Whimsical Cardigan

Free Crochet + Knit Pattern

I have been struggling to find my style for a while, nothing ever really clicked with me perfectly. But when the "whimsy twee" style got it's name, I instantly knew that it was mine! I think everything about it truly captures who I am: it's fun, creative, whimsical, and most importantly, it focuses on DIY! That's what really inspired me to make this cardigan—I wanted something cute and cozy, with stripes, textures, and fun little appliques!

This was also my second time ever knitting (my first was just a scarf) so this is a very beginner-friendly cardigan pattern because it's knit flat!

Materials And Terminology

You'll need your basic crochet materials: yarn in whatever colours you like, a crochet hook which matches your yarn size, stitch markers, scissors, and a large yarn needle. If you're knitting your cardigan, you'll also need knitting needles in your chosen size.

This crochet pattern is written in US terms, with the following abbreviations:

• SC: single crochet
• INC: increase
• DEC: decrease
• SLST: slip stitch
• HDC: half-double crochet
• DC: double crochet
• CH: chain

What I used:

I used a variety of yarn types and colours, sticking with browns and navy blues and a pop of red! I wanted it to be warm, so I doubled the strands of thinner yarns, sometimes even combining two different yarns. Mine turned out very autumnal, so I might have to make a second spring-coloured one at some point...

• 6.0mm straight needles (body)
• 5.0mm straight needles (wrist cuffs)
• 5.0mm crochet hook (appliques)
• 3.0mm crochet hook (ladybug heads and apple stem)
• Felting needle
• Lion Brand Homespun (body and sleeves)
• Loops & Threads Somerset in Brown (sleeves)
• Loops & Threads Somerset in Navy (sleeves)
• Worsted weight navy yarn (sleeves and ladybug)
• Worsted weight deep red yarn (ribbing and appliques)
• Fine weight light gold yarn (sleeves)
• Fine weight brown yarn (sleeves and apple stem)

I got all my yarn for this project second-hand, so the majority did not come with any information about them. They are all primarily acrylic yarns.

General Cardigan Instructions

This cardigan is super easy to make, and it's made to measure! Yes, that does mean you will have to take some measurements and do a bit of math. You can either knit it like I did, or crochet, or use a combination of both! You can also use any stitches you like! I suggest making a small swatch of your chosen ribbing and main body stitch so you can see how many stitches you need per inch, and how much your fabric ends up stretching.

Note: I labelled the front panels based on how you would be looking at them while knitting and sewing the cardigan together. Once you put in on, however, the "left" panel will end up on the right side of your body, and the "right" panel will end up on your left.

Here's a more thorough description of each measurement. You can either measure your own body (first instruction), or lay down a cardigan or sweater with your desired fit and measure it (alternative instruction). Keep in mind that the shoulders and sleeves will have an extra two inches of ribbing added at the end, while the body panels will have the ribbing knitted first. Thus, you may need to subtract 1-2 inches from the shoulder and sleeve measurements (only if you want a very fitted cardigan).

• Cardigan Width (CW): Measure as loosely as you like around your waist, and divide by 2. Alternatively, measure your sweater's width (do not divide by 2).
• Front Panel Width (CW/2): Since the two front panels will add up to the width of the back panel, simply take your CW and divide it by 2.
• Cardigan Length (CL): Measure from the top of your shoulder down to wherever you want your cardigan to stop. You can make it as short or long as you like! Alternatively, measure your sweater's length.
• Cardigan Shoulder (CS): Measure from the bottom of your neck to the end of your shoulder. Depending on the drape of your fabric, your cardigan may stretch off the shoulder a bit. Adjust accordingly. Alternatively, measure your sweater's shoulder.
• Button Height (BH): Measure the length you want for the button-up section of your cardigan. I suggest at least CL/2, or even longer if you want more coverage over your chest.
• Sleeve Width (SW): Measure very loosely around your armpit, as wide as you want your sleeves to be. Alternatively, measure your sweater's sleeve width at the very top, and multiply by 2.
• Sleeve Length (SL): Measure from the top of your shoulder to your wrist. Alternatively, measure your sweater's sleeve length.
• Wrist Width (WW): Measure around your wrist, as loosely as you would like the cuffs to be.

As a reference, here's what I chose as my measurements. I'm a size small, but I wanted my cardigan to be nice and baggy. You'll also notice that my front panels are slightly larger than the back panel divided by 2 (19/2 = 9.5, my front panels are 10 plus ribbing)—I did this to make sure I had plenty of chest room! If you find that sweaters or cardigans tend to be tight around your front, you may want to add an inch or so as well.

Once again, here's how the above measurements look on me:

Now let's get to the knitting!

Back Panel

Choose one type of stitch to use as your ribbing, and one to use for the main body. You could even mix and match stitch types. This sweater would look absolutely adorable with a crochet granny square or mandala back panel! Get creative!

1. Cast on/chain the number of stitches you need to get your CW, using your ribbing yarn.
2. Knit/crochet your bottom ribbing until you get your desired ribbing height. I knit a 2x2 rib until it measured 2.5 inches, which ended up being 12 rows.
3. (Optional) Switch to your body-colour yarn.
4. Knit/crochet the remainder of your back panel using your main body stitch until it measures your CL. I knit a simple stockinette stitch until the panel measured 18 inches.
5. Cast off your knitting, or finish off your crochet. You do not need to leave a long tail for sewing.

That's it! Your back panel is done!

Front Panels (Make 2)

The front panels are just slightly more complex—you will need to decrease. If both your ribbing and your main body stitch are reversible (i.e. they look identical on both sides), you can knit/crochet the same panel twice and just flip one of them over. However, if either one of your stitches is not reversible, you will have to knit two mirrored panels. The 2x2 rib is reversible, but stockinette stitch (front and back shown below) is not, so I had to knit two mirrored panels.

via Gathered.how

You will start knitting/crocheting the front panels the exact same way that you did the back.

1. Cast on/chain the number of stitches you need to get your CW/2, using your ribbing yarn.
2. Knit/crochet your bottom ribbing until you get your desired ribbing height. Make sure you do the same number of rows as you did for your back panel. I knit a 2x2 rib for 12 rows.
3. (Optional) Switch to your body-colour yarn.
4. Knit/crochet your main body stitch until you reach your BH. I knit a stockinette stitch until I had 7 inches (+ my 2.5 inch rib).
5. Start decreasing. All your decreases should be on the same side, creating the slanted section. Depending on your BH, you may need to decrease more rapidly (e.g., every single row), or less rapidly (e.g., every third row) to get to CS.
6. Continue decreasing until the top of your work measures CS. I decreased every other row on my purl rows using P2TOG, for approximately 6 inches.
7. Continue to knit/crochet without any decreases until you reach your CL. I knit 3 additional inches here.
8. Cast off your knitting, or finish off your crochet. You may choose to leave a tail long enough to sew the shoulder to the back panel.

Here's a little diagram that shows which steps correspond to which portions of the panel:

Repeat the above instructions for your second panel. If you are knitting two mirrored panels and decreasing every other row, you will decrease at the start of every other row for one panel, and at the end of every other row for your second panel.

Sleeves (Make 2)

The sleeves are another opportunity for some creativity. You can use different stitches, different yarns, or make them plain! I wanted mine to be striped, but full of different stripe widths, shades and textures! I made mine nice and baggy, and gently tapered. At the end, the sleeve quickly decreases to create gathers and knits into a tight cuff.

1. Cast on/chain the number of stitches you need to get your SW, using your ribbing yarn.
2. Knit/crochet your sleeve stitch. I knit a simple stockinette stitch for the entire sleeve.
3. (Optional) Every 1-5 rows, switch colours to create stripes.
4. To taper your sleeves, decrease at the start and end of a row. I did this every 4-5 rows.
5. Continue to knit/crochet, decreasing every 4-5 rows, and changing colours and stitches as you like. Stop when you reach your SL.
6. Count the number of stitches you have, and calculate the number of stitches you need based on your WW.
7. (Optional) Switch to your cuff ribbing colour. I also switched to slightly smaller needles for a snug fit.
8. Decrease throughtout your last row to get to WW. I did a pattern of K1, P2TOG.
9. Knit/crochet your cuff ribbing stitch until you reach a desired cuff length. I knit a 1x1 rib for a total of 10 rows.
10. Cast off your knitting, or finish off your crochet. You may choose to leave a tail long enough to sew the cuff together.

Repeat the above instructions for your second sleeve. If you want both sleeves to be completely identical, or if you want to avoid second sleeve syndrome, knit both sleeves at the same time. For example, I would knit 2-5 rows on one sleeve (until I either changed colours or decreased), then knit the same rows on the other sleeve.

Sewing Instructions

Before we start on the front ribbing, we need to sew our panels together! You can use the same yarn that you used to knit each part, or for a cute scrappy look, you can use a contrasting yarn for certain seams. I used my red yarn to sew the shoulders to the back panel.

1. Place your back panel down with the wrong side up. Place your two front panels on top, right side up, lining them up with the top, sides, and bottom of the back panel.
2. Fold your sleeves in half, and arrange them as shown, so the fold is at the top and the opening is at the bottom.
3. Sew along the pink arrows, as shown. For the sides, use the sleeves as a guide so you know where to stop sewing.
4. Sew the sleeves onto the body, keeping the seam facing the bottom and the fold facing the top.

Now you're ready to work on the front ribbing!

Front Ribbing

The front ribbing goes from the bottom of one front panel to the top of the shoulder, around the back, and down to the bottom of the other front panel. If you're crocheting your rib, you don't need to worry about that, but if you're knitting, you may want to use circular needles if you have them. I only have straight needles, so I knit the ribbing on each panel separately.

These instructions will explain how to add button holes to your ribbing. If you don't want buttons on your cardigan, simply knit/crochet your ribbing until you get your desired width.

1. Plan out how many buttons you want and space them evenly along the bottom straight edge of the panel, with each button hole measuring 2-3 stitches wide (I chose 3). Mark these stitches with a stitch marker along one of your panels so you know where to add the holes.
2. (Optional) If you're knitting, pick up all the stitches along the inside of the front panel, starting from the very bottom ribbing.
3. Knit/crochet your front ribbing until you get about half of your desired ribbing width. I knit a 1x1 rib for a total of 4 rows.
4. Add button holes on one of your panels' ribbing. I chose my left panel, as shown in the diagram. To do so:
   1. Knit/crochet until you reach your first hole marker. [Row 5 started]
   2. Cast off (SLST if crocheting) 3 stitches. Knit until the next hole marker.
   3. Repeat step B for the remaining holes.
   4. Knit/crochet until the end of the row. [Row 5 completed]
   5. Knit/crochet until you reach your first hole marker. [Row 6 started]
   6. Cast on (CH if crocheting) 3 stitches. Knit until the next hole marker.
   7. Repeat step F for the remaining holes.
   8. Knit/crochet until the end of the row. [Row 6 completed]
5. Continue to knit/crochet until you reach your desired ribbing width. I knit a 1x1 rib for a total of 10 rows.
6. Knit the other panel without any holes.
7. If you knit your front panel on straight needles in two sections, sew the seam together.
8. Add your buttons:
1. Line up the bottom ribbing on the front panels.
2. Pin/mark the inside of your button holes on the opposite rib. Count rows and stitches for extra accuracy.
3. Sew your buttons onto the points you pinned/marked.

And that's it! Your main cardigan is now done! If you want it to look even cuter, you can decorate it with some appliques!

Ladybug Applique

These ladybugs are quite small, so I combined crochet with emboidery and needle felting to make them look cute and detailed!

1. Start with your body colour (red) and make a magic circle. Chain 1.
2. DC 12 into a magic circle. [12]
3. Fasten off, leave a long tail for sewing, and cut your yarn.

Now we will crochet the head onto the body. Start by joining your head colour (navy blue) into any stitch on the body. Go through the back loops only to make the colour change cleaner. This join will count as a SLST.

1. HDC into the same stitch that you joined into. [2]
2. DC 2 into the next stitch. [4]
3. HDC, then SLST into the next stitch. [6]
4. Fasten off, leave a long tail for sewing, and cut your yarn.

Here's a crochet chart if you prefer reading those:

For the details, just embroider or needle felt a line across the middle, and use french knots to make the spots! Remember, your ladybugs don't have to be perfect, they will look adorable regardless! Arrange them however you like on your cardigan, and sew along the outside.

Apple Applique

For the apple, I followed this Apple Granny Square Pattern, and I omitted the leaf. I sewed it on around the sides and bottom only, making it into a little pocket!

Additional Details

You can get super creative with the fun details you add to your cardigan! Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

• Use scrap yarn to embroider some "visible stitches" along any seam
• Use fun buttons to decorate the panels or sleeves
• Add a vintage pin, or make your own using a safety pin and beads
• Embroider dots, vines, leaves, flowers, or other details onto the panels

All Done!

You just finished making your whimsical cardigan! If you decide to post it on social media, I'd love to see it! Feel free to tag me on any of my socials! You can also DM or email me any questions or feedback you may have!

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