The Aquarius Raglan
Work with multiple colors, but just one at a time. #MyZodiacSweater
Disclaimer: Some links on this page are affiliate links. This means that, if you click through the links and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Detailed PDF pattern
♒︎ Step-by-step instructions and tutorial photos
♒︎ Round tracker to keep track of the yoke repeats and sleeve decreases
Difficulty level
♒︎ Intermediate
Size-inclusive & style versatility
♒︎ Pattern written for 11 sizes with instructions on customization
♒︎ Fits busts from 26″ to 70″
What you'll need
♒︎ The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport or any sport weight yarn you can meet gauge with, in the amounts shown below.
♒︎ Your 4.5 mm (main gauge) and 3.0 mm (secondary) or size needed to obtain gauge. I like to use my Clover Amour and my Furls hooks.
♒︎ Tape measure, scissors, darning needle, 6 locking and numbered stitch markers, 2 more stitch markers.
Pattern support
♒︎ For pattern related questions, please join my Facebook support group or contact me at thecrochethighway [at] gmail.com.
The Aquarius Raglan
The Aquarius stands out from the crowd through its distinct patterns on the bodice and sleeves. The main pattern is reminiscent of ocean waves crowned with frothy crests, while the pattern on the sleeves is a simple yet textured stripe design, conveniently allowing you to have complete control over the raglan sleeve increase rate without too much hassle. The top-down raglan construction will keep your interest piqued, with short rows providing a proper fit at the back and ribbed finishings bringing the whole sweater together.
Just like the all the other designs in the #MyZodiacSweater collection, for this sweater you’ll only have to work with 1 color at a time, dropping the inactive yarn at the start of a round and picking it back up at the start of the new round.
Like most CrochetHighway patterns, the Aquarius Raglan comes with step-by-step instructions and tutorial photos including on how to check for gauge, how to create the invisible join, how to complete the yoke, how to split for sleeves, how to pick up stitches for sleeves. The pattern also comes with a Round tracker to help you keep track of the yoke repeats and sleeve decreases.
The pattern calls for sport weight yarn (category 2) in at least 1 main color (MC), and 1 contrast color (CC). My testers used a variety of yarns and colors to show off this design – check out the tester photo gallery below to find all the details on yarns and yardages from my testers!
Quick metrics from my testers:
Difficulty rating: 2.8 / 5
Average completion time: 60 hours
A word from my testers
I found this pattern very easy to follow. Once you go past the yoke, you’re on autopilot and just have to check every now and then for the fit and length. All in all: wonderful pattern that would keep an intermediate level crocheter both happy and challenged enough!
I absolutely adore this pattern!!!
Definitely happy with my yarn choice (couple more CC colours would have given it a nicer pop but happy nonetheless!). It’s literally like a soft warm hug! Stunning pattern as always. I could see myself making another one in future!
The Zodiac Collection
The Aquarius Raglan is the ninth crochet garment pattern published in the Zodiac Crochet Collection – a series of crochet garments and accessories that follow a common theme: colorwork made easy. Use hashtag #MyZodiacSweater when posting your makes on social media!
The designs in this collection use multiple colors for a contrasting effect, but the stitch patterns are carefully selected, so that you only have to work with one color at a time. The inspiration behind this collection is my original colorwork design, the Starry Yoke. Check out the other designs in the #MyZodiacSweater collection:
Join my Facebook support Group
I proud myself with writing ultra-detailed patterns for you, so that your crocheting experience is as smooth and seamless as possible. But whenever you have a pattern related question, my Facebook support group is the place to ask. There you can also share your WIPs and brag about your FOs with the community!
Designer sample
I’m wearing size 3 with zero ease around the bust. I made my sample using The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport (WPI=14), in Frosted as MC and Icy fog, Sapphire, Slate, December’s Eve, and Sky as CC.
The yarn
I specifically designed the Aquarius to highlight the Frosted Stitch deconstructed sets. The concept of the deconstructed sets is simple, yet it allows for some mind-blowing creative choices: a variegated colorway is broken down into its individual tonal components for the ultimate coordinating color combo.
For the Aquarius, I chose the colorway called “Frosted” and used it as my main color, with its 5 color components as contrast colors. They’re all working together to create the best mix of colors! Here are some other deconstructed colorways used by my testers for their Aquarius Raglans.
“Renaissance” deconstructed set
“Curiosity” deconstructed set
Pratheeksha (prath12 on Ravelry)
“Sprigs” deconstructed set
Testers using other, equally gorgeous colorways from The Frosted Stitch:
Garlic & Oxidation
Nylda (theyarnmother on Instagram)
Seaglass & Space Unicorn
Home, Icy Fog, Study, Leatherbound, Tangerine, Ocean
Sam (StitchesBySammy on Ravelry)
Raise a Glass & Merlot
Tester highlights
Scroll down for the complete tester lookbook, where you can find photos, yarn & yardage info from all my testers, as well as certain modifications they made to their sweaters for the perfect, customized fit.
Materials and yardage
Hooks: 4.5 mm (main gauge) hook, 3.0 mm (secondary gauge), or sizes needed to obtain gauge. I like to use my Clover Amour and my Furls hooks. I’m a tight crocheter, so you may need to go down in hook size.
Notions: Tape measure, scissors, darning needle, 6 locking and numbered stitch markers, 2 more stitch markers.
Yarn: You’ll need at least two colors. A main color (MC), and a contrasting color (CC) of any sport weight yarn you can meet gauge with. I used The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport (WPI=14), in Frosted as MC and Icy fog, Sapphire, Slate, December’s Eve, and Sky as CC.
The approximate yardages required for all 11 sizes are:
Main color (thin lines on the main pattern):
(4, 4, 5) (5, 5, 6) (6, 7, 7) (7, 7) hanks of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport, or
(1025, 1165, 1285) (1365, 1500, 1675) (1720, 1925, 2015) (2100, 2135) yds / (940, 1065, 1175) (1250, 1370, 1460) (1570, 1760, 1840) (1920, 2045) m
Contrast color (thick waves on the main pattern):
(3, 4, 4) (4, 5, 5) (5, 6, 6) (6, 6) hanks of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport, or
(870, 990, 1090) (1160, 1270, 1420) (1455, 1630, 1710) (1780, 1810) yds / (795, 905, 995) (1060, 1165, 1240) (1335, 1490, 1565) (1630, 1735) m
Sizing
All my garment patterns are #sizeinclusive up to at least a 60” bust circumference.
Column A in the next table shows the range of actual busts. Columns B, C, and D show finished garment measurements.
This sweater is designed to be worn with 0″ to 4″ (0 to 10 cm) of positive ease around the bust. When choosing a size, find your actual bust size in column A of this table.
The finished bust circumference in column B will be anywhere from 0 to 4″ (10 cm) larger than your actual bust measurement.
The model is wearing size 3 with 0″ (0 cm) of ease around the bust.
Size | A (actual bust range) | B (finished bust circumference) | C (raglan depth) | D (upper arm circumference) |
1 | 26-30″ | 30″ | 7″ | 12″ |
2 | 30-34″ | 34″ | 8″ | 13″ |
3 | 34-38″ | 38″ | 8″ | 14″ |
4 | 38-42″ | 42″ | 9″ | 14″ |
5 | 42-46″ | 46″ | 9″ | 16″ |
6 | 46-50″ | 50″ | 11″ | 18″ |
7 | 50-54″ | 54″ | 11″ | 17″ |
8 | 54-58″ | 58″ | 12″ | 20″ |
9 | 58-62″ | 62″ | 13″ | 21″ |
10 | 62-66″ | 66″ | 14″ | 23″ |
11 | 66-70″ | 70″ | 16″ | 26″ |
Tried & tested substitution yarns
My testers used a variety of yarns for their Aquarius Raglans, in a truly amazing variety of color combinations. Here’s a list of yarns recommended by them. The list is sorted alphabetically. If you’re looking for inspiration or a quick yarn substitution idea, this is the place to start!
- Cascade 220 Superwash Sport
- Cascade Heritage 6
- Ganga Acrowools NOVA Exclusive
- Ganga Acrowools NOVA Exclusive Multi
- Garnstudio DROPS Baby Merino
- Heartbeats Yarn Merino Super Fine
- LB Collection Superwash Merino Yarn
- Lion Brand Truboo
- Montana Crochet 80/20 SW Merino Wool
- Patons Bluebell Merino
- Premier Cotton Fair
- Scheepjes Colour Crafter
- Spincycle Dyed in the Wool
- Quince and Co. Chickadee
- Vicki Brown Designs Dk Tangelo
- Women’s Institute Soft And Silky
Tester lookbook
My patterns would not be so smooth without the input of my team of talented testers. Swipe left & right for more photos of your favorite versions!
Want to test my future patterns? Check out how you can become a pattern tester for CrochetHighway!
Brianne (bjaquette on Ravelry)
Size 2
1014 yds of Garnstudio DROPS Baby Merino as MC and 979 yds of Garnstudio DROPS Baby Merino as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 4 mm
Mods: I did a folded collar but only with 12 stitches, so my collar looks more like a crew neck. Other than that, I did everything exactly as written in the pattern.
Size 2
724 yds of locally sourced silk linen blend as MC and 443 yds of locally sourced silk linen blend as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.8 mm
Mods: Made more short rows – 12 to match with continuing colour in front panel.
10 stitches for cuffs, 5 for collar.
Size 4
1268 yds of Women’s Institute Soft And Silky as MC and 705 yds of Scheepjes Colour Crafter as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm; 3.5 mm
Mods: None.
Karis (kinawitnikaris on Instagram)
Size 5
602 yds of Dapper Dreamer Summer as MC and 984 yds of Dapper Dreamer Summer as CC (DK (CYC 3))
Hook size(s) used: 2.5 mm; 3.25 mm
Mods: Shorter sleeves, shorter body.
Lucia (crochetwithlu on Ravelry)
Size 2
713 yds of Fiori DK IV as MC and 696 yds of Rainbows & Sprinkles 8ply as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.5 mm
Mods:
1. Due to having 2 MC colours, in order to follow the flow of the colours, I had to shorten each underarm chain from 16 sts to 10 sts. This resulted in both the body circ. and sleeve circ. to be smaller.
2. Sleeve decreases. Due to the underarm chain being shorter, I started off with less sts around the sleeve circ. I started off with 72 sts and followed the flow of the decreases in the chart, until I reached 60 sts like the chart says.
3. Due to having insufficient yardage, my sweater’s body length is shorter. I went as far as I could with the CC I had.
Allison (knotallisonh on Ravelry)
Size 6
1279 yds of Cascade Heritage 6 as MC and 1142 yds of Cascade 220 Superwash Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 4 mm; 2.75 mm
Mods: For the chain lengths for the cuffs, I did 15 chs instead of the initial 13 chs.
Sam (StitchesBySammy on Ravelry)
Size 4
1424 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 1160 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm; 2.25 mm
Mods:
I chose the option of 15 short rows and worked 10 more sts along the armhole. I decided to follow the size 5 stitch counts for the sleeve decreases as I was unsure of how to compensate for the extra 10 stitches and didn’t want to add in extra decreases (as suggested) and possibly make my arms uneven or not have the ability to follow the sleeve tracker exactly. The size 5 pattern gave me a perfect fit for the initial and ending arm circumference and I was grateful that I didn’t add those extra decreases or it may have been too tight.
I added additional rows to the arms as I am tall and have very long arms (often I will slightly crop a sweater to compensate for the yardage change – which I did here). The total number of rows for my slower decrease section was 87 (instead of 62).
I did a total of 17 pattern repeats on the body, for a slight crop.
Size 6
1312 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 1020 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 2.75 mm (I would have used 3 mm but I don’t have one somehow)
Mods: I struggled a lot with the gauge for some reason and had to drop down to a 2.75 mm. I was surprised to have to size down that much since usually I can use the same hook size as the designer, but I know that’s something that can just vary. That might have influenced yardage usage, though, as I did not use all the yarn that it was estimated I would need.
Size 3
931.9 yds of Patons Bluebell Merino as MC and 914 yds of Patons Bluebell Merino as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 2.5 mm; 3 mm; 4 mm
Mods:
In the sleeves: I reduced the rapid decrease section from 3 to 2 decreases, and extended the slow decrease by 3 rows to make up for the extra stitches I had leftover for the cuff stitch count. My upper arm is quite wide, so I was worried about it being a bit tight if I followed the decreases.
I also opted for a crew neckline and shortened my hemline. Hem, neck and cuffs are all 12 st, but I used a 2.5 mm for the neck and cuffs and 3 mm for the hem.
Nicole (Handmdebyyarnmama on Ravelry)
Size 4
781 yds of Montana Crochet 80/20 SW Merino Wool as MC and 935 yds of Drops Baby Merino Mix as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.5 mm; 3.75 mm
Mods: I made mine a short sleeve length.
Size 5
984 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 853 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.5 mm; 3.25 mm
Mods: I did a fade rather than rotating contrast colours. I may have used less yarn due to reduced ends. Completed a mock neck with 16 extra 3slst rows evenly through front/back panel.
Nylda (theyarnmother on Instagram)
Size 3
934 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 656 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (Sport (CYC 2))
Hook size(s) used: 4.5 mm; 3.25 mm for ribbing
Mods: I made 3/4 sleeves. When it was time to make the cuffs I decreased evenly for a more fitted cuff. I made the cuffs a little wider as well (15 foundation chain instead of 12). I also skipped a couple of stitch pattern repetitions for the body length.
Prachi (autodidactic.crocheter on Instagram)
Size 3
964 yds of Lion Brand Truboo as MC and 780 yds of Lion Brand Truboo as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm; 4 mm
Mods: I shortened the body length of the sweater so it hits me little above the hips.
Pratheeksha (prath12 on Ravelry)
Size 1
1049 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 958 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.5 mm; 2.25 mm
Mods: I did 15 short rows total, so I had to pick up 20 stitches along the short rows for the sleeve set up. I did additional decreases in the rapid decrease section to account for this.
Size 3
1115 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 865 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.75 mm
Mods: None.
Tina (Onerulebejeweled on Ravelry)
Size 3
1120 yds of Premier Yarn Cotton Fair as MC and 630 yds of Premier Yarn Cotton Fair as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm; 2.75 mm
Mods: The neckline was very wide on me. I did a row of SC with a smaller hook to bring it in somewhat. I also had to use a 2.75 mm hook and complete 3 sl sts instead if 2 for the neck ribbing. I also did fewer body rows since I have a short torso.
Size 5
1300 yds of Vicki Brown Designs Dk Tangelo as MC and 800 yds of Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk Dk as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 4 mm
Mods: I did extra short rows. Made the body 2 repeats longer. Made short sleeves. I added increases to make size 6 sleeves.
Size 5
1180 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as MC and 984 yds of The Frosted Stitch Snowdrift Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm; 3.5 mm
Mods: I shortened the body by 1 pattern repeat (was running low on CC!)
Swarna (Swarnads on Ravelry)
Size 2
870 yds of Heartbeats Yarn Merino Super Fine as MC and 690 yds of Heartbeats Yarn Merino Super Fine as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.5 mm
Mods: For the sleeves I made more decreases and I stopped at row 66. And for the body rounds, I made 15 set of repeats.
Rebecca (Becca-Lee on Ravelry)
Size 3
945 yds of Life in the Long Grass Superwash Merino Sport as MC and 886 yds of Life in the Long Grass Superwash Merino Sport as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3.5 mm; 2.75 mm
Mods: None.
Vindhya (VindhyaHegde on Ravelry)
Size 1
715 yds of Ganga Acrowools NOVA Exclusive as MC and 392 yds of Ganga Acrowools NOVA Exclusive Multi as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 2.5 mm; 3.5 mm
Mods: I made short sleeves, 16 body pattern repeats, and for the cuff I made 6 ch only.
Zohnette (Queen4christ on Ravelry)
Size 2
909 yds of Lion Brand Super Wash Merino as MC and 830 yds of Lion Brand Super Wash Merino as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 2.75 mm
Mods: I made 66 total rounds on the body, and added 6 more rows to sleeve. I did 13 sts for the collar.
Jessica (VibrantViola on Ravelry)
Size 3
985 yds of Quince and Co. Chickadee as MC and 844 yds of Spincycle Dyed in the Wool as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm; 4 mm
Mods: I added 6 more short rows.
Size 4
1312 yds of Sewrella Yarn as MC and 794 yds of Mayflower Easy Care Merino, Hobbii Diablo, Lanas Light, Madeline Tosh DK, Hobbii Twister, Sewrella Mohair as CC (sport weight)
Hook size(s) used: 2.5 mm; 4 mm
Mods: I slipped 3 stitches in the collar opposed to 2 for a better fit, lengthened the body and I chained 20 for my cuffs.
Swathi (Tvishasfashion on Ravelry)
Size 5
1532 yds of Magic Needles Hobby Store Special DK as MC and 1915 yds of Magic Needles Hobby Store Special DK as CC (DK weight)
Hook size(s) used: 3 mm
Mods: I made 5 extra repeat in the sleeves for full coverage.
I’d LOVE to see your work, so be sure to shout out to me @CrochetHighway on Instagram and use the #CrochetHighway hashtag for a chance to be featured on my stories!
Thirsty for more? Why not check out some of my recently published crochet patterns and stitch tutorials: