Monday, April 09, 2007

"$5 in Paris" Top-down Raglan (KUAS Original Pattern)



Original knitting pattern by 
 Anna Maliszewski
 
Updated 8/27/13 

English, French & Spanish

 Have you ever just wanted to make a quick and inexpensive raglan tee that is fluffy-soft without breaking the bank? Well say "bonjour!" and dig those needles and Caron Simply Soft yarns out from your stash and you'll be finished before you can mutter, "Je l'adore!"  
 




SIZES: Small, Medium and Large

 Raglan Measurements:
Small= approx. 32.5mm wide 59mm long
Medium=39mm wide 59mm long
Large= approx. 45.5mm wide 59mm long
**NOTE for size upgrades: 12sts adds 2.5''

Materials:
Yarn:
-1 skein "Caron Simply Soft" in pale mint
- 1.5-2 skeins of "Caron Simply Soft" in grey
Needles:
-One 24'' circular needles, Size US8  
-Two  32'' circular needles: Size US9--one is extra for trying on the work-in-progress      -A set of 4 dpn's: Size US8   -Optional: also size 7 US dpns    *I recommend you investing in Knitpick's Options Needle Set, so that you can also use the wires as stitch holders. If you have this already, you can use the 24'' as stitch holders.   

Gauge: "Ribbing:" on size 8US: 7 sts=1'' (vertically)
                  "Stockinette:" on size 9US:
18 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette Stitch

Abbreviations:
Kf&b= Knit into the front and back of that stitch. (This is done on the stitches before and after a place marker.)    DPN's=double pointed needles
K= knit    P=purl     St(s)= stitch(es)    RD(S)=round(s)   PM=place marker    M=marker   MC=grey    CC=pale green   K2tog= knit 2 sts together SSK=slide, slide and knit those together.   M1=make 1 stitch (an increase)
 



Are you a newbie to top-down raglans?? This is a great first-time sweater project! It's just a sweater that is worked top-down in Stockinette Stitch on circular needles, which allows for a lot of modifications for size or adding intarsia, cabling or whatever you'd like if you feel up to the challenge one day! The best news? It's seamless!!


About the pattern: I first created this pattern in 2007 as a Craftster challenge to create something under $10. I created something around $5. Because of the boat-neck and striping, this top-down raglan reminded me of Paris. After the contest, I decided to share it for free in hopes that beginning knitters wouldn't be scared away from knitting a sweater. Since then, I have added notes for side-shaping, although it was not in the original design and updated the pattern to be even more user-friendly.

 It's almost hard to believe, but as of December 2013, almost 1,800 "$5 in Paris" projects have been casted-on and/or completed since it's conception. And that's only counting Ravelry members. Now it's being featured on several free knitting sites, as well as Craftster and Ravelry. 

Likewise, the Craftster.org thread for the KAL "the Beginner Top-Down Ralgan" ("$5 in Paris") has been viewed almost 165,000 times, leaving it on the first page in the knit-along community on Craftster since 2007.


48 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:04 AM

    This is a lovely sweater pattern. thanks much for sharing it!!!

    tori

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:37 PM

    thank you! (I think you have a error in your colors though, didn't you say you used pale green, not pale grey??) i'll definately keep this in mind =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks. :) I just changed "grey" to "green."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:55 PM

    Cool, thanks for the pattern! Out of curiosity, will you be posting a pattern for the "All Twisted Up Bag" anytime soon? I've been drooling over it for weeks!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hmmm... I have been debating on and off with myself about posting it. It's one of my coolest pattern thus far, and I was considering maybe starting to sell some patterns on Etsy because i'm going to be even broker this year when I have to start paying my own tuition (yeah, parents are in debt from me...). I don't know if you still would be interested or not... but the more I think of it, the more serious I am about selling the pattern.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:04 PM

      I think its a good idea to charge. Esp if you have needs.
      Your talent is your art..its has value.

      Delete
  6. Rock on....that's awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous6:55 PM

    I'd pay for the pattern.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely! Maybe I'm just missing it, but I couldn't find the finished measurements of the sweater. What size did yours turn out?

    ReplyDelete
  9. At the top it just says small, medium and large. I can measure my size, but not the others, since i didn't knit those two other sizes myself. i'll measure it up soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:49 AM

    That is so beautiful! what great colors too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous1:38 AM

    Hey! I absolutely love this pattern and am planning to knit this for a friend. The part that confuses me is when the DPNs come in. How many DPNs do you use to knit the sleeves? Two? Three?

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just added the number of dpns on the sleeve instructions. You need that set of 4 dpns, but the stitches are set evenly on 3 of them. :) Thanks for the notice!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm a bit confused about the part where you slide the stitches for the sleeves off. I did that, but the next part says to cast on "Cast on 2(4)(6), slide PM, knit through back side, take off 1st PM of sleeve stitches, slide sleeve stitches onto scrap yarn, Cast on 2(4)(6), Slide PM." That's where I get lost. How and where am I casting on these stitches?

    ReplyDelete
  14. You just cast on those stitches onto the "right" needle, after sliding those sleeve stitches onto waste yarn. Then you can slide the PM off of the "left needle" and knit to the next PM, and follow the same instructions. Does that make more sense?
    (You cast on those stitches so that the underarm has more room.)

    ReplyDelete
  15. But I did find a "word error" instead of knit "through" the back side...it's supposed to be knit "to" the back side. I'll go fix that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'll have to make one for myself, and perhaps one for my cousin.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7:31 PM

    What size of skein do you use for this? Simply soft comes in 2 sizes so I'm confused. :(

    ReplyDelete
  18. Freaking awesome pattern. Next on my list... well... after all the others. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Lovely sweater and I want to make myself one, but I've run into a bit of confusion from your pattern. ..
    "Step two--Arm Increases:
    Round Repeat Instructions:
    Round 1: Kf&b, *knit to one stitch before PM, Kf&b, slide PM, Kf&b* knit to last stitch, Kf&b in it. (you should now be at the be at the PM at the beginning of the round.)"

    My reading is that the first stitch is Kf&b, knit to PM, Kf&b, slide PM, Kf&B, K to last stitch Kf&b.

    Are you saying to only do increases on the front side of the garment? Or did you miss a couple of Kf&b and PM slips?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Karen,
    You have to repeat from *to* in the pattern. That means, you are increasing around the PM's, which are around all sleeve edges (increasing 8sts per round). Does that help?
    -Anna

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous1:50 AM

    Thank you so much for the lovely pattern! I made the sweater for my daughter and it is beautiful. I had no idea I could create something so special for less than 10 bucks! (I splurged and used 3 colors of Simply Soft instead of two.) Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Seriously, 3 skeins?! I have SO Faved this one on Rav. Cheap and pretty. Love it!!

    3 skeins of caron eco = $3 = super cute sweater. Can't wait to make it

    Thanks so much for sharing
    Cloverallovermd

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have 41 holder st's on each side. Is that too many? I think I might pick up 3 under the sleeve instead of 11. What do you think?

    On rav as: Cloverallovermd

    Again, thanks for sharing this pattern. Im totally loving it

    ReplyDelete
  24. I finished it!! Very pleased :-D On Rav., if you click on projects, mine is the brown and green one. Im thinking about making another one too. Thanks for sharing this pattern. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm sorry but the font is a bit hard for me to read. In step one does it say 2 1/2 inches or 21 inches?

    ReplyDelete
  26. that's 2 1/2 (2.5) inches.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hey! I'm about to cast on once I buy the yarn. Can't wait! It's the first sweater I'll be knitting for myself instead of someone else. But when I clicked on the link for the waist-shaping tutorial, I couldn't find anything on the message board. Help? Thanks =)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh, nm, I found it. The link just went to a different page in the thread. Sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  29. my 12 yo daughter is just finishing this sweater up and she LOVES it! She's working on the sleeves now...on the printout I have it says "Click her for a tutorial on sleeve shaping" but when I go back to look at the pattern on you website I don't see that link...my daughter likes things to fit snugly, so she'd really like to do the decreases. Thanks. Jean

    ReplyDelete
  30. You and Christina both had the same question within about 24 hours....

    I told her that I posted the pattern years ago and the link was I think to Crafster where someone did it...can't remember...but I don't know where the tutorial went and I deleted that link from my original pattern because of that. Sorry, but that's all I can say since it wasn't my tut.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I am just starting on this jumper,I'll let you know how it goes, thanks for the pattern.

    Hannah
    Handmade Jewellery
    http://surfjewels.000space.com

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love this!!! Super cute! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  33. With other free patterns on Ravelry I can save them to my ravelry pattern library, so that when I'm ready to begin a new project I can chose from one of the saved patterns. But I don't see the "save to ravelry library" button. Is that not possible with this pattern? If not, how do I bookmark this pattern for later? Thanks for your help, heart2K

    ReplyDelete
  34. How do I bookmark this pattern for later use? With other free ravelry downloadable patterns, I am able to "save to ravelry library" but couldn't find that option on your page. Thanks for your help. heart2K

    ReplyDelete
  35. I just haven't gotten around to turning it into a pdf yet because I wanted to change the look of it... so that's why ravelry doesn't have that pdf "saved pattern" link on it.
    Right about the notefield on ravelry is the link...and you can also go to that pattern and save it to your internet "favorites" I guess for now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Fantastic pattern - I loved working it and am sharing it with all my knitting buddies. Thanks for posting!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous6:58 AM

    Hi. I have a friend who I'd like to make the sweater for who wears a XXL and I'd like to make this sweater for her. How would I go about doing that? It seems like that the STS go up 3 STS each size. Would I then just add 6 STS from the L size to accommodate the XXL? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi there!! I'm working on this sweater right now and I'm down to the bottom ribbing on the body (Step 3). I wanted to check with you, since it doesn't mention it in the pattern: do you switch back to the size 8 needles for the ribbing or continue with the size 9's? I just continued with the 9's cause it didn't say, and the ribbing seems a bit loose. What did you do? Thanks for your help!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Can someone verify the gauge for this sweater? It seems the pattern is different than the Rav page and i want to be sure to use the right wool.
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  40. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  41. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous10:38 AM

    Wow I loved this. This is another to do list for me...

    ReplyDelete
  43. When you say for arm increases... "Round 1: Kf&b, *knit to one stitch before M, Kf&b, slide M, Kf&b,* knit to last stitch, Kf&b in it. (you should now be at the be at the M at the beginning of the round.)"

    you mean a kf&b for the LAST STITCH in the round?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Do you cut your yarn with every stripe or do you carry your yarn down to the next stripe???

    ReplyDelete
  45. Love the sweater! To make it long sleeved, would I just continue the pattern until I reach the length I want, or could I decrease, and how would I adjust the cuff? Thanks for this great pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Where can I buy this yarn??? I am from sweden and cant find it in my yarnstore.. you can send me a pm on ravelry my username is ica86 there

    ReplyDelete
  47. Gorgeous pattern! However I’ve been a little stumped.. Do they extra cast on stitches during the sleeve saving step go into the sleeves? I worked the extra stitches into the body and my count is off. However the instructions lead me to believe they are meant for the body?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for leaving a message! :)