Worked on the glider, counted out loud —
A strawberry-motif net sweater for confident intermediates, worked in cotton with a 4.0 mm hook. About a weekend to make.
You know the kind of sweater that makes people ask where you got it, and then you get to say you made it. This one's for you if you're bored of plain granny squares and want something with a little more attitude — a strawberry motif squared off with beige, strung into an open mesh, and worn like a statement piece rather than a background layer.
This pattern is easy to make your own once you understand the two textures at play. Swap the red, green, beige/cream, and white for any four-color set you like — a strawberry in an unexpected color reads as pure whimsy, and a single motif in tonal neutrals reads as quiet minimalism instead. You can also change how many strawberry motifs you make; a single fruit centered on a plain mesh back has a completely different mood than a scattered field of them across both front and back panels. Since the mesh extension is worked to your desired height rather than a fixed round count, you control the proportions directly — stop the front and back extension earlier for a cropped, cardigan-length top, or keep going past the sample's 14 cm for something closer to a tunic. If you want to lean further into the streetwear feel, try working the mesh in a heavier cotton for a looser, more exaggerated net, or keep it in the same weight as the motif for a tighter, more uniform drape. The FLO leaves and embroidered seeds are optional flourishes too — leave them off for a cleaner, more graphic look, or add extra leaves beyond the 3 or 4 suggested if you want a fuller, more textured strawberry.
There's real satisfaction in watching a shape become a shape — that first round of 12 treble crochets around a magic ring reads as nothing, and then a few rounds later you've got a recognizable strawberry with color changes falling exactly where they should. Squaring it off with back-loop-only rounds is a small trick that pays off big, turning a round motif into something that tiles. Then you get to change gears completely: the mesh stitch on the front and back extensions is almost meditative, a steady ch 4, skip one, tr rhythm that lets you watch a solid little fruit motif float inside an open net. The green FLO leaves and the hand-embroidered white seeds are the kind of finishing detail that makes a piece look intentional rather than improvised.
The rounds, in full
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Everything this one takes, in the order you will reach for it.
Part 2: The Square (Squaring the Strawberry)
Work with Beige/Cream color.
Round 1: Attach beige yarn to the back loop (BLO) of a stitch on the strawberry. Work this entire round in the back loops only.
Part 4: The Body (Front and Back)
Attach beige yarn to the top of the joined squares.
Mesh Stitch: Ch 4 (counts as 1 tr + ch 1). Skip one stitch, work 1 tr in the next.
Repeat: ch 1, skip 1, 1 tr .
Repeat this process on the bottom of the squares. Work until you reach the desired total height (e.g., 14 cm on top and bottom).
Create an initial foundation chain with the same number of stitches as the front (e.g., 103 chains).
Work in mesh stitch (1 tr, ch 1, skip 1) to match the front.
Change colors to match the stripes on the front (Beige and Red/Green according to your design).
Part 5: Sleeves Start with an odd number of chains (sleeve width, e.g., 30 cm).
Work in mesh stitch .
Work the first 20 cm in Red and the remainder in Beige until the total length is reached (e.g., 58 cm).
Fold the sleeve in half and sew the side seam using a tapestry needle.
Part 6: Final Assembly Shoulders: Sew the front to the back at the shoulders (leave about a 22 cm opening for the head).
Sides: Sew the side seams of the body, leaving openings for the armpits.
Sleeves: Fit the sleeves into the side openings, aligning the sleeve seam with the armpit. Sew around the circumference.
Turn the garment right side out, weave in all ends, and your strawberry top is ready!
Size Tip: For an 85 cm bust, the 3 joined squares should measure about 43–44 cm (half the circumference). If you need a larger size, add more squares or more rounds to each square.
Keep your 4.0 mm hook consistent through both the dense strawberry rounds and the open mesh sections — a change in hook size here will throw off how the two textures sit against each other.
Use a stitch marker on your join stitch every round of the Main Pattern, since the color and stitch-type changes make it easy to lose track of where a round started.
Original pattern: https://redagapeblog.com/edgy-crochet-net-sweater-pattern/
the ones that come up on the glider
The Main Pattern is written for three rounds starting from 12 treble crochets, so adding rounds will change your finished size and may throw off how it squares up in the Leaves and Seeds part. If you want a bigger motif, it's simplest to work extra rounds evenly before you start the back-loop-only squaring round.
You could skip the white seeds, since those are hand-embroidered on top rather than crocheted in, and the strawberry will still read clearly with just red, green, and beige/cream. The seeds add detail but aren't structural.
The pattern works the mesh until you reach your desired total height, with 14 cm on top and bottom given as an example. Measure as you go and stop repeating the ch 1, skip 1, tr sequence once you hit the length you want.
Yes, this pattern uses both front-loop-only for the leaf details and back-loop-only for squaring off the strawberry, so it helps to know the difference before you start those sections. If you've never worked in a single loop before, it's worth practicing on a scrap swatch first.
You can, but keep in mind the pattern's structure — dense treble rounds followed by open mesh — relies on a fiber with decent stitch definition, which cotton gives you naturally. A different fiber may drape differently in the mesh sections, so it's worth swatching first.
The magic ring only appears once, right at the start of Round 1, so it's a small hurdle rather than a recurring one. If you're new to it, a quick practice round before you commit to your yarn will save you frustration.
Sunday evening, from the glider —
A pattern and a note from the glider, most weeks.
That was the last round. Would you like the letter when the next one goes up?