This cardigan is crocheted using the interlocking crochet (or interwoven crochet) technique. Its construction uses the hexagon method. This means you crochet two sections, first in the round with six right-angled corners, then extend them to the desired width. You can lengthen them further as desired, both at the front, bottom, and sleeves.
The cardigan is reversible, so simply turn the cardigan inside out to see the inside of the pattern.
Despite being two layers of crochet, it’s not at all thick! The interlocking technique ensures that in this case. It also drapes wonderfully! Perhaps a bit unexpected, but it’s truly wonderful!
I used Scheepjes Colour Crafter Parade for the cardigan you see here, and Scheepjes Colour Crafter’s solid colors for the children’s cardigans below. This makes them wonderfully soft and warm to wear.
The pattern is designed to be available in almost all sizes, from a toddler aged 1-2 years up to an adult size 5XL. Size charts are included in the pattern description.
The pattern is also designed so you can use it with any other yarn. For children’s sizes, I recommend using a thinner yarn, especially to fine-tune the sizing and make it easier for little ones to wear.
This pattern is available on Ravelry (paid pattern). The document is over 80+ pages long, containing the pattern description and construction instructions. It has numerous photos you can use to check if you’ve done the right thing. Link to the pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/interlocking-hexagon-cardigan.
I’ve created videos for the tutorials. In them, I show you all the steps you need to crochet the cardigan, both in terms of technique (although I do expect you to have a basic understanding of interlocking crochet, otherwise you can find the tutorials for that on this website) and the construction of the components. You can find the full playlist here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0tHWoXKpGCQOvJQzTMixms4VNma_0PmF.
A quick note: it was a lot of work to make all of this. The pattern costs a little more than a ball of yarn. I’m not sponsored, so please make the designer happy too 🙂 .
Below, I’ll give you an overview of the yarn required for each size. The yarn I used is Scheepjes Colour Crafter. Parade yarn was used for the adult cardigan. I’ve added 10% to my usage to give those who need more yarn than I do a safe margin. Of course, there’s a gauge swatch to check your gauge. If you’re just on the borderline between two balls, you can subtract the 10% (divide the meters by 1.1) and then calculate how many meters you have left and how many balls you’ll need. One ball of Scheepjes Colour Crafter contains 300 meters.
| Sizes (age) | 1-2 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 4-5 | 5-6 | 6-7 | 7-8 | 8-9 | 9-10 |
| number of balls color 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| # Meters color 1 | 343 | 385 | 413 | 453 | 469 | 520 | 553 | 615 | 659 |
| number of balls color 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| # Meters color 2 | 317 | 359 | 385 | 424 | 438 | 487 | 519 | 578 | 620 |
| Sizes | XS | S | M | L | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL |
| number of balls color 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| # Meters color 1 | 827 | 954 | 1066 | 1182 | 1253 | 1407 | 1479 | 1608 | 1795 |
| number of balls color 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| # Meters color 2 | 775 | 897 | 1005 | 1120 | 1193 | 1348 | 1423 | 1556 | 1741 |