Mellow Waves: Short sleeve cropped crochet cardigan pattern
Mellow Waves is a relaxed fit, cropped crochet cardigan with short sleeves, designed for summer evenings, spring and autumn afternoons and those moments where you just need a little extra.
It uses a lace ripple pattern interchanged with a solid wave to create an elegant, yet casual jacket with plenty of drape and movement.
You can purchase the PDF crochet pattern from Ravelry, Etsy or Love Crafts.
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Skills Used
Below is a list of the skills used in this pattern.
- Knowledge of basic crochet stitches, techniques and terminology is assumed
- The pattern uses extended double crochet and chain stitches throughout
- You will working rows with simple increases and decreases
- Working into both sides of a chain (tutorial here)
- A small amount of sewing of seams will be required – I use mattress stitch
- Careful attention to stitch placement is required to ensure the peaks and troughs of the crochet waves stack correctly
- A stitch diagram for the wave pattern is included
Whilst the Scenic Route Cardigan mainly uses just two basic stitches and is a relatively simple crochet ripple pattern, the importance of stitch placement and the construction style make this pattern suitable for intermediate crocheters. Advanced beginners looking for a fun challenge may also enjoy working on it.
It’s quite a small piece for a garment, using relatively small amounts of yarn, so isn’t too time consuming!
The pattern is written in English using standard US crochet terminology.
Construction
The pattern is worked from top-down from the shoulders with minimal seaming. You start with the back and the fronts are worked into the back of the foundation chain.
The sleeves are worked at the same time as the shoulder section creating a dolman style shape. You can learn more about general sweater construction styles here.
You can learn more about how crochet cardigans are constructed in this post.
Measurements and finished size
The pattern is designed to be a relaxed fit with around 15cm of positive ease.It is cropped in length with short sleeves.
It is written in 9 sizes to fit bust 76cm-158cm.
The cross back chest measurement (half bust) is ranges from 45-90cm depending on size chosen.
The sizing and measurements are based on the craft yarn council womens standard sizes. You can learn more about standard sizing here.
The pattern includes detailed measurements to help you in selecting a suitable size, as well as schematic listing dimensions.
How to purchase a Dora Does crochet pattern:
I sell my PDF crochet patterns in my Etsy, Ravelry and Love Crafts stores. You can purchase this pattern on any of these platforms, depending on your preference. Simply click the relevant links throughout this pattern page to be taken to the listing, or visit the store homepages in the links at the start of this paragraph.
Materials
Crochet Hook
You will need a 4.5mm crochet hook, or size needed to obtain gauge. and a 4mm crochet or smaller hook for the trim round the front opening. In both cases.
I used a Clover Amour Crochet Hook for this project – one of my favourites – learn more about different crochet hooks here.
Note that, for the body, I used a hook larger than that recommended for the yarn weight. This was intentional to create additional drape.
Yarn Requirements
You will need approximately 630(670, 760, 810, 890, 1040, 1080, 1090, 1160) metres of 4 ply / fingering weight yarn.
This is equivalent to approximately 160(170, 190, 200, 220, 255, 270, 270, 290)g yarn
The item pictured used Orchidean Luxury Yarns Mulberino 4 ply. 50% Mulberry Silk, 50% super wash merino, 100g = 400m/440yds
For the size small I used less than one 100g hank of each colour. The shades used were as follows:
- Yarn A: Raspberry Beret
- Yarn B: Moonage Daydream
Details on how the proportions of the two colours are split is given in pattern as it varies with size chosen. In the smaller sizes, you will need less of Yarn B (the silver speckled colour here), but the proportion shifts with ascending sizes. With the larger sizes you will need more or the second colour than the first.
Yarn Substitution Options
You can use a variety of other yarns of a similar weight which match gauge for this pattern. The design will work in a range of fibres. If you prefer to use plant fibres, a bamboo blend in the yarn will help create similar movement.
Different fibres and yarns will produce a different finished result.
You may find this post useful when choosing yarn.
Other materials and Notions
- Yarn needle, scissors and a tape measure
- 4 stitch markers
- This project will benefit from blocking so I recommend a Blocking board and pins.
Learn more about blocking here.
You can purchase the PDF pattern for the Mellow Waves cardigan from Ravelry, Etsy or Lovecrafts.
The Fine Lines Collection
This pattern is part of the Fine Lines Collection: A compilation of 4 lightweight, summer crochet patterns all made with fingering weight or 4 ply yarn using the same two basic stitches (extended double crochets and chains).
Each item showcases a different fibre and each pattern can be substituted for different fibres., allowing you to experiment with different fibre choices.
All four PDF Crochet patterns can be purchased together on Etsy or Ravelry.
To learn more about the collection visit the Fine Lines article.
I hope you enjoy making and wearing this summer staple garment.
Happy Hooking!
Dx
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Hello Dora,
I recently bought this lovely pattern and I’m looking forward to making it. Before starting, I wanted to ask about what you recommend when someone is between sizes (I’m a few centimetres over medium). The 15cm of positive ease makes me feel as though it would be fine to work a medium regardless, but I’d hate to be wrong! And I don’t have quite enough yarn (only 500m for colour A) to make a large. Any advice would be appreciated!
Hi Lauren. First off, there is no absolute right or wrong answer to your question. It’s really down to your preference.
I’d first start off by measuring yourself so you can work out how much positive waste each size would have for you personally. Then think about how much ease you like. Do you have any cardigans in your wardrobe you like the fit of that you could compare to? That’s always a great place to start.
When you look at your tension in your gauge swatch are you a bit on the tighter or looser side? If your gauge is a little toe looser then you’d probably be safer with the smaller size and vice versa. You could also swatch with a different hook size if your gauge is a little tight. Overall I tend to go down sizes if I’m not sure as crochet will generally stretch with wear (depending on the stitch and fibre combination of course). So there are lots of factors you can think about to help you decide! I hope that’s useful! Dora
Wow, I absolutely love this pattern, Dora. I think I might need to make it with a bit heavier yarn, though. Do you have any blogs about making a garment (cardi) with a different gauge yarn — like how to make the adjustments?
Hi there, thanks for the lovely feedback. I don’t have any specific posts for how to adjust a garment pattern for a different yarn size, as, if you want to be accurate with it then there is quite a lot of maths and each pattern will be different. However, I do have a post explaining how to calculate your stitch and row counts for specific measurements which is where I would start if I were to approach this. With a pattern like this, you’d also need to bear in mind the stitch multiples as wave patterns tend to have quite large ones. You can start off by swatching in the yarn you’re thinking about to see how big a difference there is. Some people would just go down a size to accommodate the difference, but I haven’t discovered an exact science for that! Here’s the link to get you started: https://doradoes.co.uk/2019/05/22/crochet-design-basics-how-to-use-gauge-to-crochet-to-measure-adjust-to-fit/
Thank you so much for the experienced advice, Dora.
you’re welcome 🙂
Hello, I very much enjoyed reading your article for this collection. I’ve never seen a more thorough and intelligent compilation. Beautifully done! Thank you very much for bringing your talent to the yarny community 🥰
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback on the fine lines summer crochet collection. It’s the first time I’ve launched a group of crochet patterns in this way before so it means a lot 🙂
All the best, Dora