Scrappy Sweater

My Scrappy Sweater has been years in the making. For the past few years, I’ve been collecting every little scrap of yarn and keeping them in a big ol' jar.

​The time finally came when I couldn't shove another strand in. So I sifted through them and pulled out all the bits that were long enough to tie into a knot. I started making a scrap yarn ball and, inspired by the amazing Laerke Bagger, I held the scrap yarn together with a strand of solid colour yarn and began working on my sweater.

It’s constructed top-down, with raglan sleeves and knitted in the round. I started with white and went into light pink, darker light pink, dark pink, darker pink, then a hot pink before fading to black. I’m pleased with the ombre effect it produced, although there's a different technique I will use next time in order to make the colours fade together more seamlessly.

The sleeves are super balloon-y and it has a lot of positive ease, so it would definitely be a winter-only garment for me.

The scraps are mostly acrylic but some bits of wool are scattered throughout. The hot pink and black strands are 100% wool so it’s cosy. And it weighs a tonne so it’s a perfect pullover for snuggling up inside of.
​

Now this is by no means a pattern - just a recipe of what I did to make my sweater using a standard raglan construction. I have provided the measurements, but because I've used all sorts of different types of yarn, there's no precise gauge to follow. If you want to have a go at making your own, give it your best shot. Take what you need from my recipe and create your own masterpiece.​​

---

The Sweater.

I used two strands of DK held together which produces an approximate gauge of 15 stitches by 23 rows over 10cm using 6mm needles. I used 5mm needles for the ribbing.​

Measurements

​Me:
Bust - 90cm
Hips - 95cm
Arm length - 55cm
Height - 169cm

Sweater:
Width - 62cm
Sleeve length - 66cm
Underarm to wrist - 39cm
Length - 64cm

Here's what I did...

​Cast on 64 stitches on 5mm needles.

Rounds 1-12: 1x1 twisted ribbing.

Switch to 6mm needles.

Rolled neckline:
Fold ribbing over so that the cast on edge is in line with the working stitches.
Pick up and knit cast-on stitches together with the current stitches.

Raglan Increases:
Increase sleeves until you have 74 stitches for each sleeve and 86 stitches each for the front and back sections.

Body:
Work in stockinette until the body reaches about 4 cm shorter than your desired length.

Switch to 5mm needles.

Hem:
Knit in 1x1 ribbing until hem measures 4 cm.
Bind-off using a stretchy method.

Switch back to 6mm needles.

Sleeves:
As you split for the sleeves you will want to do a backwards cast on to add 4 additional stitches for each underarm, giving you a total of 80 stitches for each sleeve.
Knit in stockinette for 28 cm, or 8 cm shorter than desired sleeve length.
K2tog around the whole round and you will end up with 40 stitches.
Repeat for other sleeve.

Switch to 5mm needles.

Cuffs:
Knit in 1x1 ribbing until cuff measures 6.5 cm.
Bind-off using a stretchy method.

​I still have loads of scrap yarn kicking around so I can’t wait to start another scrappy project. Maybe a hat this time, what do you think? Let me know in the comments below if you've ever knitted a scrap yarn project. ♡

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you :) Thank you for supporting my blog!