Winter Belle Sweater Crochet Pattern

The Yarn

For my birthday each year, my gram usually gives me cash. Despite popular opinion, I think cash is the perfect gift. It’s practical and a great way to ensure the gift is something useful!

Of course this last year, the very first thing I thought of was YARN!

I usually order yarn online and go hard on couponing and sales, but things are a little different when the money is a gift. With a gift, I feel the rare permission to splurge.

It was the perfect opportunity to finally go and check out the local yarn shop, which is literally right around the corner from me. There I came across this beautiful yarn: Malabrigo Rastita, which is a beautiful single-ply DK weight that is reminiscent of watercolor painting.

I had been wanting to create my own pattern for a circular yoke sweater for some time. When I saw this yarn, I knew that this was perfect for what I had in mind.

Inspiration and Process

Ever since I can remember, I have loved everything about the 70’s vibe. I am a huge fan of the rock & roll and disco… and Soul Train! And I just can’t get enough of the fashion. Bell sleeves, bell bottoms, platform shoes, UGH! For me, it never goes out of style. I do remember when bell sleeve shirts and bell bottom jeans were available in stores again in the late 90’s. It was awesome! I don’t know if that fashion has made a comeback again now. Regardless, I just had to run with this vision.

Shop the Winter Belle Sweater Crochet Pattern

After a bit of sketching, the idea was set. Initially, I didn’t know how to go about it, but that is the beauty of a top-down yoke design. You can easily try it on as you go and see if the fit is working, and if not it is easy to make corrections where needed. So there I went, with a tiny bit of courage and a good amount of willpower on this journey to turn my dream design into a real thing. It took me about a month to complete my sample of the sweater, and now that is has come into fruition, I. AM. IN. LOVE.

The Name

The Winter Belle Sweater was named with a play on the word bell, substituted with “belle” the french word for beautiful. This represents how I hope the person wearing the sweater would feel. That is always the goal: to create a design that helps bring out feelings of self-love and confidence.

winter belle sweater showing off the bell sleeves of this crochet pattern

The Testing Process & Sizing

Overall, the testing process went well. It has been graded for sizes XS-5X and I was able to find testers for most of the sizes with the exception of a few. Thus far, sizes S, M, L, XL, 2X, and 3X have been tested. I am so very pleased with the positive response I’ve gotten from these testers about how this sweater fits. Check out my Instagram feed and the Winter Belle Sweater highlight to see their FO’s. I will continue to add more to this highlight as more FO photos come in!

The pattern is currently available on Ravelry, and I am offering it for free for sizes that have not officially been tested in exchange for notes and progress/finished photos. Through this process, so far I have found two testers for XS and one for 5X. I am still searching for a tester for 4X. If you would be willing to help out with 4X, please connect with me on Ravelry or IG.