Completing your first knitted sweater is quite the accomplishment. Casting off those final stitches, weaving in those ends and putting your arms through those sleeves and cozying up in your sweater for the first time is such a great feeling. If you’ve never done this before and would like to learn, I’ve got a great pattern and step by step video tutorial for you to walk you through exactly how to knit a great cardigan. For those who are newer knitters or those who are more experienced and have yet to try knitting a sweater, it can be intimidating to find the right pattern with helpful tutorials to walk you through everything, so I’m here to help!

Knit A Simple Top Down Raglan Cardigan Sweater

I created the Simply Stated Cardigan as an easy, beginner-friendly pattern to help you create a beautiful, handmade sweater you won’t want to take off. It’s designed as a top down raglan cardigan, which means that it is worked by casting on stitches at the collar (the top of the sweater) and then making a series of increases down along the fronts, sleeves, and back. Once you’ve completed the necessary increases (the raglan part), you’ll separate out the sleeves and work the body of the sweater down to the ribbing at the bottom. You’re starting at the top of the sweater and working your way down to the bottom, hence the name, top down sweater. Then you’ll pick up the sleeve stitches and work each sleeve separately and finish by completing ribbing for the collar.

If knitting a top down raglan cardigan sounds complicated, don’t worry — I’ll show you exactly how!

Knitting a top down raglan sweater is a great way to start knitting a sweater because it is seamless (there aren’t any pieces to sew together) and it’s easy to visualize the sweater construction as you knit the garment. It is also simple to customize the size and try the sweater on as you work so you can make the sweater fit exactly how you want it too (but don’t worry too much about this now!).

How to Get Started Knitting the Simply Stated Cardigan Sweater

1. Download the sweater pattern. Submit your email below and get a printer-friendly PDF of the pattern sent directly to your inbox. While I’ve provided a video tutorial of how to knit this, you’ll want to follow the pattern so you can make your specific size. The pattern includes more information about materials and yarn as well.

2. Get your supplies. Everything is outlined in the PDF pattern but here are links to the supplies you’ll need.

Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick Yarn Color pictured is Sky Blue (refer to the pattern to figure out how many skeins you’ll need)
US 17 (12 mm) 40 in circular knitting needles
US 17 (12 mm) 16 in knitting needles
US 13 (9mm) 16 in knitting needles
Tapestry Needle
Stitch Markers
Craft Scissors

**Please note that these are Amazon affiliate links and I may receive a commission on items purchased from those links. Those funds help me fund my blog. Thank you for your support! **

3. Knit a gauge swatch. A gauge swatch is a sample piece of knitting that helps to standardize sizing. You’ll complete a swatch to make sure your sample measures the gauge listed in the pattern so that your sweater turns out to be approximately the same size listed in the pattern. For example, you may need to go up in a needle size if you knit tightly and you may need to go down a needle size if you knit loosely.

4. Start knitting the sweater. Follow the pattern and watch the video below to see exactly how to knit your Simply Stated Cardigan Sweater.

Video Tutorial on How to Knit the Simply Stated Cardigan Sweater

Here’s a video tutorial that explains exactly how to knit the Simply Stated Cardigan. I’ve provided time stamps of the major steps and sections, so feel free to jump to a specific part of the video if you need help in a certain area.