I adore the pattern for these little Mini Weasley Sweater Ornaments, as I adore all things Harry Potter. Each Christmas I make an ornament for all 12 people in my immediate and immediately-extended family, and this was the one a couple years ago after we all visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando. The ornament is a raglan-style sweater that knits up quickly on double pointed needles using worsted weight yarn. The letters are added using duplicate stitch; my go-to resource for the letter patterns is from Purl Soho. Lions Brand Vanna’s Choice yarn is soft, easy to find, and offers colors for all the Hogwartz houses, so is my go-to yarn for Harry Potter projects. The letters will look best if you use the same type of yarn as the sweater.
A video overview of how to knit these sweaters is below, and you can learn how to do all the techniques in the lesson for this project. Or check out my other Harry Potter projects in the Gallery.
Pattern:
All credit for this pattern goes to https://www.ravelry.com/projects/telaneva/mini-weasley-sweater-ornaments. This is simply written out so it’s easier for beginners to follow.
Supplies and Notes:
US 6 DPNS
Small amount of worsted weight yarn (the same brand/kind of yarn in two colors will make the letters in duplicate stitch a little neater)
Kfb = knit front loop then back loop (1 stitch increases to 2)
Instructions for Raglan sweater from the top down:
- CO 16 sts in the round.
- K3 rounds even
- Kfb, K1, Kfb twice, K3, Kfb twice, K1, Kfb twice, K3, Kfb (24 sts total)
- Knit one round even
- Kfb, K3, Kfb twice, K5, Kfb twice, K3, Kfb twice, K5, Kfb (32 sts total)
- Knit one round even
- Kfb, K5, Kfb twice, K7, Kfb twice, K5, Kfb twice, K7, Kfb (40 sts total)
- Knit one round even
- Kfb, K7, Kfb twice, K9, Kfb twice, K7, Kfb twice, K9, Kfb (48 sts total)
- Knit one round even
- Arrange your needles so the next 11 stitches are on one needle (starting with the first stitch after the stitch marker – these stitches will become one of the sleeves,) 13 stitches on the next needle (this will be the front of the sweater,) 11 on the next (the other sleeve,) and 13 on the last one (the back of the sweater.) See image 1 below.
- Transfer the stitches on each of the needles with 11 to scrap yarn; those will become the sleeves.
- Redistribute the stitches across 4 needles. See image 2 below
- Knit main body around even until have 22-23 rows, counting from cast on edge (not from sleeve split). End this row in the middle of the back of your sweater.
- P1 round
- BO in knit
Sleeves and finishing:
- Pick up 11 sts from holders and K in the round for 19-20 rows from cast on edge. BO in knit. Repeat for second sleeve.
- Weave in ends and stitch up hole under the arm.
- Use duplicate stitch to add letters. Purl Soho also provides great instructions with photos and patterns for all the letters.
- Can make hangers out of large paper clips, a shown below
Download a Free PDF:
Video Demonstration:
Watch the following video tutorial on how to knit the Mini Weasley Sweaters:
Hello,,I recently came across the pattern for the sweater ornaments…the Weasley sweater ornaments and I enjoyed your video and I am wondering how to increase the pattern to accommodate a 16 inch bear which has a small frame…I hope you can deliver the request
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Hi, it should be pretty easy to figure that out. Start by experimenting with the number of cast on stitches you need to make the sweater fit over the bear’s head and around its neck. Let’s say that ends up being 32 stitches – that’s twice as many as the current sweater’s neck stitches. You’ll also experiment to see how many rows look good for the neck of the sweater before you start your increase rows. For the increase rows, double the number of stitches in between the Kfb’s (if indeed you need twice as many stitches to make the neck fit.) For example, step 3 in the current pattern would become this: Kfb, K2, Kfb twice, K6, Kfb twice, K2, Kfb twice, K6, Kfb. Then the next row is knitting. On each increase row you add 2 stitches in each section between the Kfb’s for the whole for row. For example, the next increase row (step 5) would be Kfb, K4, Kfb twice, K8, Kfb twice, K4, Kfb twice, K8, Kfb. You would continue in that pattern until your square with the hole in the center fits over the bear’s head and could wrap down and around its arms and connect under the arm pits; that will likely require more increase rows than the original sweater. To test the fit, you may need to place the live stitches on scrap yarn. Count how many stitches will be arm stitches (the number needed to wrap around the bear’s arms) and leave those on scrap yarn, then connect the other stitches to make the torso. Continue knitting the body of the sweater in the round until it’s the length you want, then pick up the arm stitches and knit the sleeves to the right length. The raglan sweater is a very adaptable design so with a little trial and error you should have a cute little bear sweater! As a final note, if instead of needing twice as many stitches to make the neck you need three times as many, then you would start step 3 with three times as many stitches in between the Kfb’s as the original pattern. Again, this may take some trial and error. Please let me know if you have other questions, and good luck!
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Thankyou
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Hello Susan Relland, I followed your instructions with the beginning of step 3 and the new sequence with a cast on stitch of 32 and when I completed the row of step 3 I ended up with 8 stitches remaining on my needle. I am finishing the original mini sweater and it has turned out beautifully…I am not able to figure out the additional increases on my own…I do appreciate your kindness in helping…your videos and pictures are well done and as a senior I do find them helpful…thank you
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Thank you so much! I can give the adjusted pattern a try tonight and get back to you. : )
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Thank you,,I didn’t realize how accomplished you are and I certainly don’t want to invade on your personal time,I appreciate your efforts and I wouldn’t expect it from you..I will continue to enjoy your tutorials and videos thank you once again
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It’s my pleasure! I did some more tests and figured out my original mistake – sorry about that. As I had previously described, start by determining the correct number of stitches for the neckline; make sure that number is divisible by 4. Then subtract 8 stitches and divide the remainder by 4 – we’ll call the result X. For the two sections with the lower number of stitches in between the Kfb’s, use X minus 1; for the other two, use X plus 1. I wrote it out for a few different sizes: For a 24-stitch neckline, step 3 would be Kfb, K3, Kfb twice, K5, Kfb twice, K3, Kfb twice, K5, Kfb. For a 32-stitch neckline, step 3 would be Kfb, K5, Kfb twice, K7, Kfb twice, K5, Kfb twice, K7, Kfb. For a 48-stitch neckline, step 3 would be Kfb, K9, Kfb twice, K11, Kfb twice, K9, Kfb twice, K11, Kfb. After that, you would continue as I had originally described. Please let me know how that goes and if you more trouble – I’m happy to help!
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Thankyou
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Hello,,the adjustment to the original pattern worked..thanks again!
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Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear that. : ) Thanks so much for letting me know.
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Hello once again…just to let you know that it worked perfectly and I thank you for your sincere efforts…I can now make a larger sweater to accommodate my amigurumi toys that I love to crochet…
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