It has been a long time since I wrote a blog post and it feels good to be back! The long absence has been due to my having a baby. Finn was born in August 2018 and we have been very busy getting to grips with our new found parenthood. As a result blogging has sort of taken a back seat, but I want to get back into it now and share all the things I’ve been making.

First up is the Sabrina Sweater. This pattern came in a kit that was very kindly gifted* to me by We are Knitters. I chose this kit as I loved the texture of the sweater, I liked the relaxed off the shoulder style and was excited to learn a new skill, knitting bobbles.

The kit includes the pattern, 5 balls of the 100% Pima cotton yarn (I used 4 balls to knit mine in a size large), wooden knitting needles, an embroidered label and a needle to sew up. I chose the colour ‘natural’.

When choosing which size to knit I opted for a large. I decided to go for the large as the model in the photo on the website was said to be wearing an XL for an oversized look and I wanted to replicate this. I feel it was a good call size-wise as I am happy with the fit. It is a lot more cropped than I expected, although I wonder if this is just because I am tall, 5’11”. I only made one modification to the pattern, which was to add double the number of rows of ribbing on the sleeves to account for my long arms. I know this probably looks a bit weird, as now the ribbing on the arms doesn’t match the ribbing on the body, but I don’t really mind that.

I always feel a bit intimidated every time I approach learning a new skill in knitting, such as knitting bobbles, but it was so much easier than I expected. It did take me a few tries to get it right though. I found I was struggling to knit the bobbles well using the method in the instructions. In the end I discovered the knitting backwards method, which meant I didn’t have to turn my work. This ended up being the way I knit my bobbles for the sweater and helped me achieve a neat result with the smallest hole next to each bobble. This video helped me figure out how to do this properly. There are a few options you can use so I would advise knitting a swatch to try them out and see what works for you.

I was surprised by how quickly this came together. Once I had got the hang of knitting bobbles, it was quite a speedy project and I found it really easy to sew up.

I would definitely recommend this kit if you are considering it as I thoroughly enjoyed making it and I am so happy with how it turned out. I think it looks so cool and quite different to anything else I own. I am wearing it in the images above with my Ogden Cami Dress and I love the combination.

*This Sabrina Sweater kit was very kindly gifted to me by We are Knitters. They contacted me offering me the chance to review a kit of my choice and I chose this style and colour. All opinions expressed are my own. I was not paid to advertise this product, but the kit was given to me for free, so just wanted to make sure that was clear for full disclosure.