Hempton Top in Rowan Creative Linen - Downloadable PDF

Hempton Top in Rowan Creative Linen – Knitting Pattern Summary

The Hempton Top is an elegant knitted top designed by Heather Dixon and published by Rowan as a downloadable PDF pattern exclusive. Worked in the beautifully textured Rowan Creative Linen yarn, this garment combines a sophisticated multi-colour approach with a mix of stitch techniques to create a wearable, contemporary top suitable for a wide range of sizes.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a knitted top designed to fit bust sizes ranging from 81 cm to 127 cm (32 to 50 inches), offered across ten size options. The garment is constructed in sections — including a shaped back — with careful attention to fit through strategic decreasing and structured stitch patterning. The finished piece features distinct yarn colour zones that create a striking visual transition from hem to shoulder.

Yarn and Materials

The top is knitted in Rowan Creative Linen, a DK weight yarn that blends the natural texture of linen with the softness of cotton, making it ideal for warm-weather garments. Three colourways are used across the design:

• Yarn A – Stormy (shade 635): used for the lower body section, requiring 2–3 x 100g balls depending on size
• Yarn B – Darkness (shade 636): used for a transitional mid-section, requiring 1–2 x 100g balls depending on size
• Yarn C – Foggy (shade 624): used for the upper body and completing the garment, requiring 3–5 x 100g balls depending on size

The combination of Stormy, Darkness, and Foggy creates a tonal, atmospheric palette that moves through cool, muted shades — perfectly suited to the natural character of Rowan Creative Linen.

Needles

Two pairs of straight needles are required:

• 4mm (UK no. 8 / US 6) needles — typically used for ribbing or edging
• 4½mm (UK no. 7 / US 7) needles — used for the main body fabric

Tension

The recommended tension is 21 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm, measured over stocking stitch using 4½mm (US 7) needles. Achieving the correct tension is essential to ensure the finished top matches the intended measurements across all ten sizes.

Techniques Used

The Hempton Top employs a range of knitting techniques that make it a rewarding project for an intermediate knitter:

• Colour sequence knitting: the garment is worked in three separate yarn colours — Stormy, Darkness, and Foggy — joined and broken at specific row intervals to create clean horizontal colour transitions
• Chart-based patterning: a 25-row body chart is worked into the upper section of the garment, adding textural or colourwork detail as directed by the chart
• A 12-row repeating stitch pattern: the lower body is worked in a structured 12-row pattern repeat, providing surface interest before the chart section begins
• Shaping through decreasing: stitches are decreased at each end of specified rows to shape the body, and further decreasing is used to shape the back neck
• Back neck shaping: stitches are placed on a holder and each side of the neck is worked separately, with decreases worked over the next five rows to create a neat neckline
• Stocking stitch sections: plain stocking stitch is used to frame the chart section, worked both before and after the charted rows using Yarn C – Foggy

Stitches Used

The pattern makes use of several core knitting stitches and a notable special technique:

• Stocking stitch (st st): knit on right side rows, purl on wrong side rows — forms the foundation of the upper body and the