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Knitting my first sweater - top down raglan

This top down raglan knit sweater is a quick and fun project that you can cozy up in no time, thanks to the chunky wool yarn and mohair, as well as the use of larger needles.

This raglan sweater is knitted top down in one piece, with no neckline shaping, making it easy to assemble. Its simple design gives a timeless look. You can also use my pattern as a foundation to create a unique piece by changing up the colours and length according to your preferences.

I went for raglan style, so I have distinctive “seams” between the front, back, and sleeves that form diagonal lines running from the neck edge to the base of the armholes. Beginning at the neck, the number of stitches on the front, back, and sleeves will increase at regular intervals along these lines. This gives each section a triangular shape and will fit nicely at the shoulders.

Description / Sizing

The sweater is designed to have a slightly oversized look due to positive ease, even when made in size S. As a result, the sweater fits a half size larger.

Cast on 56 ( S/M ), 64 (M/L) stitches, or number divisible by 8. For example, I measure 90 cm (35.5 inches) around the bust, sweater measures up to 41 cm (16 inches)and makes up 44 stitches on the front and back after all the increase.

It’s a turtleneck sweater, so keep in mind to not make it too wide.Visit our partners,shoes – leaders in fashionable footwear!

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Ribbed Turtleneck

K2, P2 (2x2 rib) on 7mm needles

Take 7mm needles and cast on the amount of stitches required for your size + 1 and join in the round, with the extra stitch used for joining. I have started with 57 stitches. Remember to add a start of the row marker and ensure that the stitches are not twisted.

To knit the turtleneck collar, knit 14 rows of 2×2 rib using 7 mm needles. Finished collar will be approximately 14 cm long. Keep in mind that the total number of stitches should be divisible by 8 if you follow your own numbers. I’d recommend to knit 2×2 rib as it’s more elastic than 1×1 rib, making it ideal for sweaters.

image of the knitted 2 x2 rib turtleneck

Raglan

Raglan Yoke

After completing the turtleneck, switch to 8mm needles. Raglan is knitted with alternation of increase and no increase rows, total amount of rows for size S is 22 (around 24 cm / 10 inches).

25 cm is an average length of a raglan length for a S/M size sweaters.

In my pattern I made raglan lines as 2 purl (P2) stitches. Since I’m a complete beginner such raglan style makes it easy to emphasize the boundaries between the front, back, and sleeves and simply see my raglan lines.

So, divide the 56 stitches into 4 sections: 10 stitches per sleeve and 14 for the back and front. Place markers around raglan stitches and the start of the row. My sleeves, front and back will grow the same amount of stitches.

I chose make one increase method throughout the pattern and my increases are made on either side of the raglan line markers. One increase comes before the marker and one after the marker, remember in between markers I have 2 purl stitches. On my increase row I will be adding a total of 8 stitches (i.e. 2 increases around 4 raglan lines).

So if I start with 10 stitches for the sleeve and 14 for the back/front after the increase row I will have 12 stitches for each of the sleeves and 16 for the back / front and 8 purl increase stitches which are my raglan lines.

More detailed:

Start: I have picked up 56 stitches from the turtleneck on 8mm needles.

1st increase row (odd): P2 (raglan line), M1R (make one right) increase, knit 10 stitches of the sleeve, M1R, P2 ( raglan line), M1L, knit 14 stitches of the front, M1R, P2 ( raglan line ), M1R, K10 of the sleeves, M1R, P2, M1R, K14 of the back, M1R. We stopped with increase before the raglan line, on the second row we start with P2.

Total stitches after increases and including the raglan = 2( raglan) + 12 (sleeve) + 2 (raglan) + 16 (front) + 2(raglan) + 12 (sleeve) + 2 (raglan) + 16 (back) = 64

2nd no increase row (even) : P2, K12, P2, K16, P2,K12, P2, K16.

Repeat this rapport as follows: all odd rows are increase rows all even rows are no increase rows.

3rd row: M1R increase on either side of the 2P raglan stitches

4th row: no increase and so on.

Total of 22 rows will measure up to about 24 cm (10 inches). This is a standard raglan line length for women

Raglan increase adjustment

I modified the raglan increase to prevent the sleeves from being too wide. I increased the sleeve stitches only every fourth row starting from row 22 up to row 30, while keeping the back and front stitches the same. As a result, I now have 32 stitches on each sleeve and 36 stitches on the back and front. In fact, I increased sleeve only once.

Finished length of raglan line measures 24 cm (10 inches).

At this point front, back = 44 stitches, and each sleeve 34 stitches.

Total stitches on the needles including raglan= 2( raglan) + 34(sleeve) + 2 (raglan) + 44 (front) + 2(raglan) + 34 (sleeve) + 2 (raglan) + 44 (back) = 164.

Short Rows (optional)

Short rows for better fit

This is totally optional, but in my case I add 5-6cm (2 inches) of short rows at the back of the sweater. Working a series of these short rows creates a wedge of fabric, resulting in a little more fabric in the back yoke and giving your sweater a slightly better fit by raising the back of the neck higher than the front. The benefit of adding short rows is that it gives your sweater a slightly better fit. See how to knit short rows here.

These rows are worked at the bottom of the yoke, just before splitting for body and sleeves. At his point, all of the raglan increases have been completed, and you will have worked even until the yoke has reached full depth.

I also include 2P stitches of the back into the rows, so until desired 5cm length I knitted 2 raglan + 44 back +2 raglan stitches.

RS: K4

turn work

WS:P48

continue until 5 cm in length.

Separate the body and sleeves

Cast on 6 underarm stitches

Separate the sleeves from the body and cast on 6 extra stitches at the underarm while joining the front and back into a tube. This will make it look like a real sweater. Check here for instructions on separating the sleeves here.

After this I knit in round ( back + 6 underarm stitches + front +6). I follow the pattern and kept my raglan line as purl stitches, which is optional and you can do all knit / stockinette pattern.

Image below shows 6 underarm stitches and 2 purl stitches of raglan line on each side.

Here I just knit until my piece measures the desired length. Then I’ll work a 2×2 ribbing to match the neckline and bind off.

I adjusted the stitch count of my current project to maintain consistency with my desired pattern. I reduced the total stitch count by 4, resulting in 104 stitches for my ribbing. Despite the initial total stitch count being 108 and divisible by 4, I needed to ensure that my pattern of 2 purl stitches of raglan lines remained intact.

Sleeves

44 Rows of sleeves + 20 rows ribbed cuff

I purposely opted for a narrower sleeve around my wrist, precisely 24 stitches, ensuring it would pair comfortably with classic blazers. Wide sleeves were definitely not my preference in this case.

For my first-ever knitted sweater, the sleeves turned into quite a knitting adventure. Honestly, it got a bit messy because I was clueless about how wide or narrow I wanted them to be. Plus, I kept trying it on repeatedly to figure out the perfect length.

All in all, I made total of 44 rows for the sleeves and 20 rows of cuff 2×2 ribbing.

It was a learning experience, and despite the challenges, I’m proud of the final result.

When I picked up all the stitches for the sleeve, I ended up with 34 stitches on my circular needles, along with a total of 12 casted underarm stitches. This brought the grand total to 46 stitches. To achieve the desired width for the ribbing, I needed to make reductions using the knit two together (K2tog), ultimately narrowing it down to 24 stitches in total for the ribbing.

luxury apres ski sweater in hand-dyed mohair and alpaca blend

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