The Willow Crop Sweater
Recently I got a really exciting opportunity. I was selected to do a guest design for Make and Do Crew blog! I decided to make a wearable item with some CoBoo yarn from Lion Brand…and the Willow Crop Sweater was born.
About Make & Do Crew
If you don’t know already, Jess at Make and Do Crew is practically a legend in the crochet community. Her blog is full of free patterns and tutorials. If you’ve searched for crochet patterns on Pinterest before, chances are that you’ve seen her work. And she recently had a new baby!
In order to accommodate her maternity leave, she gave some outside designers a chance to be featured on her blog. I was so excited and grateful to be a part of this project. You can find the free pattern here on her blog.
About the Yarn
Since I wanted to design something for spring and summer, I decided I need a cotton blend yarn. Lion Brand was kind enough to sponsor this project and provided the yarn free of charge. I chose CoBoo yarn, which is a cotton/bamboo blend. My main draw to this yarn was all of the fun colors they had available.
After working with it, I’m a big fan. I’ll admit, the yarn is a bit quirky. Since it is not a twisted yarn, but rather multiple stranded, it has a tendency to split. However, once I worked with it for a bit, I no longer had issues with it. And the drape I got from it was really amazing.
About the Design
Most of the time when I’m designing summer wear, I have my younger sister in mind. In fact, my very first attempt at a garment pattern, The Kiki Crop Top, is named after her. After recently having a new baby myself, I’m still in the loose-fitting, nursing-friendly wardrobe. However, my younger sister looks adorable in all things cropped and crochet. She is also the queen of oversized garments. So I made this top with a little bit of both of those features.
My original design was supposed to be a simple v-neck with some funky bell sleeves. But with my deadline approaching, I put that thing on and it looked terrible. So I frogged it and started over. I decided that this lacy style stitch on the body of the top looked way better. And the drape of it reminded me of a willow tree.
I wanted to make this pattern versatile, so I added some variations to it. First of all, you can make it whatever length you like. Crops are not for everyone, so it’s really easy make it full length. Next, the dramatic bell sleeves can be swapped for short sleeves or no sleeves at all. And finally, if you don’t like a draping neckline, you can skip the neckline shaping portion and make it straight across. The top is also designed to be more oversized, so if you like a more fitted style, you can simply make it one size smaller than you’d normally wear.
Where to Find It
As I mentioned, this pattern is available for free on Make & Do Crew’s blog. But if you’re more of a “print it out” type of person, like me, you can find the low-cost, PDF version in my Ravelry or my Etsy shops.
I hope you all enjoy this pattern and be sure to share your makes with the tag #thewillowcrop and tag me on Instagram so I can see your work. And as always…Happy Crafting!
Kelsie
