The Kara Sweater Kit by We Are Knitters – A knitting pattern review…

Back in December, I was lucky enough to collaborate with We Are Knitters with a giveaway over on my Instagram account.  As part of this collaboration, they invited me to choose one of their kits as a gifted product which I could review with no obligation to share.

I’m fairly new to knitting kits having only tried one or two in the past, my most recent being The Lighthouse Sweater which I absolutely loved making and which is probably now one of my most favourite hand knitted garments.  You can read my review of The Lighthouse Sweater here if you’d like to.

So, after a little bit of shopping around on the We Are Knitters website, there are a lot of lovely kits on there so it did take a while, I settled on the Kara Sweater.  The design looked reasonably simple and I loved the bobbly texture of the yarn it was knit in, I also loved the colour of the cover image so decided to go for that exact shade.

What I love about buying a kit is that everything you need is provided in one lovely brown paper bag.  This particular We Are Knitters kit, included the Wave yarn, wooden knitting needles, a printed pattern, a darning needle for sewing up, some cute stickers and a woven label to add to your finished sweater.

Just to note that you do have the option not to include the knitting needles if you already have the right size and this reduces the cost of the kit for you too.

I opted to make a size S since my bust measurement is 32”, a size S should fit a bust size 32-35” so I thought I should have plenty of room in the finished sweater.

As always, I did knit a tension swatch before diving in just to make sure I was knitting to the right gauge. My square was correct with the needles provided so I was good to go after this.  Tension swatches can always feel a little annoying to do but they are well worth the extra time just to check your finished garment should fit correctly.

The design of this sweater really is quite simple.  The back is simply a rectangle with no shaping at all so it was a joy to knit.  There are a few rows of ribbing at the bottom of the sweater but other than that the whole thing is knit in garter stitch (probably my favourite stitch).  Since the sweater is knit on 8mm needles and the yarn is pretty chunky I found the back knit up super quickly.

The front is knit up in pretty much the same way except, of course, for the neck shaping.  To create the V neck stitches are separated onto a stitch holder and decreases are made working on one front at a time to create that lovely V neckline. Once your first side is done, stitches are picked up from the holder and the process is mirrored on the other side.

Since the design of the sweater is slightly drop sleeved, the sleeves are a little shorter than normal and I found these very quick to knit up too.  Again the design is quite simple with increases made at each edge to create the triangle shape up to the underarm.

Overall, I found this pattern such fun to knit up and it all came together super quickly. I knit it alongside a more complicated lace stitch project, and it was great to switch between the two and have my Kara Sweater as something I could pick up in the evenings and not have to concentrate on too much.  I loved the bobbly, wavey texture to the yarn and think it gives a great pop of interest to an otherwise perhaps plain garment.  It’s amazingly cosy and warm too.

Since the garment is knit flat, once all the pieces were finished, I seamed everything up according to the instructions and weaved in all of those ends (just the worse job isn’t it!). I then pinned my sweater out, to the measurements given within the pattern, onto my new knitting blocking kit. This kit is amazing, I’m still fairly new to the process of blocking but I cannot believe the difference that taking the time to do it can make to your finished garment. I’ve linked my kit here if you’re interested.

Once pinned, I opted to spray soak the sweater using a solution of lukewarm water and a non rinse hand wash and left it to dry naturally.

The blocking just helps the stitches to sit more evenly and helps the garment to keep it’s size and shape a little better. I find it makes everything a little more drapey and nice to wear too.

The fit of the sweater was very nice, I found it a comfortable fit over my bust and the V neck wasn’t too low for me.  I’m not too keen on a very low neckline!  The length was also great, not too long and not too short, great for half tucking with jeans or trousers.

The kit was marked as ‘intermediate level’ but personally, I think this would be a great one for a beginner knitter wanting to knit their first garment.  There is minimal shaping to the sweater, the instructions are very informative and I think once you’ve mastered the basic stitches you wouldn’t struggle with the V neck at all.

I would highly recommend this kit if you’re a seasoned knitter looking for a simple, ‘quick fix’ project too since it comes together so speedily.

I hope you like my finished Kara Sweater.  If you’d like to try this kit or any other We Are Knitters kit you can use my code MGM9LRFVH at checkout to claim £10 off of your first order

What are you knitting at the moment? I’d love to know in the comments below.

Until next time!

Sally