We’re about one month into spring and the weather is starting to warm up. However the weather shouldn’t control whether we knit or not. Knitting and other yarn crafts aren’t just for the cold winter months, and neither are knit clothes. There are so many options in knit styles and yarn fibres to adjust your knitting for spring and summer.
Fibre
The fibre that everyone thinks about when they think about knitting is wool. There are many types of animal fibres like merino, mohair, alpaca, as well as acrylic fibre can be great for winter garments and hand-warming winter knitting. When you get into warm weather, it is a good idea to change things up and choose fibres that work better for summer wear. These tend to mostly be plant fibres like bamboo, linen, cotton, and the caterpillar-based silk. Just be cautious when knitting with a new fibre for the first time. Plant fibres might act a little bit differently than you are used to with animal fibres.
Fabric
Another thing that can make knitwear more enjoyable to wear in the summer is choosing the right type of patterns. Styles with that have more open stitches like lacy designs, allow for more airflow. Creating more airy fabrics makes your knit garment more breathable. This makes it much more suitable for wearing in the hot months. You can use Knit&Note tags on your patterns to help you easily find patterns that are better for knitting in summer.
If you want to learn more about summer fibres, this Stitch Clinic article is a great resource. They provide details about the differences in summer and winter knitting and tips how you might want to handle knitting with different types of fibres.
Hopefully this inspires and motivates you to keep your crafting hands busy through the summer months. This year, hopefully you’ll be knitting in the sun. We’ll be posting more inspiration to keep cheering you on.
Be sure to keep sharing your creations with us. We love to see what you are working on.
