Let's make a Moss Sweater! Part 3 - Front & Back Panels

July 30, 2021

If you're just tuning in, we're making a sweater! Click on the "Moss Sweater" tag at the bottom of the post to see the previous/next parts!

Now that you've got your stitch count, you're ready to start crocheting your sweater!

The front and back panels will be the same, except for the top rows when you start defining the neckline. However, you CAN absolutely make them both the same. I made the front of mine come down a little further, but plenty of cozy sweaters have no difference in the neck between the front and back.

So once again...totally customizable!

Start your front panel

This is gonna be a copy and paste of your swatch from before, but you'll now use the stitch count you calculated for the width. Please note you'll be working from the bottom up, so your chain row is the bottom of your sweater.

You'll be able to use the starting tail to sew up the sides of the sweater panels, so if you'd like to leave a super long tail for that, like a few feet, you certainly can. Otherwise you can just cut yarn later to sew with, so don't feel like you have to have this super long tail in your way, being an annoying little thing. That said, a tail of 6 inches is good to do a few stitches with to start, so leave a short tail at least.

Grab your yarn and hook, and chain [the number you calculated-make sure it's an odd number, then do 1 more ch to turn]

R1: turn. sc into the second ch from hook, ch 1 and skip the next ch. Repeat *sc, ch 1 skip* until you've got 1 stitch left, then sc into it.

R2: ch 1, turn. sc into the first stitch, and into the next ch space. Repeat *ch 1, sc into the next ch space* until the last st, then sc into it.

R3: ch 1, turn. sc into the first stitch. Repeat *ch 1, sc into the next ch space* the entire row

Repeat R2 and R3 until...it seems long enough, then you'll start on the neck. Once again, here's a chart for you visual people!

Let's figure out where that might be!

When to start on the neck

Think about how tall you want the ribbing to be, then lay your panel on your body. Place the bottom of the panel where you want your sweater to hit on your torso or hips, then move it up slightly to make up for the lack ribbing.

Personally I decided to start my neck just below my collarbone. Remember, you'll have ribbing THERE, too, so remember it'll be taller later.

How to shape the neck

So what I did was I crocheted to the middle of the row, turned, skipped the first stitch, then continued normally with the moss stitch repeats. Every time I got back to the middle and turned, I'd skip a stitch again, and it naturally decreased each row. On the last few rows I stopped decreasing, for the shoulder. I'll get more specific in a bit.

Here's some photos!

(P.S. the floor in these photos is clean, I swear, it's just 50 years old and very beat up lol)

You don't want too much of a dramatic V, or the ribbing won't lay right. In fact, if I could redo this I'd probably wait another 2 or 3 rows before decreasing. You could probably shape the ribbing into a V if you're a clever knitter, but that's a tutorial for somebody else to make lol.

Decreasing

R1: On the row you've decided to start decreasing, do the moss stitch until you reach the middle of your row. Since you're working with an odd number of stitches, you'll leave 1 sc open in the middle, which you can see in the 3rd photo above.

R2: ch 1, turn. skip the first sc. Do your normal moss repeat until the end of the row.

R3: ch 1 turn. Do your normal moss repeat, stopping after you sc into the last ch space of the row. Ignore the final sc, don't sc into it.

Repeat R2 and R3 until you've got just an inch or two left, then stop decreasing and just do normal moss rows. How long you make your straight rows depends on your body size/shape. Try it on while you go. I have small shoulders so mine are only about an inch and a quarter. But this is what makes it custom! You gotta put in the trial and error haha.

Once you're finished, leave a tail of 10 inches or so. You can use it to sew the top of the panels together.

Make sure you write down how many rows you do.

The other side of the neck

Insert your hook into the middle of the row where you first started decreasing, so the stitches are facing the same way. Don't start at the edge of the row. Repeat what you did on the right side, just reverse it.

Also leave a tail of 10 inches like the other side.

Again, make sure you write down how many rows you do. You need to make the back panel the same height (amount of rows).

The back panel

Make your back panel the same as the front panel, just wait a few more rows to start decreasing. You need to match up the number of stitches in the final rows of your back panel to the front panel final rows, so you'll have to figure that out if you're doing the necks different on both.

I only did a couple of straight rows after.

A tip on running out of yarn

So obviously while working, at some point you'll have to add new skeins in. I recommend switching on the edges so you don't have to figure out how to weave in the ends in the middle of your sweater. It's worth it.

And that's it for part 3! Next week we'll sew them together and figure out how to do the arms!

If you'd like to know the stitch counts for my sweater, keep reading!