitch markers is it's the five rows all of us are going to have to give room for the color. And then this is the other 31 rows. So like the passion says, you should have ended at the bottom of your work. So we're going to be starting from the bottom of the work, and you're going to just start by chaining one. After you've changed one, we are going to I'm using the four millimeter hook. We are going to be single crocheting for a total of ten stitches. One, two, three, nine and ten. Grab your stitch marker and place it back in there. Just like so. Now, we're going to repeat what we did for the other corner, so I'm just going to lay my work, like so, and I'll take you back to the first to the right front, the right shoulder. Remember, the stitch marker, we left it at the 25th stitch. So I'm just going to remove that and do the exact same thing for this side. I'm going to count 25 stitches from the top, and I'll place my stitch marker because we're going to repeat exactly what we did this side, but for the left shoulder. So count from the top, however many stitches, the exact same number that you left this side, you want to count the same for this side, so it's going to be 25 for me. One, two, three, four, five, six, and 25. I'll place my stitch marker in there just like that. So going forward, what we're doing is we're going to be switching back to the five millimeter hook or whichever hook you need for the main body, and we're going to slip stitch up to the stitch marker followed by a chain equivalent to the number of stitches that we've left this side plus one, and then we're going to be making the left shoulder again. I'm not letting you guys go. I'm going to be showing you everything. Just a reminder. I will not be slip stitching with you guys all the way, so I want you guys to slip stitch from here all the way up to the stitch marker, then we'll make that chain together. I've arrived at my stitch marker. So since I have got 25 stitches, I will be making a chain of 25 plus one. So that will be a total of 26. One, two, three, four, five, four, 25, and 26, the last one. So the one is that extra one that we always have from the juice from the hook, sorry, from the hook. So we're going to be skipping that one into the bug bump, finding that second one from the second chain from the hook. And the first row going down, it's always a half double crochet robe. So we're going to half double crochet, half double crochet all the way down. And remember, there's that trick I told you previously of what we do when we get to the last chain that we're now starting to connect to the rest of the body. So I want you guys to have double crochet until you've got one more chain so that we can do it together. So into that last chain, I'm going to place my last half double crochet. Now remember, I say you twist it. So now you've got the right side facing you. Naturally that chain is going to lay like this and mostly because we were working into the back bump. Now you're going to twist it like so, and you're going to proceed. You're going to find that first stitch of the rest of the body, and you're going to continue with that row just like so. So this is row one. For the left front. And you're just going to continue going back and forth with the half double crochet, switching to slip stitch row, half double crochet, slip stitch row, not forgetting to switch the formimere for the single crochet bottom band. So you're going to continue doing the number of rows that you need for your left front. As for me, I need to do 31. So obviously, what you did for the right front is exact same thing you're going to do for the left front. So go ahead and do that. And then we're going to get started to the next part of our cardigan and reaching this far, you're more than halfway done. So don't worry, your cardigan is coming to life. 7. Closing the shoulders: That we're done with the whole body, it's time to close the body. So you're going to bring the right side facing you, as you can see, I want you to lay your work the same way. Now, I want you to bring the right shoulder and the left shoulder on top of your work, just like so. But right now, we're going to focus on one shoulder, so whichever you want, either the right or the left. So remember that I have got 31 rows on here. So I'm going to be counting 31 rows on this side as well. And if you remember, the stitch marked where that row ended. But just to count together, again, this is one, two. So ribbed stitches represent two rows. So this is one, two, four, six, eight, ten, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31, which is where my stitch marker is right here. So I'm just going to move that stitch marker. And bring in that if I was to wear it, this would be my right shoulder. Row one of my right shoulder, which is this one and where that stitch marker was was, I would just put them on top of one another so that they are aligned and use that stitch marker. So I have pinned both the right shoulder and the back just like so. Let's do that one more time in case I moved by that too fast. I want you to count 31. If you've done 50 rows, then you want to count 50, if you've done 25, you want to count 25. So I'm going to count 31, and obviously this is my 31st stitch. So let me just place a stitch marker. Let me just rest that in there. Now, you want to take your right shoulder or your left shoulder and row one, you want to connect that to your 31st stitch. So this is row one. I'm going to take my stitch marker, pass it through row one of that right shoulder, and into row 31 of the back just like that. Now, this means everything is nice and aligned. So I want to make sure that these corners are also aligned just like so. Next, you are going to be closing this part of your cardigan. So get your do. Here is mine. So to know how much tear you need, I like to measure this about three or four times the length. So one, two, three, and about four, and just a bit more for, like, just in case you need some more. So I'm going to start by inserting my yarn needle into the middle where I've connected everything. So usually, I like to use my crochet hook to do this, but this is also just fine. Whichever. That's why I said, whichever method you prefer, do it, but I'm going to show you guys this method. So you've gone through there, and all you're doing right here is just using the basic sewing techniques. Mine are probably bad. If yours are better that cared for you. But all I'm doing is going through and through. And you want to make sure that you're not going too low into your work. So just stick to about the first stitches. And you don't want to just stick to, let's say, this stitch only because that's going to make everything stretch out a bit. So you want to make sure you just your needle is going through one stitch, if that makes sense. It's going through one half double crochet. For the sake for security sake. This is all I'm going to do. Making sure you're keeping everything aligned so that the back and the front are aligned. Otherwise, if you go a few stitches forward and leave a few behind, you're going to find that you are left with something like this at the end. So you want to make sure that your stitches are very much well aligned as you continue to sew everything. So continue sewing all the way to the end. And what we did, you're going to do the same thing for the other shoulder. You will count in my case, I will count 31 stitches, connect, and sew to close. And in the middle, we will all have five stitches left. So continue closing your shoulders, and I will meet you right now that we're all done, I have just turned my body right way round so that you can see. So when you lay it down, you can see that the parts are kind of bulging out. It's not even. Don't worry. After we're done everything after we finished everything, the sleeves, the color, we're going to be blocking. So blocking helps the whole that can get into shape, and all the stitches helps all the stitches to relax. So so far, this is what our work is looking like. Now we're going to move on to working the sleeves. 8. How we will work around the sleeve: To add this sleeve, you want to make sure that your cardigan is facing the right way around, and this is what it looks like. Facing down, just like so. So we're going to be connecting the urn at the under arm right here, which is where your armpits are going to rest. So when we connect, we're going to make a long chain, and we'll be working back and forth and we'll be connecting to the opening of the sleeve. So we're going to be going clockwise so that the ribbing is on the outside. Of our cardigan. We're going to start from here. We're going to be alternating between our half double crochet and our slip stitch first, and we'll be connecting. As we go, I will show you how don't worry coming all the way around until here, and then we're going to close the scene. 9. Length of sleeves: So before we go further, let's just explain the length of your sleeve. The chain that you made right here is going to determine how long you want your sleeve to be. So we're going to be connecting on right here. So I'll show you two methods. You can either just make a slip knot, just like so, and then where that hook was. So in the middle, you're just going to slip through and slip through just like so. And then this will obviously the tail is going to be on the inside of your work. We'll weave that in at the end or another method that I like to use. You insert your hook into that midsection, bring your yarn, and just pull it through just like so. The short tail is going to be away from you. Then you're going to chain one. Then you're going to hold both ends and just tighten that. But I would suggest the first method because this means you're going to have to keep tightening it so that it stays in place. But whichever method you find more comfortable. So on how long you want your sleeve to be, that would depend on how many chains you're going to make. So I would suggest you make about 50 chains or 55, and then you wear your card again and see that and see where your chain is reaching. So the length of your chain is going to determine how long that sleeve is going to be. So what I did was after I made my chain, I did 55, by the way. So after I did 55, the chain was reaching just here on my wrist. And that was okay for me because, of course, after we wear our rolls, when the stitches start to settle or start to form, the actual sleeve when you wear it might come up somewhere here. But remember, we are going to block it. So after you block it, the stitches are going to come to where your original chain was if not lower. However, if you are looking for a longer sleeve, then be sure that chain the initial chain that you make reaches about the middle of your palm. After you start working back and forth the slip stitch in the halt a crochet, it might come up a bit, but after you block it, trust me, it's going to go back down. So make sure you're careful on this part. I would suggest you make about 55 or 50 depending on the yarn that you're using. If you're using a decay like mine, I would say make about 55 or 60 and then wear the cardigan and see where that chain is reaching. If it's too long, you can always take some off while you're still wearing the cardigan. It's too short, while you're still wearing the card, you can continue to make a bit more chains and see how many you need to get your desired fit. 10. Progress Check: Just going to come through and do a progress check with you guys using a cardigan tracker. So I finished the back. I already take that off, and I have finished the left shoulder. And we have seamed everything through. So far, we've got the right sleeve, left sleeve, collar, weaving the ends, and blocking to do. So the collar will not even take us that long. The sleeves are maybe what is going to take us a bit of a long time, but not too much. So we've really come to the hard parts, and we only have one, two, three, four, five more steps to go. 11. How to crochet the sleeve: I have my 55 chains, pause the video and make the number of chains that you need. So for me, I have 55, so I'm just going to add one more chain for turning to have a total of 656. And an extra one. So right now is where I need my four millimeter hook and my stitch marker. We're going to start by making the band, the bottom band, the sleeve band, sorry. And since we did ten for the whole cardigan, that's for the bottom of the cardigan. It's going to look neat if we also do ten for the sleeve. So we did single crochet for the body of the cardigan. But for the sleeve, since we need it to be nice and snug, we're going to do slip stitches. Using your formimeter and remember, we go into the back pumps. Into that second chain from the hook, you're going to go in there into the back pump and place your first slip stitch just like so. Then you're going to slip stitch for a total of ten, three for me, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten. If that was too fast, if I've moved too fast, remember, you can always pause the video, I'll get my stitch marker and place it in there. So when we're working the sleeve now, we are done with the single crochet until we have to work the color. So for now, we're going to put the single crochets on the break. So I'm going back to my five millimeter hook, and the first row going up is going to be the half double crochet row. So still working into the back bumps, you are going to do your half double crochets. The way up until you reach the first chain that you made. So go ahead and continue making your half top of crochets. I'll meet you at the top of our work so that I can show you how we joined to the sleeve. I have reached the top of my work, so now we're about to connect. Now, this part, I want you to pay attention. Remember that I said at the beginning, I said we should work into the backbs. I said that because now it's easy for you to see the stitches. You see these Vs going around the cardigan. The Vs are what each one of these represent those rows that sense for me, I skip 25 stitches. So counting from here going up to here or just all around. I should have 25 here, 25 here, a total of 50, meaning that my sleeve is going to be 50 stitches wide. So each of these V represent a stitch or represent where I am going to be joined in each and every robe. So in this case, I just worked my row one. So to finish off the row, you slip stitch to the sleeve. So that first V that you're seeing right there is my first stitch. So I'm going to go into that stitch. Both loops, you're not going to go into one loop. You're going into both loops, just like I did. Let me do that again. So that V is my first stitch, so I am going to insert my hook into both of those loops, just like so and slip stitch to join that row of half double crochet. So that's going to be one row. To start another row, we usually chain one, but in this case, we're going to be slip stitching. Into the next one. So that slip stitch for us is going to be like a chain one. Then you would turn. Still using the five millimeter, we're going to start slips, we're going to start with the slip stitch row now. So, pay attention. These two Vs that will look like stitches, are not stitches. These are the slip stitches that we did. The first one was the slip stitch we did to connect the half double crochet row. The second one was the slip stitch we did to start the slip stitch rows. So the first two slip stitches you are always always going to ignore. This will pose to be a challenge for you, then be sure you have a stitch marker so that after you make your first slip stitch, you place a stitch marker. And then after you make your second slip stitch, you place another stitch marker, so that when you turn to start the next row, you will know that you know to skip those first two stitches. So that's clear. You are going to find that third one, which is going to be the real stitch of the row, and into the back loop, you are going to place a slip stitch. Now, another thing, I like to just place a stitch marker because sometimes it can be hard it can be easy to lose these stitches because it kind of twists so it doesn't look as clear as the rest of the stitches that we're going to be working because now it's like you're turning. It's a turning stitch. So when you place that stitch marker, it reminds you that there's another stitch you should not skip. So row two is a slip stitch row. So that's all you're doing. You're going to be slip stitching down. After you reach your stitch marker, you're going to switch to a formllimeter hook and you're going to continue to slip stitch. Row three, you chain one, slip stitch up with the four millimeter, then you switch to the five millimeter, and you will have double crochet coming back up. So I will meet you back up here so that I can show you one more time how we connect to the sleeve. I'm working back up and I have got that one stitch marked so that I don't miss. I'm going to just work into that one, place my last half double crochet, just like so now. One more time. That right there, that stitch that's sticking up. That's where we did our previous drawing to start the slip stitch roll. Now for this half doable crochet row, we need to join to that next available stitch. Into there, we will slip stitch just like so. And that we've completed that half double crochet. To start the next row, we'll find that next available stitch, not chain, chain like stitch, and then we will slip stitch in there to begin the next row. So let me just address this before I go. If it's hard for you to find which stitch you didn't work into since we're going to be working down, it kind of does pull the stitch down, and you might find yourself working into that same stitch thinking you didn't work into that before. So after since I have just slip stitch into the stitch, I can also leave another stitch marker. Into that next available stitch that I haven't worked into so that I know when I'm coming back up with my half double crochet rope, I know to slip stitch into that one. So make sure you have yourself a handful of stitch markers. You place your stitch marker into there, and then into the first stitch that you work on going down so that you don't lose those two. So with that, you have, I believe you have understood everything. If it's not making sense, you can always rewind the class to where I started to join around the sleeve opening so that you know how we were doing it. As for now, I am going to continue working on the whole sleeve, so I will continue joining as I have taught you, all the way around. Until here. So after I have finished, I will come back so that I can show you how we can close this leaf together. 12. Closing the sleeves: Reaching this far, I have finished I have gone around my entire sleeve. I'm just going to lay it flat so you can see. So far, this is what I have. So I have gone around the entire sleeve opening, and I have come up to the end. And now what's left is joining the two sides to close the sleeve. So obviously, you don't want you see on the right side. So right now, I'm going to need you guys to turn your cardigan, your leave, so it's the other way around. So we agree to take this and put it through the other way, just like so and bring your bow of yarn through the hole, if it's still connected to your work there is. So bring it through the loop and outwards as well. Okay. Now that's done. Here's my working year. I'm going to grab my hook. I am going to be closing. I'm going to be seaming my sleeve using a slip stitch, personally, I like that and I feel like it's stronger, and I feel like it looks neat, as well. That's for when it comes to seaming these areas that is. So to do so, it's just like you're working a slip stitch. Only this time you're going to be working into both this side of this leaf and the other side of this leaf. So you want to make sure you align if you're going to use this method. You can always just chain one, leave a long tail, and take your needle and just weave through like we did the shoulders. But I'm going to show you this method. So I'm just going to chain one. To begin this. And I'm going to find the first stitch from this side, which is this one right here. And I'll put my hook five millimeter into the back loop, and then I'll do the very same thing for the other side, and that's this one right here. So that's the first stitch, and I'll also put my hook into the back loop of that one. And then I'll slip through everything. I'll find my second stitch. Now, if you hold it like this, you might think that's the stitch you want. But when you actually put the work right way around, so you're seeing the actual top of it, you're going to find that this is the stitch you want. Into the back loop, the same thing for the other side into the back loop. Let me do that again, like so, and slip stitch, that's all we're going to be doing going down. Once you get to that bottom band, where we're making that cuff, you're going to switch to a four millimeter or your smaller hook, your ribbing hook, and you're going to finish with the slip stitches. So this is all I'm going to keep doing going down. When I reach the stitch marker, the last ten for both sides, I will switch now to my four millimeter. So let me continue up into the stitch marker, and I will meet you so that we can switch and end the leaves together. I've reached the stitch marker. So now I'm going to put my five millimeter aside and bring my four and I'll just remove that stitch marker. And into the back loop of that, and into the back loop of the slip stitch, find the next stitch, same for the other side, and slip stitch. Just like it might feel a bit weird, but with time, eventually you're going to get the ham of it. Just like so, and you're going to continue doing this all the way up until the end of your work. I've only got a few more slip stitches to make, so I'll finish with you guys on camera. And one more. Just like so. And this is our seam. It's so neat and so strong. And when we turn it the right way around, that's what it looks like. So it looks for me, I feel like it looks so much neater than using a a needle. Youp a chain one, leave a bit of a tail. Grab your scissors. Cut the iron off and just pull that through and tighten. So remember, we're going to weave in everything at the end. But you've just finished one sleeve, and you want to go ahead and repeat this for the other sleeve. I have already done both sleeves, so let me just turn my work right way round. So you go ahead and repeat what we just did for that one sleeve for the other sleeve. And just to keep up with progress, I'm just going to come through and show you what we have done so far. I have finished my right sleeve, and I have finished my left sleeve. This is almost one thing I'm always excited to do when I'm crocheting on the gigs to just get to my progress sheet and see how far I am. So right now, it's safe to say that we're 95% done all now that's left to do is to finish the color. 13. How to crochet the collar: Now we're going to begin working our color, which is the final part of our cardigan. Let's talk about how we're going to do it. So the very same way we've been working the sleeve, especially when it comes to joining it to the rest of the body, that's exactly how we're going to be doing the color. We're going to be working the color exactly onto our cardigan, as well, and we are going to be using our smallest crochet hook. As for me, that would be my formimeter crochet hook. So if you remember, I had mentioned that you should work into the back loops or the bug bumps. That was to achieve these stitches because that's where we'll be joining our colors into. And the hard part, if you're a beginner, might be the center, the color, the five stitches we all have right here because there's not exactly stitches that would show as to where you are going to be working your stitches. So I'm going to ask you to take five stitch markers. So we can just point out the stitches so that you know where to work into. So I've got my five stitch markers right here, one, two, three, four, five. Okay. And I'll just turn it around. So it's facing the right way round. And we're going to be counting of stitches. Obviously, this is the first one. Sorry about that. I lost power for a bit. You're going to hold your work color so that you can see the five stitches. That's one, two, three, four, five, into every row, you're going to be placing a stitch marker. That's the first row. That's one. The next row is this rib row right here, one of the chains that you can see, on top of that, another stitch marker. And then the half double crochet roof is row three. The next ribbed roof would be row four. Finally, this half double crochet roof, making it roof five. So I've just left these in there so that we know this is where we're going to be placing our stitches at the top of our color. So now to begin on the actual color. I'm going to begin at the bottom right side. You can always begin even this side if you want. It doesn't matter. So grab your working yarn, and you want to make a slip. Now, grabbing the word, finding the very bottle, right there, I'm going to follow where that tail is coming in from because that's our initial foundation chain when we began working the right shoulder. Into that first stitch, join with a slip stitch. Slip your arm through and just slip it through. Exactly how we did the how we joined the underarm. After you've joined, this is now where you decide how long you want your quality be. If you want it to be slightly a bit longer, you're going to make it longer chain. However, I want mine to be five stitches long. One, two, three, four, and five. Plus one, the turning chain. I'm going to change six. What you're seeing here, this is going to be the length of my collar. So if you want your to be as long chain five, I recommend the lowest chain to be five unless you're using a very chunkier yard, then you can chain maybe four or three. I'm not sure what they would look like. But I would say 45 can be the minimum. Don't go above ten or 15. I feel like that's just going to cringe together the color. So five is a good number. Into that bug bump, turning that chain, you're going to go in there with single crochet. Into the second chain, one, into the next one, one single crochet. One single crochet, that's three single crochets, four single crochets finally. Five single crochets. We'll be joining into that very same stitch that we joined into because that's our first row. We join with a slip stitch just like we did with the sleeve. Then into the next stitch, following up, we slip stitch into there to begin the next row. Remember how we're connecting the collar is exactly how we were connecting the sleeve as well. We turn it around and remember those two first stitches that look vis are not the stitches, but rather where we slipstitch to join and where we slip stitch to start a new row. To get the ribbed effect, we're going to be working into the back loops, placing single crochets. That's my first, second, third, fourth, and my fifth, Chain one and ten, and still working into the back loops, single crochet, one, two, three, four, and five to join, you find that next stitch to join that row, just like so. Then that's complete in that row that we just worked. Start in your row and you slip stitch into the next stitch and you turn, skip those two, four stitches and single crochet. This is all you will be doing going all the way around your work. And when you get to the stitch markers that we left, you place you connect Oh, or we get to the stitch markers right here, you just insert your stitches right into there, where your stitch markers are. Make sure you're not going into one stitch at the very top because like I said, it's going to stretch out your work, go down so that you have quite a thickness where I've placed my stitch marker. Let me just take this out. As you can see, this was a half double crochet. This was a half double crochet. You should just go into one loop like this one for me that would stretch out my work and would leave my colors with a bit of hose. So you want to go down a stitch. In my case, I would go into here to place to connect my row. I believe that makes sense. So since you know how to join as we go, I'm going to let you guys work at the rest by yourselves. If it's hard, please be sure to let us know the comments or the discussion area, and I'll be more we can discuss together, and I can describe how we do it, but just to show you, one more time, how we connect. I know this can be quite challenging for people that maybe it's a new method too. So one more time, how we connect single crochet, just like so when you reach the color. So that's my third. Fourth and fifth. When you reach the color that you're joining, you will find that next available. Stitch along the corner. You will slip stitch to join to finalize that row. To start a new row instead of chaining one, we slip stitch to the next stitch and turn, and that's all you're doing all the way around. You skip the first two, four stitches and you make five single crochets back and forth, back and forth, and you're going to do this coin all the way around up until you reach the other end, so the other side of your color. 14. Weaving in all ends: So that finalizes my collar, and I'm just going to make a chain of one, grab my scissors, leave a bit of a tail. Snip that off and just gonna pull that through, just like so. So with the work all done, the final part is to just weave in all the ends. So I've got some ends to weave in right here, this part and the other end of the collar where we begun on the sleeves, both sleeves and somewhere around the neck, right there. So I'm just going to get my needle and host up. I'll show you how we weave in the ends. This is the one that I like to use. If you've got anything different from mine, that's absolutely fine. So I already showed you how to weave in one end. So how we did that one is just how we're going to do this, as well. So I'm just going to turn my work upside down like so, and I will just start weaving in on this side, on the chained end where we had our first row of the color. And I will just go in, weaving in and out like, so until I feel or believe it's safe to cut. But right now it's not safe to cut because I only had five chains right here. So I'm going to go through this side as well. And if you recall, we already had another chain, but you can't even see it. It's not this one, not worry. That was just some that was left over. So going through, like so, like so. And as we do this, like, the yarn is getting weaved in into the rest of the work. And as others like to do, I prefer it being the inside of your work. So this is the inside of your colu. So others would like to just go through. I do this. I'm not with others L I don't do it. I do it too. S. You could just go through the stitches at the very top just like so. So this way, if it was to probe out, you can always capture it or cut it off. That's I'm talking about. The answer is, if it was to stick out, it's okay because it's not going to be shown to the rest of the world, and your cardigan will still be left quite neat. So this far, I think I have weaved in quite enough. Gonna get my scissors. And like I always say, I like to pull it out a bit, get my scissors and cut that off, and then I like to stretch it out again, just like so. And I have weaved that in. I'll go ahead and repeat that for this part, this end. So for the sleeves, I like to just use. So that seam that we used the slipstich that we did to connect both sides, I like to just weave it into that on the inside of the work, and it won't show. So you do that for the both sleeves and you do what we just did for this side of the color, for the other side of the color. And then for the neck area. So the yards that you had on the neck, you can also just weave in along the neck while you were single draining this slip stitch to connect the color and the rest of the body. So go ahead and weave in your ends, and then we will go on to that last final part. And this far, you are all done with you crocheting, all that's left to do is block. So before we go any further, let's just do another project tracker. So we have finished our color, and we have weaved in all the ends. This far, all that we're left to do is block. 15. Pre Blocking: So here I am wearing that finished card again, and obviously it's before blocking, so it looks a bit too cropped or the hand, if you can see, my sleeve is not reaching where I wanted it to reach because the initial chain that I made, I wanted the sleeve to reach right there. So this is what it looks like before we block, and I'll give you a 360. That's the back. And you can see where my collar is laying. So after we block, they will drop a bit more, as well as as the stitches will relax, it will relax. I will get slightly longer. So after I finish blocking, I will try and wear the same clothes. So maybe you can see a difference, and I'll try and move back so that you can have a proper angle of what it looks like right now. So let's go and block. 16. How to block the cardigan: You want to find a bucket or whatever you have big enough to hold your cardigan. Now, you want to put some soap in there, any soap that you want, and you're going to soak your cardigan in. And you see me gently pressing it down, making sure the whole cardigan is very nice and soaked. And now, after you do that, you want to leave it in the bucket for about ten to 15 minutes. After the time has elapsed, now it's time to take it out and squeeze the water out. Now, you want to do this. You don't want to twist and squeeze. You want to do just as I'm doing, squeezing it. And obviously, this is not going to take out all the water, but not to worry. We're going to press it to get some water out. So you want to repeat this a few times. So after you get to the bottom, like I'm doing, you're going to go back to the top and squeeze as much water as you can. Make sure, like I said, you're not twisting because if you twist, you might pull on the stitches and you don't want to do that. Now that we're all done, it's time to squeeze it some more. And I'm just gonna find a towel. Find a towel, whatever you have. I recommend a towel and you want to lay nice and flat on your towel so that you can squeeze out the excess excess water that we have left. So after you've straightened everything out and laid it properly, you're gonna fold the towel with the cardigan inside and just roll it just like I'm doing in this video. And we're doing this so that we can squeeze any excess water that's left. So you can use your hands, but that doesn't do much. So standing on it, putting all of your weight on it is going to help take all the excess water. Now, after you're done, you want to take another towel, a dry one, and lay it flat just like I've done and let it dry for however long it takes. 17. Post Blocking: In love. I am in love. Like I said, I would wear the same clothes, and I did just that. And I'm sure you can already see the difference from the sleeves. Look at that. Already. I remember before when I was holding it up, the sleeve was somewhere up here, even when it was down. But now, Everything is where I wanted it to be. The initial idea I had of the sleeve, it's reaching exactly where I wanted it to reach. And the card again, it has now lowered because before it was somewhere up here, now down there. And this was the initial chain that I made because I wanted to go from right here to here, and it's exactly what I have. And the back, this is what it's looking like. So far, this is how low my shoulders have dropped. Not too low, and it's exactly what I wanted. So this is the power of blocking when the stitches relaxed, and I've noticed that the and I'm using, as I keep washing it, it might kind of increase just a bit more, not too much because I have made this for my sister before, and I decided I'm going to make myself one. So the one I made for my sister, I noticed that after she washed it, and she handwashes it, by the way. So after each and every wash, there's a little bit of an increase, not too much when she wears it, it still looks beautiful breathtaking. But this is what we have. I'm in love. 18. Outro: In this f, you have completed your own customized cardigan and you have made this cardigan to fit you, your body size, your type, and you have made it to a length that you prefer. Now remember, if there's anything that was a bit confusing or you need more clarification with, there's that discussion area that you can always write something in question or a concern that you have, and I'll be more than happy to respond and get back to you. I cannot wait to see pictures of the color, the design, the yard that you used to make your card digan. I cannot wait to see the different variations that have come out using this technique that I have taught you in this class. Until next time, see you later.