Fade to Light Jacket make-a-long: Reveal



Have you ever made a crochet garment? Or have you ever thought about making one but you are afraid it won’t work because you have been crocheting blankets and shawls all your life? New make-a-long (MAL) might help you to overcome your fears and enter the exciting world of crochet sweaters and cardigans.
Crochet jacket with raglan sleeves

The idea of free MAL about creating a top down garment have been growing in my head for a very long time. For two years at least. Every time I release a new crochet sweater, I can hear and see comments from people doubting they can handle the pattern. And I can understand the fears. If you have never made a garment before, it might be scary to dive into the short rows, yoke increases, shaping and adjusting to your own needs. And I decided to design a simple raglan jacket to show you all steps - slowly, with progress pictures and explaining every tiny bit.

Colors used for a jacket above are Whirl Fine Art 650 Minimalism and Merino Soft 601 Pollock.

Fade to Light Jacket is designed to fit with 4-6" (10-15 cm) of positive ease at the bust and 1.25-2" (3-5 cm) of positive ease at the upper arm. The jacket is worked seamlessly from top down. First some short rows are worked back and forth to raise the back neck. Then the yoke with raglan increases is worked in rows to separation for body and sleeves. The lower body with mosaic pattern is worked in rows to bottom. Sleeves are worked top down. The length of the body and sleeves is easily adjustable.


Sizing


The jacket pattern is written for ten (!!) sizes: XXS (XS, S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X) with finished bust circumference: 91.5 (99.5: 103.5: 109.5: 113.5: 121.5: 127.5: 131.5: 137.5: 145.5) cm/ 36 (39: 40.7: 43: 44.7: 47.8: 50.2: 51.8: 54: 57.3)

To choose the size you need, please measure you bust at the widest point and add 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) for ease. Then see the numbers above and choose the closest size. If your measurement is in-between the sizes choose either a smaller one (if you want a more fitted look) or a bigger size (for an oversized fit).

In the picture below I am wearing size M while my actual size is S. So the jacket is slightly roomy for me, which I like. The colors for sample below are Whirl Fine Art 651 Impressionism and Merino Soft 655 Chagall.
Crochet jacket with a slightly oversized bit


Yarn choice


Fade to Light Jacket pattern was designed exclusively for Scheepjes Whirl Fine Art and Merino Soft yarns. Use one Whirl cake for size XXS-S, choose between one or two Whirl cakes for size M, and two Whirls are recommended for sizes L-5X. The rest of the yarn is Merino Soft.

With one Whirl cake you will get a faster color change for the yoke, and a complete fade of two colors in the mosaic pattern of the lower body. The sleeves will be solid. And with two Whirls for smaller sizes (M and L) the sleeves will get a long fade of colors (see picture above). Larger sizes will be something in between: half faded and half solid sleeves.

Here are examples for your inspiration.

Sandra Veneman (size L, two Whirls: Whirl Fine Art 654 Cubism and Merino Soft 609 Rembrandt)
Fade to Light Jacket by Sandra Veneman
Photo credit: Sandra Veneman

Esther Schippers (size 2X, two Whirls: Whirl Fine Art 657 Renaissance and Merino Soft 650 Velazquez)
Fade to Light Jacket by Esther Schippers
Photo credit: Esther Schippers

Alternatively, Fade to Light Jacket can be worked with Scheepjes Merino Soft Brush yarn instead of Whirl Fine Art: one Whirl is replaced with 5 skeins of Merino Brush (and two Whirls are replaced with 9 skeins of Merino Brush accordingly).

The yoke begins with Whirl and solid shade of Merino Soft is added later for the sleeves and mosaic lower body. You can either start working with light or dark tail of Whirl.

Laura Jackson made her jacket with both Merino Soft and Merino Soft Brush colors in size XS (Merino Soft 605 Hogarth and Merino Soft Brush 252 Toorop). She also added a tiny mosaic detail to the sleeves. Check details on her Ravelry page.
Fade to Light Jacket by Laura Jackson
Photo credit: Laura Jackson

And here is my version with Merino Soft 607 Braque and Merino Brush 257 Van der Leck (size M). I went for a ¾ sleeves for this one and also added a mosaic detail for the cuffs.
With Merino Soft and Merino Soft Brush yarns by Scheepjes

The pattern will give two options for the front bands: either for a clasp (without button holes) or with buttons. You can choose what you like better.

If you search for color inspiration, have a look at the image below.

Complete yarn amounts:


You will need 500 (550, 600, 620, 680, 740, 790, 840, 890, 940)g of yarn,
or 1 (1, 1, 1(2), 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) Whirl Fine Art cakes
and 6 (7, 8, 8(4), 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) balls of Merino Soft.

*Please, note that yarn amounts are approximate. They were estimated for specific measurements: length of the lower body from underarm approx. 35.5cm/14". If you want to make your jacket longer, you will need more yarn*

Find all yarn in your local Scheepjes shop, or purchase it online via international retailers:

Wool Warehouse* and Black Sheep Wools* (UK, please check shipping guidelines before placing your order, as there might be limitations due to COVID situation)
Taemombo (US and Canada)
How to make a crochet garment

What you will learn during MAL:


  • How to choose correct size for yourself
  • What short rows mean and how they are done
  • How to shape yoke with raglan increases
  • How to adjust yoke/jacket for your own body
  • How to add (correctly) button and buttonhole bands

Fade to Light Jacket Timeline:


Reveal (this post) – July 17th, 2020
Part 2: raglan increases – August 14th, 2020
Part 3: sleeves – August 21st, 2020 
Part 5: button bands and collar –  September 2nd, 2020

See you there? :)

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22 comments

  1. Woohoo, can't wait, it's stunning :)

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  2. Once again, thank you for this lovely pattern. Can not wait to begin!

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  3. Okaaaaaaay. I wanted to do the Copenhagen, and since you are going to hold my hand through the Fade to Light, I might just have a courage! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

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  4. Just bought my yarn: Merino soft brush Hogart + Merino soft Toorop. I will use the Merino soft brush for the mosaic instead. Can't wait to begin!!

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  5. 😅 And I just bought the Fjell and the Copenhagen cardigan along with the Huldra sweater on your ravelry shop just 8 days ago!!

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  6. Sooooo nice, i frogged a lot of these projects, so as it happens i have the yarn ready, and now i will try again! And i will succeed, i promise myself. August 7th i'm on holidays, but i take my yarn and hook with me!

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  7. hi, could I use a whirligig cake with the merino? thanks

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  8. This looks delightful. I am learning how to make cardigans and in the middle of a pullover now. I cant wait to try this.

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  9. Cynthia Herbert24 July 2020 at 15:08

    Love it, can't wait! Thank you

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  10. Being allergic to wool, what alternative Scheepjes yarn would you recommend for this sweater?

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  11. Love the jacket and would love to do the make along, but can you recommend substitute yarns that are wool/cashmere/alpaca free. I am allergic to these fibres, I really need a black based jacket to replace my current over loved black cardigan which is cotton acrylic.

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  12. Hello... apologies if this comes through twice but I tried sending once already and it did not seem to go through.
    A question: what type of yarn would you suggest to use for this lovely design that is not wool (or a blend of wool) as there is a severe allergy to wool for the person this will be made for. Thank you in advance :)

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  13. Unable to procure pattern. All info laid out nicely on Ravelry, but no means of procuring pattern. Unable to locate any other means of downloading pattern. Can someone help? Perhaps I'm dense, but simply cannot figure this out and need to order yarn today from my one and only US rep with Scheepjes yarn. Thanks for any help.

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  14. Love it! Thanks for sharing

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  15. Awesome cardigan with the houndstooth design! Im busy with the Lilla Bjorn Sweater at the moment. Im also busy with crochet toys for my grand child arriving at the end of October. The first item I made was your Nya Mosaic blanket, which I changed a little!
    I cant wait to get my yarn for this cardigan!!! Its winter in South Africa, so I can do it for next winter.

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  16. Excited to get started. Just hope I can get the yarn.

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  17. I'm one who has been afraid to invest in making garments and instead focused on shawls, scarves, cowls, and hats. I'm looking forward to this MAL to hopefully change that (and have favorited 2 other of your sweater patterns to get if this works!)

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  18. I'm going to try Cubism with Ansignh instead of Rembrandt -- fingers crossed that I chose the right blue shade!

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  19. My yarn will be here tomorrow! I can’t wait!

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  20. I"ve reviewed your instructions- they are great- so clear it feels like I'm in a classroom. I'm so excited to find tutorial which isn't that typical cardigan tuturial on youtube .... but is a tutorial which is going to teach me some skills and in the end I'll have a lovely product. I'm ordering the yarn today and I can't wait to get started. Thanks so much... I'll definitely send you a coffee or two. :) jane

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    Replies
    1. I am so glad my tutorials for this jacket are helpful!

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