Designing my "Hounds Abound Sweater Jacket"

Hounds Abound Sweater Jacket

Sometimes I come up with these great crochet design ideas but for one reason or the other, getting my brain and fingers to work in tandem can be a challenge. By the time I think I am ready to start working up my idea, I've seen some other beautiful piece of crochet inspiration and my mind wanders elsewhere....

BUT, I am trying really hard to slow down the pace a bit and enjoy the creative crochet journey. I've been making a better effort to complete some wips (works in progress) I have had lingering for a while and some other 2023 crochet and design goals, and so far things are going as expected. It's probably best not to elaborate on that last statement, lol.

I finally finished my Betty Ann Sweater Blanket, design by Daisy Farm Crafts, and enjoyed utilizing the houndstooth stitch. I have used this stitch before, and it is really easy and eye catching. It also happens to be a rather popular stitch in the crochet hemisphere right now.

Here's my finished blanket. It is photographed on my queen bed in the photo below, but should fit a twin bed beautifully. I hope to use it in my new home as a throw, sometime in the near future.

Having recently purchased a box of 15 mini (67 yard) skeins of sample yarns from Hobby Lobby, along with lots of yarn ends on hand, I decided to turn an idea I had in mind into a reality and began gathering materials for making my houndstooth cardigan. I decided I would use these for my contrast colors and that I would use up the remaining Impeccable yarn I had in a cream color as my main color.

The next step would be to determine just exactly how I wanted to construct my sweater and finalize the stitches that would work best for my chosen yarn. Having loved the result of my Betty Ann Sweater Blanket, as well as the soothing rhythm created by working the houndstooth stitch, this is what I chose to work my sweater design in. 

How should I go about constructing my new pattern? There seem to be several houndstooth sweater patterns available already, so I decided to make my design a bit differently, trying to make it one that appears unique from the others. Nowadays it seems as though anything granny stitch or patchwork is very popular. With that in mind, and with the ample amount of varying color choices to work with, I set about making my cardigan in patchwork "panels" to be assembled and made to fit as I worked the design.

I determined that I would make the back portion using three panels, made to measure the width of my back and using the Craft Yarn Council Standard Size Charts, I began my journey into pattern designing my first sweater.

Here are my first three houndstooth "patchwork strips." My plan was to work up one strip/day for as many as I needed, and that turned out just perfectly. 

I seamed them together and went about creating two more strips for the right and left front. I attached those at the shoulder seams and then tried it on for fit.

Next, I made a total of four strips, a bit shorter, to be joined in sets of two for the sleeves. I wanted to make this as a "puff" sleeve, so although the sleeve images appear to be rather long, I fixed that while working my fitted sleeve cuffs.

Front view of sleeves
after attaching to the cardigan.

Back view after attaching sleeves.

Trying it on for fit. 

What it looked like after seaming along the
inner edge of the sleeves and down the sides.

I determined after I attached my sleeves, that I needed to add a bit more to the front side of the cardigan to get better coverage, and went about creating two inner front panels that were seamed to the left and right outer front panels. This did the trick and gave me the added coverage I was looking for.

After adding the inner front panels.

Double checking the sweater length.

The length of my cardigan was just where I wanted it, and having added front panels, I was now ready to add my ribbing, This would be worked as SC in the back loop and slip stitched to the edge of the sweater. First I worked the bottom ribbing, then the neckline and finally my ribbed sleeve cuffs. 

This photo shows where I marked along
the neckline ribbing for my buttons
and the button hole placement.

Back view of my finished
Hounds Abound Sweater design.

Side view.

Taking my little Murphy out for a walk...

If you are interested in making your own scrap-busting "Hounds Abound Sweater Jacket," you can find very detailed pattern directions for adult sizes small, medium and large in my Ravelry Store. Simply visit me there by clicking on the link below.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hounds-abound-sweater-jacket