Sparrow Top in Rowan Creative Linen - Downloadable PDF

Sparrow Top in Rowan Creative Linen – Knitting Pattern Summary

The Sparrow Top is a beautifully crafted women's knitted top designed by Anna Hull and published by Rowan. Available as a downloadable PDF, this pattern is rated advanced beginner and offers an excellent opportunity to develop core garment-knitting skills while producing a stylish, wearable top. The design is worked in Rowan Creative Linen, a 100g DK-weight yarn, giving the finished garment a relaxed, breathable quality that makes it ideal for warmer seasons.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a fitted knitted top with structured shaping at the armholes, shoulders, and back neck. The garment is constructed in separate pieces — a back and a front — which are seamed together. It features a neckband worked by picking up stitches held on holders at the back and front neck. The top is finished with 10 wooden buttons (style TGB4083, 15mm, from Textile Garden), suggesting a button band or button placket detail as part of the design.

Sizing

The Sparrow Top is available in nine sizes, designed to fit chest measurements ranging from 71–76 cm (28–30 in) up to 152–157 cm (60–62 in). The actual chest measurement of the finished garment ranges from approximately 87.5 cm to 167.5 cm, offering a gentle positive ease across the size range. This wide size inclusivity makes the pattern accessible to a broad range of knitters.

Yarn and Materials

• Yarn: Rowan Creative Linen, a DK-weight yarn sold in 100g skeins. The sample shown in the pattern photography is worked in Apple 629, a fresh, natural-toned colourway that complements the linen fibre content beautifully.
• Yardage requirements vary by size, as is standard for multi-size garment patterns.
• Needles: Two pairs of straight needles are required — 4mm (UK no. 8 / US 6) needles for the ribbed hem and border sections, and 4½mm (UK no. 7 / US 7) needles for the main body pattern. Using two needle sizes in this way is a classic technique that ensures the ribbing pulls in neatly while the body fabric has the correct drape and stitch definition.
• Buttons: 10 x TGB4083 wooden buttons, 15mm, sourced from Textile Garden.

Tension

The stated tension is 24 stitches and 27 rows to 10 cm, measured over the stitch pattern using 4½mm (US 7) needles. Achieving the correct tension is especially important in a fitted garment like this top, as even small variations can significantly affect the finished chest measurement and overall fit. Knitters are strongly encouraged to work a tension swatch before casting on.

Stitches and Techniques Used

• Rib stitch: The lower edges of both the back and front are worked in a ribbed border using 4mm needles. Ribbing is a classic elastic stitch that creates a neat, tidy hem with natural stretch and recovery.
• Main stitch pattern: The body of the top is worked in a textured stitch pattern using 4½mm needles. The pattern references a special abbreviation, Tw2R (twist 2 right), which involves a cable-style twist worked without a cable needle — a technique that adds subtle surface texture and visual interest to the fabric without requiring advanced cabling skills.
• Increases (M1): The pattern uses Make 1 (M1) increases within the ribbed section to expand the stitch count before transitioning to the main pattern. This is a neat, nearly invisible increase method well-suited to shaped garment knitting.
• Armhole shaping: Worked through a combination of cast-offs and paired decreases, with decreases worked on right-side rows and alternating rows to