Tag: summer yarn

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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Yarn to Use for Warm Weather Knitting Projects

I want to knit a top I can wear in Florida’s jungle climate. It doesn’t have to be “summer” here where I live to need cool clothing. I wear capris and sleeveless tops nearly year round. I’m afraid that what normal summer people think is “cool” is not cool enough for me.

Please note that some links go to Ravelry, a popular knitting site, where non-members won’t see everything members will. If you knit, why not join, as it’s FREE!

Although most yarn I’ve used in the past is wool, or part wool, wool doesn’t work for a Florida lifestyle. I am branching out and looking into the plant-based yarns – haha….!

Because currently it is Spring, knitters are thinking about summer knitting, so this is the time of year for me to find the best summer knitting projects which I can wear year round. Designers are offering summer knits and shops are advertising summer yarns.

Popular Plant Fiber Yarns and Their Properties

After two years of continuous knitting, I have acquired a list of my favorite yarns. None of them are meant to use for summer tops because they consist mostly of wool! Warm weather tops need airy, light yarn such as linen, cotton, or other plant material.

Since I know next to nothing about knitting with summer type yarns, I searched for articles with good information. Those are hard to find too!

I was excited and thankful to find this Summer Yarns article at Interweave, which covers the Pros and Cons of knitting with cotton, linen and hemp.

Linen was my first choice, and when I found some (Berroco Indio / Stonewash Linen) on sale for $7.00 a skein at Wool and Company, I bought it. Reviews on Ravelry for this yarn were generally good.

I’m still researching, and planning to try, various plant-based yarns in hopes of coming up with some favorites to use for life in Florida and hot places.

A List of Yarns For Summer Knitting

  • Purl Soho‘s “Sweetgrass” is a mix of 65% cotton and 35% alpaca and comes in large, undyed, skeins (I love the gray) of 437 yards – fingering weight. Will the alpaca make this too warm? Also, I’m not crazy about knitting something to wear in cotton yarn.
  • Purl Soho‘s “Lantern” is a worsted / aran weight yarn of 61% cotton and 39% linen – 164 yards. Cotton and linen would be cool together, so might be worth a try. Comes in many pretty colors, **BUT some knitters mentioned it was rough – good for dishcloths but not clothing…FYI
  • Purl Soho also has “Linen Quill” yarn, but it is 50% wool, 35% alpaca, and 15% flax / linen.
  • *Quince & Co. offers us “Sparrow” – fingering, and “Kestrel” – worsted, which are both 100% organic Belgium linen. Both come in lots of nice colors, including a marl, and they get good reviews.
  • Shibui Twig is a combo of 46% linen, 42% silk, and 12% wool. Skeins are 190 yards, in Sport weight. I don’t like that there is wool in this one, but it is a small amount.
  • Hempathy is a cotton, hemp and rayon yarn. This one gets some good reviews at Ravelry.
  • Bamboo – Found the Dye Diana Dye (see page of bases) website which offers hand-dyed silk, linen, and bamboo yarns – very pretty and unqiue.
  • Burnish, by Purl Soho is Rayon from Bamboo.

A New Knitting Project / Pattern For Linen Knitting

After some searching, I decided on a pattern called “Over the Top Tee” designed by Heidi Kirrmaier. I had successfully knit her Fine Sand sweater last year using Miss Babs “Tarte” yarn (which I loved by the way).

I bought 8 skeins of the Berroco Linen for my “Over the Top Tee” project. Then, I went back and bought the remaining three skeins just in case I need to add length to my top. Because the yarn is discontinued, I was afraid I would need more and it would be gone!

Berroco linen yarn
This linen yarn is Discontinued

For this tee, the designer used silk yarn (Ito Kino) holding two strands together. I’ve always thought of silk as too hot to wear in hot weather, but many “summer” yarns include some silk, so I am still questioning that. The Ito Kino silk was a bit expensive too, so I found some cheaper linen yarn.

More Summer Top Patterns I Like

Florida does not have a normal summer. It is very hot with the heat index usually near or over 100 degrees because of the extreme humidity. When I went back to live in New Hampshire, people would complain about a humid day and I would laugh at them!

Here is a partial list of some favorite hand-knit top patterns by various designers. After I knit Heidi’s pattern I may try another, or knit hers again with different yarn. It is not as easy to find something to knit when it won’t cover my body as nicely as a big old sweater! Here are a few of my favorites.

  • Cullum, by Isabell Kraemer is a cap sleeve pullover with some lace at the top. The sample was knit with Sparrow, 100% linen – see link below.
  • Lakeland, by Heidi Kirrmaier is a short sleeve, two color blocks top, with opportunities to modify sleeve length and colors.
  • A Hint of Summer, by Isabell Kraemer offers lots of options. Make it with short or long sleeves, in stripes or solid. Looks very interesting.
  • View my ever-growing Collection of Summer Tops to knit on Pinterest.

I understand why knitters generally do not choose plant-based yarns for knitting. When we think “knitting” we picture hats, mittens and sweaters to keep warm. Where I live, no one wears scarves, shawls or any type of winter items – except very rarely. If I could knit some wearable clothing for myself, it would be wonderful.

(Yarn bowl graphic credit to AnnaliseArt @ Pixabay.com)