I have finally completed the pattern for the crochet sweater I designed for World Vision Knit for Kids (formerly Guideposts Knit for Kids) charity.

Some Points About the Pattern to Keep in Mind

Please note that this is NOT an approved pattern.  I sent three sweaters and the pattern to Knit for Kids when it was being administered by Guideposts, and never heard from them.  You are certainly free to use the pattern to create sweaters for your little ones.  I did send them a sweater based on this pattern and got the usual “thank you” post card back, so they are probably just happy to receive a sweater, regardless of how it was made. So it’s your decision as to whether you send them sweaters made from this pattern.

Oh … one more thing.  The pattern hasn’t been tested.  Well, yes, I did make sweaters, but I’m not 100% certain that it will crochet to the correct sizes.  I’m also not sure about the yarn quantities.  I think I’ve overestimated them, so you will probably have more than enough to complete a sweater.

Grading the Pattern

I must say I actually had fun figuring out the changes in the pattern for the different sizes, math-challenged as I am.  I thought I could use an algebraic equation to figure out, for example, the number of chains required in the foundation chain for the body of sizes 4 through 10.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t for the life of me remember the right equation.  So here’s what I did instead.

Size     # chains            Total sts                     Length of body

2           36                34 (28 hdc, 6 sc)                  9.5″

4           41                39 (32 hdc, 7 sc)                 10.5″

6           43                41 (33 hdc, 8 sc)                 11.5″

8           46                44 (36 hdc, 8 sc)                 12.5″

10         50                48 (39 hdc, 9 sc)                 13.5″

I knew all the quantities for the size 2 because that’s the size I crocheted to create the pattern.  I also knew the measurements for the length of the remaining sizes (last column, based on the schematic in the 10th anniversary knit pattern).  Then I used the size 2 teal sweater to get the gauge for the half double crochet (hdc) and single crochet (sc) stitches over 4 inches.  From that figure, I could determine how many stitches and rows are in one inch.  Finally, from those figures, I determined how many hdc’s and sc’s I needed for the other sizes.  Add 2 chains to turn and, voila!, the number of chains for the foundation row of each size.

I did the same thing to determine how many chains to make for the sleeves, i.e, get the sc gauge and use the measurements in the schematic to figure out how many chains are required over the length of each sleeve size.

The only number that I didn’t figure out was how many stitches to crochet across the first row of the body of the sweater because I didn’t determine the number of rows across the body (the body is crocheted vertically, the yoke horizontally).  But I figured that wasn’t important as long as you follow the pattern, increase one stitch every other row, and end by crocheting one sc in the top of the last row before adding a chain for the sleeve.  Those increases keep the top of the body from puckering as the yoke is added.

This will all make sense once you take a look at the pattern.  You can find it in the Free Crochet Patterns section of this blog. Let me know whatcha think or if you have questions.