I’m pretty excited about this kit from We Are Knitters, an international craft house that is big in Europe, and based out of Spain.  It’s always fun to see new designs and new yarns from companies I haven’t heard of before, and I had a long cruise through the website looking at the kits, trying to decide which one I most wanted to knit that very second. The Pacific Sweater won out, because I love the classic shape and it looks  perfect for me to wear this summer over a tank top without getting too warm.

 The Decision Process

The kits start with the pattern, and you have your choice of receiving the pattern in English, French, German or Spanish.  Then you choose your colours- I had 16 different colour choices for the Pacific Sweater, and it took me ages to decide, but in the end I landed on the can’t-fail classic, Natural.  You can also choose to receive their custom (and so freaking awesome!) beechwood needles (straights, no circulars). They come in the size recommended for the pattern gauge. As for shipping, that’s always one of my first questions when considering ordering from another country, and We Are Knitters offer some extremely reasonable shipping on kits into Canada and the US- under $10 shipping for most kits, and on orders more than $140, free shipping.

I can’t emphasize how tough it was to pick a pattern- it’s worth a cruise through their designs to see all they have to offer, but I’d say they specialize in very modern silhouettes and textured knits, with many of the kits being very suitable to a beginner. This Pacific Sweater kit is marked as intermediate, but I’d say it’s very beginner friendly.

Unboxing

The kit is extremely well thought out, and contains the yarn, needles, instructions, a tapestry needle for weaving in ends, and a little clothes tag to sew in that labels it We Are Knitters, which is a really cute idea.  The yarn is skeined well, so they don’t fall apart the second you take the ball band off, as I’ve had happen to me with some cotton yarns before.  I’m also impressed with the minimal packaging, which the environmentalist in me really appreciates.

Knitting in Progress

I’m really impressed with the yarn- the Pima cotton is extremely strong, and very resistant to splitting. The yarn is held double throughout, which means this summer sweater is knitting up super fast! I like how the yarn feels in my hands, and it moves over the needles so well I feel like I can knit this really quickly.  I will point out that this is a pattern that is written flat, and you seam it, and I personally would always seam a garment knit in a drapey yarn, just for structure and to keep it from getting stretched out.  I’ve got the back done, and here’s where I am with the front:

You will likely notice right away I’m not using the super cute straight needles that were in the package- I wasn’t getting gauge! I ended up having to go down a needle size, so I’m using my trusty circs. This worked out well for me in the long run, since I was knitting the back while flying to Saskatchewan for work recently, and not hitting the stranger in the seat beside me with my needles was a real advantage that allowed me to knit the entire back while on my trip.

I’m so excited for my summer sweater!

* This is part one of a short series of sponsored posts for We Are Knitters. I chose the pattern kit and the colour, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.