Someone on Discord asked about the construction of a basic crochet sweater, for freehanding purposes, so I thought I'd write out my usual process.
First, make two equal sized square panels. (Or rectangles. A standing rectangle if you want a longer sweater, lying if you want a cropped sweater.) Large enough to cover your front/back, so that they can be joined at sides and shoulders without strain. A little wider than your shoulders, so that the sleeves can drape more naturally over your shoulders. (Every body is different though, so you may have to adapt this basic construction to your circumstances. Side panels can be used to adjust for a larger body. I have no experience with adjusting for a boobylicious body, so you're on your own there.) Use whatever technique you want. The way the garment stretches varies between techniques, so take that into account. Usually you'll want an equal stretch in any direction, or a stretch across the body rather than along it. But if you want a form fitting sweater then a stretch that goes along the body might work better.
2. Join the front and back panels at the sides and shoulders, leaving suitable size openings for the neck and arms. I usually join with single crochet from the back. (In the case of this moss stitched sweater I joined with moss stitch.) You'll now have a vest type garment that you can check for fit. Don't weave in any of the ends until you've checked the fit. If the fit is off you can still frog the joins and adjust the size of the panels.
3. The sleeves I stitch in the round directly from the holes left for the arms. Just straight out at a 90 degree angle from the body. If the garment has enough drape the angle of the sleeves will not be a problem. (If you know that you have a tight tension you may want to work with a larger hook to create the looseness/drape that the garment needs.) I start at the armpit, to hide the join under the arm, and turn after every round. The sleeves can also be done in whatever technique you want. In the above example I've done the sleeve in a dc-ch mesh, which fits neatly on the moss stitched body. I like a wide sleeve so I don't taper them at all, but you can taper by decreasing if you want.
4. I often finish the sleeve with a ribbed cuff, because practical, but that's optional. My ribbing of choice is sc blo stitched directly onto the sleeve opening. Other optional extras are stitching around the neckline or bottom edge. A picot edge can look really nice, so can a turtle neck or ribbed collar.
this is pretty much where I've settled! theres a couple on the back also. I'm basically just using slightly more secure tacking stitches to attach them:)
In the third stitch from the red chain, ch 10
skip 2 st, 8 hdc [8]
slst and cut off extra yarn, weave in from behind
Head (green yarn) - 00:31:00
R1: ch 14, slst in the first ch making a circle
R2: ch1, hdc2tog, 10 dc, hdc2tog, slst ch 2 [12]
R3 dcinc, 2 dc, 6hdc, 2dc, dcinc, slst ch 2 [14]
R4: 2 dc, 3 hdc, 4sc, 3 hdc, 2 dc, slst ch 1 [14]
Cut off yarn
Upper lip - 00:40:15
At the 5th st from the head, insert green yarn
R1: ch2, dcinc, 6dc, dcinc [10]
R2: ch2, turn dc2tog, 6dc, dc2tog [8]
R3: ch2, turn dc2tog, 4dc, dc2tog [6]
R4: ch2, turn dc2tog, 2dc, dc2tog [4]
ch1, cut off extra yarn
Lower lip - 00:47:44
R1: ch1, 6 hdc [6]
R2: ch1, turn hdc2tog, 2hdcdc, hdc2tog [4]
ch 1 turn
Attach red mouth piece and tongue by sc in every stitch, slst,
Cut off extra yarn and weave in
Stuff in
Eyes (white yarn) x2 - 00:53:40
R1: MR, 6sc in MR [6]
R2: slst, ch1, 6 sc [6]
slst and cut off extra yarn
Glue on eyes and heads for pupils
Attach head and tail at opposite ends,
Put stitch marker 4 st away from each direction for limbs
Legs x4 - 01:01:24
ch7, slst, skip 1 st st, 2 slst, (ch2, skip 1st st , 2 slst) *2, 4 sc, slst
Cut off and weave in yarn
Abbreviations + additional links under the cut
Abbreviations
R1 = Row 1
MR = magic ring
ch = chain
st = stitch
slst = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
hdc = half double crochet
inc = increase
dec = decrease
dc2tog = double crochet 2 together (used for decreasing)
hdc2tog = half double crochet 2 together (used for decreasing)
[12] = the amount of stitches you should get for that row (especially for increase/decrease instructions)
See this article about the abbreviations + video showing how to do a magic ring: https://catherinecrochets.com/what-does-mr-mean-in-crochet/
Another article about abbreviations : https://joyofmotioncrochet.com/crochet-abbreviations-and-terms/
Here's another article, showing some of the differences between USA vs UK abbreviations: https://peacefulcrochet.com/us-vs-uk-terms/
after three books, six magazine articles, and four chapters of reading about the mechanics and engineering of how it all works (doubleweave, supplemental warp, turned monk's belt, overshot-as-doubleweave) I can feel this book changing my brain.
everything in here is doable on four shafts and I am pretty sure this is the resource I will use for aleatoric dice driven weaving because it is laid out with the many treadlings available for each threading, often 15+ possibilities.
In the third stitch from the red chain, ch 10
skip 2 st, 8 hdc [8]
slst and cut off extra yarn, weave in from behind
Head (green yarn) - 00:31:00
R1: ch 14, slst in the first ch making a circle
R2: ch1, hdc2tog, 10 dc, hdc2tog, slst ch 2 [12]
R3 dcinc, 2 dc, 6hdc, 2dc, dcinc, slst ch 2 [14]
R4: 2 dc, 3 hdc, 4sc, 3 hdc, 2 dc, slst ch 1 [14]
Cut off yarn
Upper lip - 00:40:15
At the 5th st from the head, insert green yarn
R1: ch2, dcinc, 6dc, dcinc [10]
R2: ch2, turn dc2tog, 6dc, dc2tog [8]
R3: ch2, turn dc2tog, 4dc, dc2tog [6]
R4: ch2, turn dc2tog, 2dc, dc2tog [4]
ch1, cut off extra yarn
Lower lip - 00:47:44
R1: ch1, 6 hdc [6]
R2: ch1, turn hdc2tog, 2hdcdc, hdc2tog [4]
ch 1 turn
Attach red mouth piece and tongue by sc in every stitch, slst,
Cut off extra yarn and weave in
Stuff in
Eyes (white yarn) x2 - 00:53:40
R1: MR, 6sc in MR [6]
R2: slst, ch1, 6 sc [6]
slst and cut off extra yarn
Glue on eyes and heads for pupils
Attach head and tail at opposite ends,
Put stitch marker 4 st away from each direction for limbs
Legs x4 - 01:01:24
ch7, slst, skip 1 st st, 2 slst, (ch2, skip 1st st , 2 slst) *2, 4 sc, slst
Cut off and weave in yarn
Abbreviations + additional links under the cut
Abbreviations
R1 = Row 1
MR = magic ring
ch = chain
st = stitch
slst = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
hdc = half double crochet
inc = increase
dec = decrease
dc2tog = double crochet 2 together (used for decreasing)
hdc2tog = half double crochet 2 together (used for decreasing)
[12] = the amount of stitches you should get for that row (especially for increase/decrease instructions)
See this article about the abbreviations + video showing how to do a magic ring: https://catherinecrochets.com/what-does-mr-mean-in-crochet/
Another article about abbreviations : https://joyofmotioncrochet.com/crochet-abbreviations-and-terms/
Here's another article, showing some of the differences between USA vs UK abbreviations: https://peacefulcrochet.com/us-vs-uk-terms/
romaincrisis
