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This free crochet pattern is called the Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan. It is the very first cardigan I ever designed, but I am in love with it. It is so cozy and comfy. You just want to wear it all day, everywhere.

This free crochet pattern was throughly tested by all my testers, whom I am so grateful for. They all loved the Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan and I also saw some wonderful pictures.

I used Premier Serenity Chunky yarn and am so happy I did. This cardigan is just so cozy. Several of my testers tried the pattern using Lion Brand Scarfie yarn which seem to have worked great as well. Be aware the skein amount on the pattern is mentioned for the yarn I used.

Furthermore, it was requested for me to have the pattern available for all sizes from XS to 4XL which I was grateful to be able to do and it worked out great.

Looking at the Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan you for sure will be very cozy. I got so many compliments wearing it. In fact, several of them asked where they could buy it.

Since creating this cardigan, I will for sure make so many more cardigans. I really enjoyed it and it so much different than creating hats all the time, although I love them too.

Be sure to add this pattern to your Ravelry Favorites by clicking the button below.

If you add this pattern to you Ravelry Favorites and share it on social media as a link, I will be able to share a lot more free crochet patterns for you all.

You can get the crochet pattern for the Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan on Ravelry, Etsy, LoveCrafts, or my new membership The Crochet Club. The Crochet Club has so much more to offer than just PDF patterns! You get tutorials, references and the complete VIP treatment as well.

If you pay just twice the amount as this pattern costs and you have a month’s worth of The Crochet Club Membership with a lot more patterns! It’s well worth it.

If you do not want to join The Crochet Club, you can also purchase the ad-free, printer-friendly PDF pattern at the links below. But IF you join the All-Access Membership you will automatically get this pattern.

In addition, I created a downloadable PDF that has all of the pictures separated from the pattern, so you can choose whether you want to print them or not. This can save you a lot of ink in the long run. You can buy the ad-free, printer-friendly PDF on Ravelry, Etsy, LoveCrafts, and my VIP crochet membership, The Crochet Club.

Because many of my followers requested for me to add all my pictures in the pdf to the back as a reference, I will have from now on all my patterns in such a way that it allows you to save some money on ink. All pictures are separate from the pattern in the pdf, only.

Now before I tell you more and more about this awesome pattern, let me now tell you what you will need for this pattern and how to create it.

How to crochet the Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan

Material List:

• Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Yarn
  • Oatmeal Heather, amount of skeins per size (estimates):
    • XS: 7 skeins
    • S: 8 skeins
    • M: 8 skeins
    • L: 9 skeins
    • XL: 9 skeins
    • 2XL: 10 skeins
    • 3XL: 10 skeins
    • 4XL: 10 skeins
• 8.0mm hook
• scissors
• tapestry needle
• measuring tape

Stitches used (US terms):

Click HERE to learn these basic stitches

• sl st = slip stitch
• sc = single crochet
• blo = back loop only
• flo = front loop only
• dc = double crochet
• dec = decrease (2 sts are combined)
• ch = chain
• mattress stitch (click HERE for a tutorial)

Gauge:

5 rows x 8 dc = 4 square inch

Size available:

The sizes modeled in the pictures for the Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan is a size M/L with a bust size of 40 inches.

Size: Bust Size // Length of Cardigan (shoulder to about half up the buttocks)

XS: 28-30 inches // 24 inches

S: 32-34 inches // 24.5 inches

M: 36-38 inches // 24.75 inches

L: 40-42 inches // 25 inches

XL: 44-46 inches // 25.25 inches

2XL: 48-50 inches // 25.5 inches

3XL: 52-54 inches // 25.5 inches

4XL: 56-58 inches // 26 inches

Instructions:

Notes:

All beginning turning chains are not counted as stitches.

The cardigan pattern is written in size XS with sizes S thru 4XL in parenthesis such as: XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL).

To make it easier, you should print the pattern (or purchase the pdf which has no ads and has all pictures behind the pattern to save ink) and highlight the number of the size you need to focus on.

The cardigan can be easily adjusted in case you are between sizes.

Body of the Cardigan

Back panel:

Chain 36 (38, 42, 46, 50, 54, 56, 58)

Row 1: 1 dc into each st, starting from the 3rd ch from the hook, ch 2, turn (34 sts (36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 54, 56)

Row 2 – 31 (31, 32, 32, 32, 33, 33, 33): 1 dc in each st, ch 2, turn

Front Panels:

Row 32 (32, 33, 33, 33, 34, 34, 34): 1 dc in the next 12 (13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19) sts, ch 2, turn

Row 33 – 62 (62, 64, 64, 64, 66, 66, 66): 1 dc in each st, ch 2, turn

After the last row, fasten off. You will now crochet the other front panel.

Reattach the yarn (adding a slip knot) after skipping 10 (10, 12, 14, 14, 16, 16, 18) sts next to the 12 dc’s from the first row of the first panel.

The row number is named the same as the first front panel as you are doing the same rows on the other front panel.

Row 32 (32, 33, 33, 33, 34, 34, 34): 1 dc in the next 12 (13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19) sts, ch 2, turn

Row 33 – 62 (62, 64, 64, 64, 66, 66, 66): 1 dc in each st, ch 2, turn

Fasten off.

Armholes

Fold the front panels over the back panels, so it looks like a folded rectangle making a square (see picture reference for that).

Using the mattress stitch, sew the left side of the left front panels and the right side of the right front panel to the back panel leaving an opening of 6 (6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5) inches for the armholes.

Arm Sleeves

Repeat the following instructions for both armholes to create arm sleeves.

After sewing the front panel to the back panel, reattach the yarn and chain 2.

With the right side facing and going in rounds, follow the pattern below.

Round 1: Crochet 24 (26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38) dc’s evenly all around the armhole, sl st to the first st.

Round 2 – 4: Ch 2, 1 dc in each st all around, sl st to the first st

Round 5: Ch 2, do the following according to the size you are making:

XS: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the end, sl st to the first st

S: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 2 sts, 1 dc in the last 2 sts, sl st to the first st

M: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 4 sts, 1 dc in the next 2 sts, 1 dc dec, sl st to the first st

L: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the end, sl st to the first st

XL: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 2 sts, 1 dc in the last 2 sts, sl st to the first st

2XL: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 4 sts, 1 dc in the last 4 sts, sl st to the first st

3XL: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the end, sl st to the first st

4XL: *1 dc in the next 4 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 2 sts, 1 dc in the last 2 sts, sl st to the first st

Round 6 – 9: Ch 2, 1 dc in each st all around, sl st to the first st

Round 10: Ch 2, do the following according to the size you are making:

XS: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the end, sl st to the first st

S: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 2 sts, 1 dc in the last 2 sts, sl st to the first st

M: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 3 sts, 1 dc in the next st, 1 dc dec, sl st to the first st

L: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the end, sl st to the first st

XL: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 2 sts, 1 dc in the last 2 sts, sl st to the first st

2XL: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 4 sts, 1 dc in the last 4 sts, sl st to the first st

3XL: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the end, sl st to the first st

4XL: *1 dc in the next 3 sts, 1 dc dec, repeat from * till the the last 2 sts, 1 dc in the last 2 sts, sl st to the first st

Round 11 – 15 (16, 16, 17, 17, 18, 18, 19): Ch 2, 1 dc in each st all around, sl st to the first st

In the next 3 rounds: ch 1, 1 sc in the blo in each st, sl st to the first st of the round.

Feel free to add additional rounds of you prefer the arm sleeves to be longer. Be careful, the cardigan will stretch a bit.

Fasten off.

Collar for the front panels and neck line

With the right side facing, reattach the yarn on the bottom right corner of the left front panel (the only corner that is not sewn on to something). If you are left handed it would be the bottom left corner of the right front panel.

Row 1: Ch 1, now place 2 sc into each dc of each row of front panel (going upwards towards the neck) such that you have 62 (62, 64, 64, 66, 66, 66) sc’s, then place 1 sc into each of the skipped sts when creating the front panel which should be 10 (10, 12, 14, 14, 16, 16, 18) sc’s. After that place 2 sc’s into each dc of each row down the other front panel for an additional 62 (62, 64, 64, 66, 66, 66) sc’s, ch 1, turn.

The total amount of stitches are 134 (134, 140, 142, 142, 148, 148, 150) sts.

Row 2: 1 sc in the flo into each st, ch 1, turn

Row 3: 1 sc in the blo into each st, ch 1, turn

Row 4 – 7: repeat rows 2 and 3

Feel free to add additional rows if you like, using the same pattern.

Fasten off and weave in all the ends.

Belt loops

Make 4

Row 1: Ch 8, 1 sc in each st starting from the 2nd ch from the hook, ch 1, turn (7 sts)

Row 2 – 3: 1 sc in each sts, ch 1, turn

After row 3 fasten off and leave some yarn to sew on the belt loops to the cardigan.

Attaching the belt loops

Try on the cardigan to see where you want the belt to be placed. I placed them half way between the bust and the belly button (about where the waist is).

Place 1 belt loop about half way of the width of the front panel at the height you want them to be. Sew the short sides of the belt loops onto the cardigan such that the belt can run thru the long side of the belt loops.

Now turn the cardigan around. On the same horizontal line, where the first 2 belt loops are sewn on, the other 2 belt loops need to be placed. Divide the horizontal line between the already sewn on belt loops into 3 parts and sew the 2 last belt loops to the lines 1 and 2 of the 3 parts. For example, if the divided horizontal line between the 2 belt loops is 30 inches long, sew the 2 remaining belt loops to the 10 and 20 inch mark.

Belt

The length of the belt can be easily adjusted in case you want it to be longer or shorter. Below are my recommended chain amounts. Feel free to use the Chainless Foundation Chain as a substitute for row 1.

Row 1: Ch 80 (87, 100, 113, 126, 139, 149, 156), 1 sc in each st starting from the 2nd ch from the hook, ch 1, turn

Row 2 – 5: 1 sc in each sts, ch 1, turn

Fasten off and weave in all the remaining ends.

You can now use and wear your new Chunky Belted Crochet Cardigan. I hope you like it as much as I do.