The Sqeasy Sweater - an easy crochet pattern

The weather outside is lovely and I thought I needed a break from all the (complicated) knitting.... so I improvised a really simple crochet sweater pattern:

Square + Easy = Squeasy (someone laughing already?)

I know the pun is not the cleverest, but honestly, neither the sweater. Actually it is so easy to make, I should not only be ashamed of the title, but also for writing the pattern down.
I’m going to do it anyway 😊

Here comes the mystery recipe: just crochet two squares and sew or crochet them together, that’s it. Haute Couture…If you like, you can go on and make another two squares and in a flash your sweater has sleeves. Because of my aversion against driving I used cheap acrylic yarn from the Dutch shop “action”, which is within spitting range. The yarn is a little fuzzy so I used a big hook, to give it an airy quality. At the same time, I wanted the sweater to be not see-through, therefore I crocheted it completely in linked double crochet; besides this results in a lovely pattern. On Moogly Blog you will find a very comprehensive explanation in word and video how to make this stitch. But if I have time enough I will make in the next week(s) a video tutorial for the linked double crochet.

Construction
The sweater is made of two equal squares – the front and the back. Both are crocheted from the bottom up in rows. The range of colours and stitch patterns you can use is limitless. I, as said above, have chosen linked double crochet and crocheted the front in pink and brilliant red and the back in a dark blue. To link the colours of font and back together, I bordered everything with dark blue in single crochet. To assemble the sweater, you begin with closing the shoulder seams and afterwards you have to seam the sides beneath the armpits. The sweater is a little bit longer and reaches be-neath the hip, to accommodate my wide hips my feminine figure in a square sweater, a trick is needed: I simply didn’t close the side seams completely, so that I have a slit on every side, which gives way for my pelvis. The sweater has a about 4 cm ease, but you can change the pattern easily to your liking.

Which size should I make?
First, you must decide for a stitch pattern and yarn. Then use both to make a tension square. The next step is to measure yourself – shoulder width, waist- and hip width and the height between armpit and shoulder. Now you must decide the fit and the length of your sweater.
Now we start to calculate. To calculate the width, you need the following formula:
(Desired width x stitches per 10 cm) / 10
The height is calculated similarly:
(Desired height x rows per 10 cm) / 10

My sweater is 48 cm wide (including the sc edging) and 50 cm high.
(48 cm x 10 stitches) / 10 = 48 stitches
(50 cm x 6 rows) / 10 = 30 rows
Because of the single crochet edging I needed only 46 stitches per row and only 29 rows. So, if you also want to make an edging, you must take this into consideration. Without the edging, you only need the formulas above.

Tension
1o stitches and 6 rows are 10 x 10 cm

Material
Made by me Medium, Yardage 100 g / 238 m.
One skein in pink and red and two skeins of the dark blue.
Hook 7 mm
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Pattern Notes
Turning chains count as stitches throughout. The Pattern is written in US Terms

Skills used / Abbreviation
ch = Chain
fsc = Foundation single crochet (UK foundation double crochet)
sc = Single crochet (UK double crochet)
dc = Double crochet (UK treble crochet)
ldc = Linked double crochet (UK linked treble crochet)
Sewing front parts and back together

Size and numbers
Width
Cuff 48 cm
Shoulder neckline 48 cm
Neckline 26 cm

Height
Armhole to cuff 28 cm
Armhole 22 cm
Total heigth 50 cm
Slit 8 cm

One after another….
Front piece
Row 1: 46 fsc in pink (46 stitches)
Row 2-8: 3 ch, ldc in each stitch across (46 stitches)
Row 9-29: change to red yarn, 3 ch, ldc in each stitch across (46 stitches)
Secure yarn and fasten off.
With dark blue yarn crochet an edging in single crochet around the front piece. On the sides, you should crochet two single crochet into the side post of every double crochet. When you get to a corner make 1 sc, 2 ch, 1 sc.

Back piece
Row 1: 46 fsc in dark blue (46 stitches)
Row 2-29: 3 ch, ldc in each stitch across (46 stitches)
Don’t fasten off and crochet an edging in single crochet around the back piece. On the sides, you should crochet two single crochet into the side post of every double crochet. When you get to a corner make 1 sc, 2 ch, 1 sc.
Fasten off.

Finishing instructions
Turn front and back on the wrong side and pin both together and close the shoulder seams. De-pending on the length of this seam, the neckline will be wide or narrow. I closed 11 cm on each side. Now close the seams between cuff and armhole. I left 22 cm open for the armhole, so the side seams are 20 cm and the slit 8 cm.
If you like you can crochet some more rows of single crochet around the armhole or you can crochet a complete sleeve. In the latter case I would make the armholes narrower, so the sleeves will be smaller.
Weave in all ends on the wrong side.

Now it is essential to put the sweater on and to find somebody who tells you the whole day long, how nice its fit you, how adept you are in crochet and that you are generally the best person ever.

And by the way... I have new pink shoes

Photos are again by @giavellottista (thank youuuu)