Knit a Simple Cropped Cardigan with Poufy Sleeves

I think it’s the colors, but this cardigan knitting pattern reminds me a little bit of a school uniform, only clearly a lot more fun.

The Samara from Berroco was designed by Åsa Buchta and uses bulky yarn. It’s mostly a simple, cropped cardigan, but with balloon sleeves and a touch of colorwork on those sleeves and the patch pockets. Even better, those bands of colorwork are also worked in a simple textured stitch pattern, which makes them stand out even more.

This cardigan is worked in pieces and seamed, and the pockets are also knit separately and sewn on. Pieces are worked flat from the bottom up.

It calls for Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky, which is a superwash wool yarn, making the cardigan as easy to care for as it is to wear. But use any chunky yarn of your choice, of course!

There are nine sizes available, ranging from a bust measurement (with the cardigan buttoned) of 36.75 to 71 inches. The length ranges from 22 to 24.25 inches, but you can always make it longer if you like, bearing in mind that you will need more yarn if you do. You might also want to adjust the placement of the pockets if you change the length. As written it needs six buttons, but, again, if you want to make it longer you might want to add another button or two.

The patter is available free from Berroco.

Looking for more great cardigan knitting patterns? I have a collection of summer cardigan knitting patterns for folks on the side of the world who are heading into that season. And for those of us who are heading into the colder part of the year, I have a collection of cozy cardigan knitting patterns you’ll want to keep handy for cool weather. There’s a cardigan to knit for every time of year!

[Photo: Berroco]

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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