I don’t really like reading manuals or following recipes. I prefer to stick my hands in the mud and get dirty without having to follow a cookbook. One of the nice things about crochet is you can make a jumper in rounds and measure it on the body as you go. I recently completed a jumper for Elizabeth and I thought I’d photograph the process for anyone interested. It’s very easy to do once you know how.
Start by making a long chain and joining the last stitch up to the first one to make a circle. The size of this circle will be the size of the bottom of the jumper – the bit that goes around your waist. Work in rounds until you get to the armpits. You can try it on as you go (or get whoever is going to wear it to try it on):
Now you need to make the sleeves. Do the same thing as you did for the body: crochet a chain and join it up to make a circle that fits around the wrist. Continue in rounds for the length of the arm. You’ll need to increase the width of the tube for the sleeves as it nears the elbow. To do this, crochet two stitches into the one in the row below a couple of times for that round and do this every two rounds or so until it fits. Measure it on the subject as you go and remember to record when the increases were made so that you can copy it for the second sleeve.
Now sew the sleeves to the body:
Get your subject to try it on:
Continue in one huge round incorporating the body and two sleeves and start decreasing the round by stitching two stitches together, four times in one row, every second row or so. Add in some colours or patterns at this point if you want them.
Voila! Now you have a warm and woolly bespoke jumper:
rachel.blog 
A model in the making I think. Well somebodies got to do it. 🙂
Yes, I agree. 🙂
Second thoughts. I’d do better with “How to Wear Jumper Without a Pattern” or “How to Take Off a Jumper Without a Headache”. :-D.
Wear a cardigan instead??
Now why didn’t I think of that.
Oh how clever! I crochet but I tend to stick to straight things such as scarves and blankets. Maybe I’ll try to be adventurous and dabble in rounds. You made it look very easy!
Good luck! I hope you give it a try. Then post some pics 🙂
I couldn’t crochet even if I had a pattern. 😦 So I didn’t read anything. lol Just looked the the pretty pictures. 🙂
Thank you for looking at the pretty pictures 🙂
OMG that is genius. And looks so pretty! (Your house looks nice btw)
Thanks! Our house is really nice. It’s just a rental but I love it.
She’s adorable and you’re talented! 😉
Thank you and thank you! It’s just a hobby of mine to crochet but I really enjoy it and that’s the main thing.
Hobbies bring the best out if people, as it’s done without pressure and outside expectations. But one needs talent. My mother tried to teach me, to no avail!
That is fantastic Rachel! Very clever but ummm don’t ever invite me around for dinner if your main ingredient is mud 😉
God you’re fussy 🙂
How adorable Elizabeth is!
Did I tell you, your new blog theme looks miles better than the previous theme. So glad that you refreshed your theme 🙂
Thanks, Chait. I’m glad you like it. I’ve been wanting to try this theme out for ages.
Wow! You are so talented Rachel, what a gorgeous jumper, Elizabeth looks so happy in it! And no pattern either…very impressive 🙂
Thanks, Sherri. I make stuff from patterns too but I enjoy making it up as I go along more than following a pattern.
Rachel, you are far too talented. The jumper is lovely. So are the photos of Elizabeth. I like the leg placement in the finished photo. Very modelly. 🙂
I hadn’t noticed the leg placement. So true. She likes having her photo taken.
Rachel … I do love the ‘getting stuck in’ and not RTFM but a cautionary word in my ear is, for example, the visionary chef Elizabeth David who said (I paraphrase), you must learn to make the perfect soufflé before then letting rip with the creative stuff. I sort of agree, although I think my standards are lower than hers. I get to ‘the good enough soufflé’ the. I let rip! … Not sure if this translates to crochet …
Yes, I think Elizabeth David’s words of advice probably apply to crochet too. But my standards aren’t that high either 🙂
I have to ask a boring question: What size of hook did you use??? I love, love, love your ‘pattern.’ I hate to follow directions as well! 😉
I’m pretty sure it was a 5mm hook.
Oh my god that little girl is so cute!!! The first picture of her made me smile a lot ^_^ also this was super helpful in making my sweater so thank you so much!!
Hi Rachel, Thank you for this post, I’ve been looking all over the internet for an easy way to make my first crochet jumper! And this is perfect and looks very straightforward! What kind of stitch did you use? It looks lovely!
I can’t remember now but I think it’s single crochet.
Thank you so much. I have wasted so much time this evening googling “seamless” “in the round” blah blah blah, and had rubbish results. I want to make a dress, but if I follow your instructions, I can always just join on at the bottom when sleeves and bodice are made and make it the length I want. Fabulous. In response to previous post, you worked in what I would call double crochet, single crochet in American crochet terms.
This is so helpful! I’ve been planning on making one for my little girl but I’ve been up to my eyeballs in patterns and it’s intimidating. This is a much faster way to go! Thank you 🙂
I made a sweater using your post several years ago! I was very happy with it. Then I quit making sweaters for ages…this evening I realized I’d like to do another. Thank heavens I remembered that the title is how to crochet a JUMPER without a pattern, since it doesn’t come up when you type in how to crochet a sweater without a pattern. & I’m glad I thought to check back here as I had it in my head that your method was top down & I could not recall how to do the sleeves,now I see why. Grin. Thank you again, from all these years into the future from your post. 🙂
This is so great to hear. You’ve made my day. Perhaps I should include “sweater” in the title as well?
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