Knitted Ruffle Sweater for girl – Pattern & Tutorial

Also available in: Español

Lately, I have been publishing a lot of crochet tutorials, and I have been longing to knit with two needles. Today I am fulfilling that desire. I bring you a tutorial to create a Knitted Ruffle Sweater for girls and also in a trendy color!

The construction of this sweater is the same as we have seen on other occasions, such as in this baby knitted sweater with ruffles on the sleeve’s tutorial, this fabric and yarn Romper or the Musgo Baby Knitted Onesie. 

It is worked top-down, making raglan increases to shape the sweater. The variation that we have introduced on this occasion is that we are going to knit a garter stitch row to later work a big ruffle on it.

We have also made a small modification in the distribution of the stitches to obtain a beautiful baggy effect to the sleeves.

Required Knitting stitches and techniques 

• Cast on
• 1×1 rib stitch
• Stockinette stitch
• Raglan increases. For this project I used M1L and M1R increases.
• Bind off
• Pick up stitches

Abbreviations

st / sts: Stitch / stitches
k: knit
M1R: Make one right
M1L: Make one left
dec: decrease
inc: increase

Available sizes

In addition to the free size (2-4 years) that you will find in this tutorial, the RUFFLE knitted sweater is available in the following sizes

3-6 months
6-12 months
12-24 months
2-4 years
4-6 years
6-8 years
8-10 years

As usual with my patterns, you can buy the sizes separately, or get the pattern containing the 7 available sizes for a super reduced price, click here to choose!

How to make a Knitted Ruffle Sweater for girls – Size 3-4 years

1. Knit the yoke of the sweater 

Knit the neck area

Cast 79 stitches and knit 9 rows using 1 × 1 rib stitch. That is, *k1, p1; rep from * to end of row.

From row 10, and now on, all the even rows of the yoke up to the ruffle, we will work them in the following way: 5 rib.sts, purl until only 5 sts remain, 5 rib.sts

Start knitting raglan increases to shape the yoke area

On this occasion, as I said before, I have opted for the M1L and M1R increases.

Work row 11 the following way: 5 rib stitches, k 4 sts , M1R, k 1 st, place marker, k 1 sts , M1L, k 17 sts, M1R, k 1 st, place marker, k 1 sts , M1L, k 19 sts, M1R, k 1 st, place marker, k 1 sts , M1L, k 17 sts, M1R, k 1 st, place marker, k 1 sts , M1L, k 4 sts, 5 rib stitches.

In this way, counting the stitches that you already had and those that you have increased, you will have the stitches distributed as the image shows:

Continue increasing raglan in odd rows by increasing M1R when you have 1 stitch left before reaching each marker and M1L beyond 1 stitch of the marker.

Keep knitting this way until you reach row 26, in which you will have increased 18 sts for each of the backs and 37 stitches on the front and sleeves.

Knit the following even row (row 24), except the first 5 stitches and the last 5 stitches, which you will continue knitting in rib stitch. In this way, we will have formed a ridge on which we will pick up the stitches to knit the ruffle.

From now on, we will continue knitting the raglan increases without knitting the first 5 and last 5 stitches in rib stitch, neither in the even or odd rows.

Knit until the front has 53 stitches.

Cut the strand without fear. Once you have finished your girl’s knitted sweater, you could weave in all those loose ends.

Place the stitches from both parts of the back and the sleeves on hold into waste yarn or stitch holders

From now on, you will only work the 53 stitches from the front part.

2. Knit the front of the ruffle sweater

Starting in even row, knit 29 rows in stockinette stitch and finish the front by knitting 7 more rows in rib stitch. Cast off all stitches and cut the yarn.

3. Knit the sleeves of the knitted sweater

To shape the sleeves, slip the stitches on hold into your working needle and knit 26 rows in stockinette stitch until you reach the cuff area.

We must decrease some stitches so that the cuff fits the wrist. Knit as follows:

Row 27. k 4, *dec, k 2*, repeat from *a* until there are only 5 sts left, k 5.

Rows 28 and 30. Purl all the sts.

Row 29. k 3, *dec, k 1*, repeat from *a* until there are only 5 sts left, k 5.

Rows 31-42. Work in rib stitch

Row 43. Bind off all the sts and cut yarn, leaving a long tail.

Knit the other sleeve in the same way.

4. Knit the ruffle

Pick up the stitches for the ruffle by inserting the needle under each of the “ridges” formed in the yoke.

At this point, it is a good idea to use circular needles since, as you increase the stitches of the ruffle, you will need more space to accommodate them. It is up to you!

Knit the ruffle as follows:

Row 1. * k1, inc*, repeat from *a* until the end

Rows 2 and 4. Purl all the sts.

Row 3. *k2, inc*, repeat from *a* until the end

Rows 5-9. work in rib stitch

Row 10. Bind off all the sts.

5. Knit the back of the knitted sweater 

Slip the stitches on hold from both parts of the back into your working needle and knit (wrong side facing) as you did the front part.

Once the back is finished, sew the small opening that has been left under the ruffle with an invisible seam.

6. Final touches

Seam under the sleeves and the sides of the sweater.

Bend the neck inward and sew the stitches to the base. In this way, you will have a “little roll” on the neck.

Knit an 85 cm cord with the i-cord technique and pass it through the roll.

And just like that, you give a new shape to a basic pattern, adding a large ruffle and baggy sleeves.

And the best of all is that you don’t have to be an expert knitter to make a garment like this! Just by mastering some basic stitches, you can knit it with your own hands. 🙌🏻.

If you liked this tutorial and it has inspired you, comment and share your discovery! And, of course, once you have finished your Knitted Ruffle Sweater, do not forget to brag about the result on social networks with the hashtags #rufflesweater and #creativaatelier.

Kisses!