Snowfall Raglan Child Sizes- Free Crochet Pattern
About The Design
Its FINALLY here y’all! The Snowfall Raglan, in child sizes! 😅 (Want the adult size version? You can find that here.) You better believe that I am treating myself to a large helping of hot fudge sundae tonight as a reward for persevering and getting this pattern complete! If you follow along on Instagram, then you probably saw that the test for the child sizes on this pattern went through a LOT of adjustments to get the fit just right. Those little bodies are so hard to accommodate! Everyone I have spoken with since undertaking this challenge has affirmed how challenging it is to grade top-down raglans in kid’s sizes. Of course, this was all AFTER I discovered that for myself, but c’est la vie. I learned a lot through this process, and am better prepared for next time!
This sweater marries my favorite garment composition (top-down raglans) with one of my favorite crochet techniques (color work). It was a whole new adventure for me to figure out how to make, write up, and grade. But all in all, I couldn’t be happier with the end result. I think I grew a lot in my pattern writing through this process, and almost each and every one of my testers commented on how much they felt like this pattern grew their crochet skills as well.
About The Pattern
We’ve established that this was a complex pattern write up and to grade. So please, please make note before you start, that this is an intermediate- advanced level pattern, and experience with crochet color work is recommended. I’ve done the best I can to help the readability of this pattern but lets not forget; this is new territory for me. This is (as far as I know) a completely unique pattern, and I am in uncharted waters here so I hope you’ll bare with my [probably overboard] abundance of notes, graphs and video tutorials.
It was very important for me to offer this pattern (as is with all of my other patterns) for free on our blog. But due to the complexity of the pattern and it being written in multiple sizes, I really do recommend dropping the few bucks to get the color coded, printable PDF for this pattern. The PDF also includes written instructions for following the color work graphs, where it will very explicitly explain when to change colors where. That is not here on the free version, but I did include the color work graphs as free printables to help make following the free version easier to do.
Want to know more about the printable and inexpensive PDF? You can purchase it from our our Ravelry shop here and best of all 50% of all pattern sale proceeds are donated to ended modern day slavery. Already bought the Adult version and want to make a mommy and me set? You can get the child size PDF for 50% off when you purchase both through our Ravelry shop. No coupon code required.
About The Fit
First off, if you can- please check the bust of the little one you want to make this for before you start to make sure you’re working the right size. And when in doubt- size up. This is designed to fit with a 0-1″ positive ease which means that there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room. Plus, they can always grow into it that way 😉 Want to size up or make this for a child older than the 6-7 listed? Well about that…
Those adorable little kids with their big ole’ heads and those tiny little bodies… it was impossible to grade anything larger than a child 7 size without running into the adult sizes. I originally had 8-10 for the test, but alas, the original sizing was coming out too small to fit over heads. So back to the drawing board… “let’s try this!” Nope, that didn’t work either. After about 4 regrades of the pattern, we finally came up with a body that fit as expected. Only 2 issues remained…
- some of the sizes collars were popping up more turtle-neck like. I won’t go into a whole explanation as to why here, but I have offered some suggestions to avoiding that in the pattern notes.
- If I graded anything larger than the 6-8 we had in our pattern test (as in the 8-10 size), it would have actually ended up being larger than the adult X-Small. The only difference would have been the length being shorter for the kids size. But since this is a top-down, length is COMPLETELY customizable, so it just didn’t make sense.
All that to say. If the collar is bulging up too much for your liking when you add to the yoke, I recommend just omitting it, and have notes on how to do so. And if you really want to make this for your child but the 6-8″ bust will be too tight for your 8 or older kid, try the adult’s X-Small instead.
Some Extra Help
Need some extra help making this sweater? I have a full video tutorial of making this sweater from start to finish (yes, it’s like an hour long- but it’s there 🤣). The video has been attached to both this post, as well as on our blog post where you will also find a breakdown of key parts of the video to help you more easily jump to an area you might be stuck on while making this sweater.
That with the extra tools in the PDF of the exact color changes per stitch on the yoke written out for each size, should help even the most novice crocheter get a leg up on making this sweater. 😀
And please, please, please for the love of all that is holy- read through the pattern notes BEFORE you begin. I know it seems like a lot and you’re excited to being, but these notes are there to help head off any issues or questions you may have as you work the pattern. I also recommend referencing back to the pattern notes if at any point you find yourself stuck while working.
About The Yarn
For both the adult and child sized sweaters I made, I used Capra yarn from WeCrochet. It’s a cashmere, merino wool blend and perfectly soft. It’s a DK weight yarn, and I cannot recommend it enough! It is on the pricier side though, so if you’re looking for a good substitute, I would start with recommending an alternate wool DK weight (category 3) yarn, such as WeCrochet’s Swish DK, Lion Brand’s Touch of Merino or Lion Brand’s Wool Ease DK. Allergic to wool or can’t get your hands on any of those? I would recommend a different natural fiber to start with. Natural fibers block differently than man made fibers (like acrylic or polyester), and while blocking is not required for this top, I do recommend it if you’re having any issues with the fit of the yoke or completed sweater.
Really just want to use something from your stash, the most important thing is to meet gauge. You could use whatever yarn you have enough of, as long as you can meet gauge. Just keep in mind that different yarns will offer a different drape effect. Some other yarns that our testers used with great success included: hand dyed merino (check out our shop for some great options), Lion Brand’s Baby Soft, Lion Brand’s Coboo, Berroco Vintage, Prairie Spun DK, and Lion Brand’s Basic Stitch.
One Last Thing
You’ll notice that my dear daughter is wearing a sweater with short sleeves. That is not how the pattern is written. She’s a finicky little 4 year old who refuses to wear anything “too scratchy” or “too hot”. Hence the cashmere wool blend yarn and the short sleeves.
But that’s the great thing about top-downs. You can customize them to your needs! If you like this sweater in the short sleeve length, all I did was work 5 rounds of the sleeves before adding the ribbing. Now on to the good stuff…
The Pattern
| What You Need |
| 4.5 mm (US 7) crochet hook (or hook to obtain gauge) 5.0 mm (US H) crochet hook (or hook .5mm larger than hook gauge was met with) 3 (4, 5, 6) balls of WeCrochet’s Capra Yarn or comparable DK weight yarn in A (approximately 285, 375, 520, 750 yards) 1 ball of WeCrochet’s Capra Yarn or comparable DK weight yarn in B (approximately 30, 35, 40, 50 yards) Embroidery or darning needle Scissors |
| Approximate Completed Measurements |
 |
| Gauge Used |
| 20 sc flo sts= 4 ”16 rows= 4” |
| Collar Gauge Used |
| 18 hdc in blo sts= 4 ”10 rows of hdc in blo= 4” |
| Abbreviations Used |
| A= Main color yarn (I used blue) B= Secondary color yarn (I used white) C= column (of graph) ch(s)= chain(s) dec= decrease (sc 2 together in flo) hdc= half double crochet blo= back loop only flo= front loop only p/u= pick up RS= right side [of work] WS= wrong side [of work] sc= single crochet sk= skip [stitch] sl st= slip stitch Ch 2 sp(s)= chain 2 space(s) sm= stitch marker |
| Pattern Notes |
| This pattern is written in US standard size and abbreviations This top is written to fit, with a 1- 2”positive ease on the bust, and 0-1” positive ease on the sleeves. The pattern is written in 18 month size with (2T, 4T, and Child 6-7) sizes to follow in parentheses. The Yoke, body, and sleeve patterns are all worked in joined turning rounds. The ribbing is worked back and forth in rows. Turning chs at the beginning of each round/row do not count as a stitch. All rounds will be worked in joined turning rounds. When turning your work, make sure you don’t work into your sl st which may look like the first st if you do not pull it tight. If you work into the sl st as your first stitch, the color work graphs will be off by one stitch on the WS rounds. The final stitch count for each row/round are listed in parentheses following the instructions. These do not include the ch-2 sps in the yoke rounds. When changing colors, we will change to the new color (and drop the working color) in the last yarn over of the stitch before the new color begins. To work the color changes on this pattern, we will use a fair-isle style color work, where we will carry the unused color behind our work when working the RS and in front of our work when working the WS. I recommend “picking up floats” when working more than 5 stitches in the same color by working the unused color behind the working stitch. To work the fair isle method flat, I recommend this helpful video tutorial: https://youtu.be/g8jHzQN-WU0 On Round 1 of the body pattern the 2T and 6-7 Child sizes will decrease by one at the start of the round. The 18 month and 4T will not. The ribbing on the sleeves and body is added as you go, rather than being a separate piece attached later. For an example of how to work this technique, I recommend this tutorial by TL Yarn Crafts found here. Please note that this video is meant to serve only as a guide (for example, we will not go down a hook size in this pattern as she does in the video). Follow the pattern as written below. |
| Pattern Composition |
| This is a seamless, top-down style pattern. You will work in the following order: You will start with the collar which will be joined to create a cylinder that will be located at the center back of your top. You will pick up the foundation for the yoke directly onto the collar. For “Splitting the Yoke”, you will start by adding the body and body ribbing. From here you will add one sleeve with cuff. Last is adding the other sleeve with a cuff. |
Collar Pattern
Foundation: using hook you met gauge with, in A, ch 5 (5, 5, 7)
Row 1: starting in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in blo across, turn (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 2: ch 2, hdc in 1st, hdc in blo 2 (2, 2, 4), turn (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 3: ch 2, hdc in blo 2 (2, 2, 4), hdc in last, turn (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 4 – 35 (37,39,41): repeat rows 2&3 (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 36 (38,40,42): rotate collar 90° and join ending row to foundation, sl st in each of both rows across (3, 3, 3, 5)
DO NOT FASTEN OFF continue to “Yoke Pattern”
| Yoke Pattern Notes |
| I recommend placing stitch markers in the 4 “ch 2” corners of the yoke and moving down each row. The pattern below is worked in combination with color work graphs. For the color work; there is a separate graph page for each size. Below each size’s graph, you will find detailed written instructions for following each graph. Each size will follow 2 different color work graphs for the color work on the yoke and a uniform graph on repeat around the bottom of the body and one for the bottom of the sleeves. The longer sides of your yoke will follow graph 1 and the shorter sides will follow graph 2. Each round of the yoke is broken up into 5 steps: following half of graph 1, graph 2, all of graph 1, graph 2 again and then finally the other half of graph 1. |
Yoke Pattern
Go up .5mm crochet hook size (I used a 5.0mm hook)
Foundation: [continuing in A] ch 1, and sc into each row of the collar around, adding an additional 28 (30, 30, 32) sts as evenly around as possible, ending with a total of 64 (68, 70, 74) stitches, sl st to join to starting st.
Place sm in the 12th (14th, 15th, 16th) st from starting sl st, place another sm in the 8th (7th, 6th, 5th) st away from that, place another sm in the 24th (27th, 29th,32nd) st away from that and place another sm in the 8th (7th, 6th, 5th) away from that
((sm placed in the: 12th (14th, 15th, 16th), 20th (21st, 21st, 21st), 44th (48th, 50th, 53rd), 52nd (55th, 56th, 58th) sts)
Round 1[RS]: ch 1, turn, sc flo to 1st sm, *(sc, ch 2, sc) in st with sm, sc flo to next sm*, repeat from * to * around, sl st to starting st. 68 (72, 74, 78)
Round 2: ch 1, turn, sc flo to ch-2 sp. *(sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2sp, sc flo to next ch-2 sp, repeat from * around, sl st into starting sc.76 (80, 82, 86)
Drop down .5mm crochet hook (to the hook gauge was met with)
Round 3-4: ch 1, turn, sc flo to ch-2 sp. *(sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2sp, sc flo to next ch-2 sp, repeat from * around, sl st into starting sc. (end round 4 with 92 (96, 98, 102))
Round 5[RS]:
- ch 1, turn, p/u B, sc flo starting graph 1 at C24 (C26, C27, C28) and continue to sc flo, following graph 1 towards ch-2 sp, changing colors as indicated to end of graph,
- In A, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 sp, sc flo following graph 2, starting at start of graph, changing colors as indicated to end of graph and working towards next ch-2 sp,
- In A, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 sp, sc flo following graph 1, starting at start of graph, changing colors as indicated to end of graph and working towards ch-2 sp,
- Repeat step 2,
- In A, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 sp, sc flo following graph 1, starting at start of graph, changing colors as indicated, towards ch-2 sp, ending at C23 (C25, C26, C27), sl st to starting st. 100 (104, 106, 110)
Round 6:
- ch 1, turn, start graph 1 at C23 (C25, C26, C27) and continue to sc flo, following graph 1 towards ch-2 sp, changing colors as indicated to start of graph,
- In A (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 sp, begin following graph 2 working sc flo, starting at C31 (C30, C29, C28) changing colors as indicated to start of graph and working towards ch-2 sp,
- In A (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 sp, begin following graph 1 working sc flo, starting at C47 (C50, C52, C55), changing colors as indicated to start of graph and working towards ch-2 sp,
- Repeat step 2,
- In A, (sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2 sp, begin following graph 1 working sc flo, starting atC47 (C50, C52, C55), changing colors as indicated, towards ch-2 sp, ending at C24 (C26, C27, C28), sl st to starting st. 108 (112, 114, 118)
Round 7-13: repeat rounds 5 & 6 working the next row of each graph through completion.
Cut B and weave in end.
Round 14-14 (16, 18, 20): ch 1, turn, sc flo to ch-2sp, *(sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-2sp, sc flo to next ch-2 sp, repeat from * around, sl st into last sc (172, 192, 210, 230)
Yoke Graphs By Size
Splitting The Yoke
Round 1[RS]: ch 1, turn, sc flo towards ch-2sp, sc in the ch-2 sp and ch-2 sp opposite to join ((sk 35 (38, 41, 44) sts between ch-2 sps), sc flo, towards the next ch-2 sp, sc in the next ch-2 sp and ch-2 sp opposite to join ((sk 35 (38, 41, 44) sts between ch-2 sps), sc flo to end, sl st to starting st. (104, 118, 130, 144)
Body Pattern (continued from “Splitting the Yoke”)
Round 1-[In A] ch 1, turn, for sizes 2T and 6-8 Child ONLY: dec 1, proceed with all sizes to sc flo around, sl st to join to starting st. (104, 117, 130, 143)
Round 2- 19 (29, 33, 43): ch 1, turn, sc flo around, sl st to join to starting st. (104, 117, 130, 143)
Round 20 (30, 34, 44): ch 1, turn, sc flo, following stitch graph 3 repeating C1- C13 around, sl st to join to starting st. (104, 117, 130, 143)
Round 21(31, 35, 45): ch 1, turn, sc flo, following stitch graph 3 repeating C13- C1 around, sl st to join to starting st. (104, 117, 130, 143)
Round 22 (32,36,46): ch 1, turn, sc flo, following stitch graph 3 repeating C1- C13 around, sl st to join to starting st. (104, 117, 130, 143)
Round 23(33,37, 47)-28(38,42,52): Repeat last 2 rounds to complete graph rows. Cut B and weave in ends.
Do NOT fasten off and proceed to “Body Ribbing Pattern”
Body Ribbing Pattern
Foundation: [In A] ch 5 (5, 5, 7)
Row 1: starting in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in blo across, *sk 1 st on body, sl st to next st on body*, repeat from * to * once.(3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 2: turn, hdc blo 2 (2, 2, 4), hdc in last, turn (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 3: ch 2, turn, hdc in 1st, hdc in blo 2 (2, 2, 4) towards the body, *sk 1 st on body, sl st to next st on body*, repeat from * to * once. (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 4-51 (58, 64, 71): repeat rows 2&3 around the entirety of the body opening. (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 52(59,65, 72): join foundation to row 51 (58, 64, 71), sl st into each stitch across, joining both rows together. Fo and weave in ends. (3, 3, 3, 5)
Sleeve Pattern (repeat on both armholes)
Round 1 [RS]: p/u A in ch-2 sp to the right at the bottom of the armhole opening, ch 1, sc into both ch-2 sps to join them together, sc flo in each remaining st around, sl st to starting st. (36, 39, 42, 45)
Round 2- 30 (34, 40, 48): [In A} ch 1, turn, sc flo around, sl st to join to starting st. (36, 39, 42, 45)
Round 31 (35, 41, 49): ch 1, turn, sc flo, following stitch graph 4, repeating C1-C5 around, sl st to join to starting st. (36, 39, 42, 45)
Round 32 (36, 42, 50): ch 1, turn, sc flo, following stitch graph 4, repeating C5-C1 around, sl st to join to starting st. (36, 39, 42, 45)
Round 33 (37, 43, 51): ch 1, turn, sc flo, following stitch graph 4, repeating C1-C5 around, sl st to join to starting st, cut B and weave in ends. (36, 39, 42, 45)
Round 34 (38, 44, 52)-35 (39, 45, 53): [In A} ch 1, turn, sc flo around, sl st to join to starting st. (36, 39, 42, 45)
Do NOT fasten off and proceed to “Sleeve Cuff Pattern”
Sleeve Cuff Pattern
Foundation: [In A] ch 5 (5, 5, 7)
Row 1: starting in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in blo across, *sk 1 st on sleeve, sl st to next st on sleeve*, repeat from * to * once. (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 2: turn, hdc blo 2 (2, 2, 4), hdc in last, turn (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 3: ch 2, turn, hdc in 1st, hdc in blo 2 (2, 2, 4)towards the sleeve, *sk 1 st on body, sl st to next st on sleeve*, repeat from * to * once. (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 4-17 (19, 20, 22): repeat rows 2&3 around the entirety of the sleeve opening (3, 3, 3, 5)
Row 18 (20, 21, 23): join foundation to row 17 (19, 20, 22), sl st into each stitch across, joining both rows together. Fo and weave in ends. (3, 3, 3, 5)
