This is a crochet pattern review of the Athabasca Pullover pattern by designer MJ’s Off the Hook Designs. Review done by A Stitch Shy of Normal for EyeLoveKnots.
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Find the crochet pattern review below, click here to view the free sweater crochet pattern or purchase the PDF on Ravelry.
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It’s me, Abigail with A Stitch Shy of Normal.
I love fall. I’ve said it every year so I won’t do my whole spiel again (yet), but just understand that it’s my favorite season. I love cozy clothing, apple cider, scarves and hats, and the weather getting cooler. And I’m addicted to sweaters. I have no shame about saying that. Cardigans, pullovers, I’ll take any kind. I work in an office that’s kept on the cooler side so I can wear them most of the year, but now it’s getting more acceptable to wear them outside too!
And you can never go wrong with something classic like a raglan pullover. I had this pattern from MJ’s Off the Hook Crochet on my favorites list for a little while, and I was waiting for the right yarn. She used Lion Brand Mandala Ombre which I do love, but I wanted to mix it up a little bit. When I saw the new Bitty Stripes yarn come up at Joann, I was immediately intrigued. I bought a couple of skeins with no plans. That evening after buying it I was scrolling through Ravelry, and I realized this was fate. The gorgeous watercolor-inspired (in my opinion) colorway with a simple raglan to let the colors be the star? Perfect!
You can see below how the process worked out for me, but I feel that the finished item turned out like a dream. I love it, and it’s very warm. Plus the colors are breathtaking. I have absolutely bought more of this yarn for a personal design idea just because it’s so gorgeous!
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What Materials Do I Need to Crochet a Pullover?
- 750-800ish yards of Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes in “Rainbow”, or just under 2 skeins — this is less yardage than suggested in the pattern as my yarn is thicker. Check your gauge for your chosen yarn!
- G6/4.0mm and I9/5.5mm hooks, which is sized down from the suggested H and J in the pattern
- Scissors and yarn needle for assembly
- Athabasca Pullover, available as a free pattern on MJs Off the Hook Designs blog or a paid download through Ravelry here!
Material Notes:
I want to start by saying if you haven’t tried Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes, you absolutely should. I’m addicted to this yarn. The only downside is the price. It’s a spendy yarn for a worsted acrylic! But the colorways are so amazing, and to their credit it is an impressive 515 yards per skein. I still wish it was more like 7-8 dollars a skein, but I suppose if you’re strategic with coupons that’s about the price you can snag it for.
I’m prefacing this with my love for the yarn because to be honest, it was not a great fit for this pattern in terms of gauge. But by the time I checked the gauge, I was already committed to the gorgeousness. The moment I saw how beautiful this worked up in this stitch pattern, I knew I was making it work regardless of what needed to be done. I’ll explain more later, but what I did to make this work was sized down quite a bit. I usually wear Medium but I did not want this to be a slim-fitting sweater. That’s just my preference, I wanted a larger pullover with some room. But my gauge did not match, so sizing up would have led to a giant sweater following that size! So I followed the Medium directions after all. This gave me roughly the dimensions of the Large size.
Do I recommend this yarn? Yes. Do I recommend it, but for this project? Honestly, no. It’s gorgeous, I’m so happy I used it, but it was a headache making it work with sizing. And it’s seriously warm, so it’s going to get less use than if I had used something lighter.
I do recommend using Lion Brand Mandala Ombre like the designer chose, and I’d be curious what the gauge would be with a “regular” Super Saver or Super Saver Stripes. Those can give some gorgeous shades. I also don’t know how gauge would work but for comfort, Lion Brand Heartland would be lovely to see. It’s nice and soft with rich colors. I’ll have to revisit this pattern one day with one of these other choices.
How Long Does it Take to Crochet a Pullover?
I honestly was tracking this quite accurately for a while. But I’m very old-school with my pattern notes and had it on a physical sheet of paper, and I filled up the front half of the page with the body of the sweater. My helpful little tally-marks of the hours I was stitching ended up being ignored when I flipped the page! So up until the sleeves I had marked down 14 hours. I’d guess I put another 6 or so into the sleeves. I’d estimate this being a 20-ish hour project for me.
This will change for others, though. I ended up going down a size from what I actually wear (see my notes below in the Gauge & Measurements section for clarification), so I essentially did fewer rows than I would have following my actual size. If that doesn’t make any sense please let me know in the comments and I’ll try to clarify.
Gauge & Measurements:
A touch larger than I expected, but l did not meet the gauge. I knew this from the start. The yarn I used, Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes, is thicker than the suggested Lion Brand Mandala Ombre, so I was already going to end up with a larger finished piece if I did nothing else to change it. I did size down, but I was not quite sure the best course of action with it being a boxier shape. I didn’t want to size down too much, but I wasn’t sure how much larger my sweater would turn out. So I had to cross my fingers and pick a size! I like the result I ended up with, though.
The suggested gauge is 4″ being 13 stitches or 8 rounds in the main body, and my finished sweater has 12 stitches and 6.5 rounds in that 4 inches. So my yarn did give a larger gauge even with the hooks sized down, which is what I found in my swatch as well. Like I said, I was aware of this and chose to move forward anyway at my own risk of having to figure out sizing.
I can tell you how my sizing turned out but remember that I modified my size due to the gauge. So I’m not going to strictly compare this to the size I made (Medium) because I wasn’t specifically following it hoping for that exact size. My sweater, laying flat, has a width (across the chest) of about 21.5″ so the circumference at the bust would be about 43″. The height from the armpit down including ribbing is about 11″, and my sleeves are around 17″ in circumference. Looking at the listed dimensions, this is sort of a blend of Medium and Large. This makes sense. I wanted a looser fit than Medium but I have a short torso so I stopped the length early. You can really customize this fit!
I generally wear a Medium in most sizes, I would say. I’m still figuring out my new wardrobe after my son, which is why I had so much fun making myself a new fall sweater! This fits on the larger side of that, which makes sense with my gauge and my size choices.
Pattern Notes:
I love the simplicity of this pattern. Because it’s a top-down raglan you can try it on throughout the project and check your length easily as you go. I stopped at 15 rounds of the main body, 4 short of listed. I have a shorter torso and I wanted this to be a sweater that skimmed the top of my jeans and wasn’t too heavy. I was also making sure that in case this heavier yarn stretched out a bit, I had room for it to lengthen the sweater a little bit without ruining the look and fit.
I adore that this sweater is made using multicolored yarns in the design examples. This style of sweater is such a timeless choice and seeing it in bright colorful options really warms my heart. Obviously this would look gorgeous in a solid shade, especially a neutral. A soft beige or a light gray would be stunning! But personally, I love seeing these bright variegated or striping options too. I’m a big fan of a fall outfit of dark jeans, neutral boots, and a bright colorful sweater. It’s just who I am, deep in my soul. I cannot wait for the weather to cool off enough to rock this every day for work!
This is likely due to my yarn being on the heavier side, but my sweater came out pretty thick and cozy. I can’t really confirm if this is from the pattern though. The stitching is a texture that would be nice and warm, with minimal holes or gaps in the shape. So if you also use this Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes yarn like I did, be warned that it’s definitely warm!
I addressed earlier in the Material Notes section that I wouldn’t use this yarn again for this sweater (although I’m already using the yarn again for other projects), but I will definitely use this pattern again. I want to test my theories and try this in Lion Brand Heartland as long as the gauge mostly works out, and that would also let me see if it’s as beautiful as I’m thinking in a neutral solid shade.
What kind of sweater is your favorite in fall? Long tunics, cropped and cute, solid textures? I’d love to hear all about it!
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The cutest sweater! Looks great on you 🙂