Puff Stitch Cardigan Patterns: 6 Free Designs

Puff-stitch cardigans can be worked from the top down as a raglan or from the bottom up as a panel that later divides into fronts and back. These three designer patterns vary in size range, yarn requirement, and intended wearer.

Puff stitches use more yarn than they look like they should, so keep stitch markers on hand for tracking the raglan increases.

Puff-stitch cardigan patterns to explore

1. Crochet Cardigan Sweater with Puff Stitches

Janne Kleivset at Joy of Motion Crochet uses top-down raglan construction and covers XS through 5XL. The designer rates the pattern intermediate. The raglan shaping means the sleeves are built into the same rounds as the body, so there’s no separate sleeve seaming to do at the end.

2. Crochet Puff Stitch Cardigan

Heather Davidson at Crochet ’n’ Create designs this cardigan to fit a 12-18 month baby with an approximately 20-inch chest. It uses worsted-weight number-3 yarn and a 4.5 mm hook. Sized for a slightly older baby than the two premature and newborn cardigans further down this list, it’s a good next-size option as a child grows.

3. Free Crochet Cardigan Pattern

Brianna Iaropoli at Life + Yarn calls for about 1,400 to 2,500 yards of worsted yarn. The body is worked bottom-up before splitting into front and back sections. Working bottom-up before splitting the body is a different construction path from the top-down raglan above, worth comparing if you’d rather avoid raglan increases.

4. Preemie Puff Stitch Cardigan

Heather at justcrochet.com sizes this one for a premature baby, about 12 inches at the chest and 8 inches long, in DK or light worsted yarn on 4mm and 4.5mm hooks, with clearly defined puff-stitch groups throughout. At just 12 inches across the chest, it’s the smallest cardigan on this list, sized specifically for a premature baby rather than a standard newborn.

5. Baby Puff Stitch Cardigan

Donna Browne at Baby Crochet Designs offers a free 0-3 month version at a 16-inch chest, worked in one piece with a single-crochet yoke over the puff-stitch body, in DK weight yarn on 4mm and 4.5mm hooks. A paid PDF extends the sizing up to 2 years.

6. Autumn Wheat Cardigan

Briana Kepner at Briana K Designs works this one cuff-to-cuff in worsted yarn on an H/5mm hook, sized XS through 5X for a 32 to 62 inch bust, with puff-stitch detail rows breaking up the otherwise beginner-friendly construction. Its 32 to 62 inch bust range also makes it one of the more size-inclusive adult options here.

Compare the construction path

Choose Joy of Motion for a top-down adult raglan, Crochet ’n’ Create for a baby cardigan, or Life + Yarn for a bottom-up body. Use the original designer’s size and yardage guidance rather than mixing methods.