Project deep dive: Knitting summer tops

What kind of yarn can actually keep you 🌬️cool🌬️ in the summer?

True confession: I like to watch the Ravelry “Hot Right Now” list to know which new knitting patterns are getting lots of attention. This time of year, I see a good number of garments that are designed as summer tops, but I am often left scratching my head about why. Very few of them are what I would consider wearing in the summer.

Either they are designed for a wool yarn (which is too warm for me, even if it’s sleeveless), or they’re designed for a DK weight cotton yarn (which is still too warm for me, not to mention heavy), or they have a gauge that isn’t something I can or want to match (why are there so many patterns with fingering weight yarn at gauge of 22 stitches to 4 inches? that feels so loose and floppy to me).

After more than a dozen years of knitting garments, I’ve learned to be pretty particular about what I cast on. I want wardrobe staples.

Before I invest 30 or more hours of knitting a pattern, I want to have a certain level of confidence that the yarn, gauge, and style are going to produce a garment I’ll want to wear over and over again.

For the past year, I’ve been researching summer yarns and patterns, working to find my perfect yarn blends (and a few trusty patterns) that will let me add a couple of hand-knit garments to my summer wardrobe.

Last summer, I shared with you that I had success with Aimee Sher’s Oolong Tank by adjusting the gauge and knitting it in a new cotton/wool yarn I was trying out. Well, I wore that version all summer last year, and it was a favorite, even in 80+ degree weather. I found the fabric and fabric content to be cool enough 🌬️ and stylish-feeling 😎.

This is last year’s Oolong Tank, knit in my Dolce cotton/wool base, and photographed yesterday. Even after wearing it dozens of times last summer, it still looks as fresh as when it came off the blocking mats. I love the slightly slubby feel of this yarn.

A few weeks ago, I finished a second Oolong Tank in a different yarn (an alpaca, linen, silk blend) and I’ve been wearing it almost nonstop. It’s also cool enough, and I varied the pattern a bit to give it cap sleeves, just a tiny bit different to fill another niche in my wardrobe.

This year’s Oolong Tank, with improvised cap sleeves, knit in my Lino alpaca/linen/silk base.

So, just what are “summer yarns”?

I consider summer yarns to be ones that are less than 50% wool or alpaca, and where the remaining 50% are fibers that don’t retain body heat like linen, cotton, or silk.

Almost all natural yarns, even wool, are moisture wicking, meaning, they absorb water (or sweat) from your body so you don’t feel hot and sticky. But linen, cotton and silk are also breathable (the fibers let air flow through, which cools the skin) and they are not insulating (they do not retain heat).

I also consider summer yarns to be ones where the yarn itself is fingering weight or lighter, so that it can be knit, crocheted, or woven into a very fine fabric. It can be a misnomer that “loose” gauge gives a fabric breathability or drape. Breathability comes from the essential nature of the fiber itself. Even a loosely-knit wool top will retain heat because of the air that’s naturally trapped in the spin of the wool. And in terms of drape, think of a fine gauge, commercially knit silk sweater. That sweater might be machine knit at a “tight” gauge of 40+ stitches to 4 inches, but it will still have lots of drape because of properties of the fiber itself.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be updating my shop with two hand-dyed summer yarns, in a range of summery colors, and I hope to tempt you to try knitting with a summer yarn that can become an essential part of your summer wardrobe.

For now, here are a few pictures and deep-dive knitting notes of my two Oolong Tanks:

• Pattern: Oolong Tank

• Yarn: Knit in Dolce cotton/wool. It’s a light fingering weight, 75% cotton and 25% wool in a slightly slubby 4-ply that’s utterly enchanting.

• Pattern gauge: 25 sts to 4 inches

• My gauge: 29 sts to 4 inches

• Size knit: E, which resulted in a final garment of ~42 inches at the full chest

• My measurements: 38 inch upper bust, 40 inch full bust

• Modifications & options chosen: changed pattern gauge, worked bust darts, deepened armhole depth to 9 inches

• Yarn: Knit in Lino alpaca/linen/silk. It’s a 4-ply fingering weight comprised of 51% baby alpaca, 25% linen, 24% tussah (raw) silk.

• Pattern gauge: 25 sts to 4 inches

• My gauge: 25 sts to 4 inches

• Size knit: C, which resulted in a final garment of ~40 inches at the full chest

• My measurements: 38 inch upper bust, 40 inch full bust

• Modifications & options chosen: worked bust darts, deepened armhole depth to 9 inches, did not work any armhole shaping, added cap sleeves by working short rows and then 1” of sleeve depth, worked twisted rib edging everywhere including neckline.

Would you like help making modifications like I did 👆🏻?

I’ve never aspired to be a knitting teacher, but I very much enjoy helping folks and sharing the tips and tricks I’ve learned from my many years of knitting. Things like: knitting a pattern at a different gauge or modifying an armhole depth.

I am now offering 10-minute appointment times to help you with your knitting (think of me as your knitting help desk). These are for paid subscribers of this newsletter (just $6 a month, and you can dip in and out of paid membership as you need). Times are available every Friday morning and one Saturday a month, and I can help you with things like:

• Changing the gauge of a pattern and helping you math out what size to knit

• Finding a perfect-for-you pattern from a diverse or new-to-you designer

• Advice on how to work through a tricky part of a pattern, especially when you aren’t sure what to even search for on YouTube

Right now, there’s no limit to how often paid subscribers can sign up for help. The possibility of a getting help from me is like an ace card tucked in your back pocket. (We’ll see how it goes and if I need to, I may have to put some caps in. But, for now, it’s unlimited, so if you’ve always wanted to knit a sweater and want to check in with me each Friday for some hand-holding, that’s totally cool!)

This is just one of a few great things I’m bundling into a really awesome set of paid subscriber benefits that I’ll be rolling out over the next couple of months.

Who else is here in our newsletter community?

You and I, dear reader, have a lot of things in common. You also have lots in common with the 4000 other people reading this newsletter each week, and I’m looking for ways we can more easily feel like part of a cohesive whole: knitters and crocheters and yarn lovers who have liberal values in common, who are making space to slow down, and who center equity and joy.

This week, please meet Eileen:

Say hi to Eileen in the comments, or share some of your favorite books or movies, or just share some summer knitting joy. (I think I may watch one of Eileen’s favorite movies this afternoon!)

If you’re game, I’d love to spotlight you, too! Volunteer here for a future reader spotlight here.

---

A well wish for today

This week was the summer solstice, and together with the longest days of sunshine in the year, summer can often be a time where we feel that solar push to do more. This Sunday, I encourage you to do a little bit less, to spend a little bit of time just lazily soaking in the feeling of the summer sun, preferably with knitting in hand.