Tag: summer tops

A Collection of Summer Knitting Patterns

Sharing some favorited patterns from a summer knitting collection.

Spring is here and much of the country is ready for it – more than ready. And summer is close behind. Knitters may be thinking about starting new knitting projects with summer in mind. This page lists some of my favorite, saved patterns, and a few yarn ideas for summer knitting.

I live in central Florida and I love to knit. This was a challenge for me in the beginning of my knitting journey. I tried all kinds of yarn. Sock yarn comes in such pretty colors. Superwash yarn sounded perfect, but in the end, it droops horribly. I just didn’t like the looks of my knitting projects. They didn’t have that cozy feel. I like wool.

So what can I knit that I might possibly wear during the six months plus of heat? More importantly, do I want to bother with that type of knitting? Each year it seems that I continue to debate this issue with myself!

Summer Tops to Knit, Patterns From My Favorites

These patterns are saved in my Ravelry “favorites”.

  • Camisole No. 11, by My Favorite Things Knitwear. This is a cute, sleeveless, eyelet pattern top. It is also a new pattern (as of this writing). Yarn is DK weight.
  • Lima Top, by Pernille Larson. Sleeveless tank with colorwork. This one is knit bottom up. I’m not really sure how the colorwork is done at the top? (Fingering weight yarn)
  • Diamond Breeze cardigan, by Pascuali Designs. A lightweight, no-buttons cardigan.
  • Uptown Tee, by Tori Yu. A simple short sleeve tee with interesting little sleeve caps. (Fingering weight)
  • Ombre Tank Redux, by Espace Tricot. Wide stripes, ombre coloring, long sleeveless tank pattern.
  • Caesura Tuck, by Asa Tricosa. All one color tank, with a tuck in the back, and tiny, inset pocket.
girl on a float, illustrated image
Image by André Santana Design André Santana from Pixabay

No Plans to a Knit Summer Project

After perusing these patterns, here are my thoughts. Yes, a few of these tops could work for me. They take less yarn (cheaper maybe) and less time to knit (depending on the yarn) than something with long sleeves. But no, I don’t want to do it. It simply seems, for me, like a waste of time.

There are so many sweater patterns in my queue, just waiting for the chance to be knit. I have two collections of wool recently purchased for chosen patterns. There are four or five works in progress (WIPS) in my knitting bags. I’ll never get to them all as it is. Why would I want to throw in a summer top?

But maybe my readers need a starting point, and maybe they are looking for a cute summer top to knit. I sit in air-conditioning coolness all summer long. Many people do not, and they need a cooler project in their laps.

Summer Knitting Yarn Ideas

The second problem with summer knitting is selecting a yarn. Which yarn should be used to knit a summer top? Summer tops tend to need washing a lot more than a winter sweater. Hand knits should be hand-washed, but is there a nice yarn that would hold up to machine washing?

Well, I don’t know the answer to that question, but I will list some yarn brands that the summer knitters have been using. And yes, if you live anywhere but Florida and the Deep South, maybe you would use some kind of wool.

  • Silk, or silk mix: Knitting For Olive Pure Silk, Kinu by Ito – is a 465 yard cone.
  • Linen, or mix: Sandnes Garn Tynn Line (at Wool & Company, this yarn is listed as machine wash, lay flat to dry). Isager Trio 2 – a mix of Linen, Cotton, and Lyocell.
  • Cotton, or mix: Search – lots out there. Be careful of shrinkage and color fading. Knitting for Olive Cotton Merino – a mix of cotton and Merino wool. Hempathy – mix of cotton, cellulose, and manufactured fibers.

While I do live in a sub-tropical climate, I prefer knitting with wool. I love wearing hats and sweaters. They are worn only on the coldest of mornings and in my own yard, or for early morning walks. Floridians don’t want to be reminded of anything to do with actual winters. They came here to escape the cold. Dressing in wool here will get stares and glares.

girls by the sea AI illustration
Image by Seidenperle from Pixabay

If you have knit, or will knit any of these projects (or other summer projects) I’d love to hear how it goes. For now, I’m going to keep knitting my sweaters.

All Knitters Welcome

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Over the Top Tee, Knitting For Hot Weather

For summer, which is year round in Florida, I am knitting a pattern by Heidi Kirrmaier called “Over the Top Tee“. She knit it using silk yarn, and I am knitting it using linen yarn, which I have not used before.

Once I bought the pattern, I began searching for a good, summer weight yarn. My first choice was linen, but I looked at other options. I wrote a blog post about my search for summer yarns, and have collected a list of my favorites to try.

The yarn I chose for this project is Berroco Stonewash Linen Indio, which is a discontinued yarn. I first bought 7 skeins on sale at Wool and Company, but ended up buying the last 3 skeins just in case I need them for length. I was afraid I would not find matching yarn if I needed it. At $7 a skein, it was not as expensive as some yarn.

Gauge swatch after washing
Linen yarn gauge after washing

The Over the Top Tee is a pullover style which is knit from the top down. Because my yarn choice is not what the designer used, I knit a swatch using size 3 needles to see how close I was to gauge. It was a bit small, and after I washed and blocked it, it was even smaller.

Because the stitch count was just a bit short, I began the knitting project going up to a size 4 needle. I’m knitting size L2. For this pattern you need 2 extra needles that will hold provisional cast-on stitches. I used the crochet provisional cast on. The back of the top is begun on these needles and then connected with backward loop cast-on stitches and knit to the end. I could not picture how this pattern would come together.

Over the Top Tee provisional cast-on and beginning the project
Over the Top Tee provisional cast-ons (2) and beginning the project

Heidi’s pattern looks overwhelming (to me!) at first glance – it’s 9 pages long, but sizes are grouped into sections, so only one part of some pages applies to my size. I always read through and highlight all the parts pertaining to the size I am knitting – L2 in this case. I am familiar with this type of pattern writing from knitting her Fine Sand sweater.

After a few days of knitting, here is where I am on this project. The back sections have been knit and I am finishing up the second shoulder. I learned that my provisional yarn was too fuzzy, and I need to find something else to use next time. I had no problem picking up the stitches, but occasionally I would catch some of the waste yarn. A smoother waste yarn is what I need – notes made!

Over the Top Tee knitting
Provisional cast on’s removed

At first I was happy enough with this yarn, but further into the project I changed my mind.

Even though I am still a bit confused when looking at the project – I believe it will all come together as it should. The directions are easy to follow, so I am just doing as I’m told and expecting a top shape here soon… LOL.

Connecting to Work in The Round

Once the shoulders and front and back yoke areas are knit, the project is knit on the wrong side. Now the edges are connected, front and back so I am knitting, and purling a little, around and around. It’s stress-free knitting I can even do at night!

There are some short rows to do, and I am skipping those!!! When I knit the Fine Sand sweater, I had a lot of trouble with my short rows – mainly because I had never done them. I think this top will be fine for me without the shaping.

My Over the Top Tee knitting continues with back and front now connected under the arms with lots of circular knitting from here to the hem.

I now have lots of circular knitting (and a little purling) to do down to the hem, where a ribbing will be added. Then the neck and sleeves will need to be finished. I’ll be able to get this done quickly I think as I have other projects lined up behind this one. I’m trying to be a more monogamous knitter so I don’t have projects calling to me as I pass by the baskets.

Project on Hold

As I have been knitting down the body of this top, and there is a lot of that to do, I’m realizing that I don’t like the yarn. It looks and feels more like a burlap sack than a comfortable top. For now, this is on hold until I decide what to do. This yarn would be more suitable for a bag. I may use it to crochet one.

The pattern is a good one, and I would love to try again with a better yarn. But I am not going to continue with this.

Knitting a top
Putting this on hold

Also On My Needles

  • A linen cap (not using the linen yarn above) for myself to wear while we are flying around in our boat. Hair can become very knotted without a covering, and a regular hat flies off. I’m using the Ribbed Watchcap & Beanie pattern by Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.
  • Snowfall Socks, using Tukuwool yarn, which is very scratchy. I’m not sure I will finish these because of the yarn … and because I really don’t enjoy knitting socks!
  • Honey Cowl (#2) using Miss Babs K2 bulky yarn. This is a very easy, free pattern.
  • Need to get the fringe onto my Moon Sisters shawl.
  • Just finished, but plan to knit again, the Skiff Hat in pretty cables.