…even though it seems years away! I, lover of cold weather, enjoyer of snow shoveling, and knitter of cozy wool sweaters, am also longing for sunshine, blue skies, mild breezes, and new green shoots appearing through melting snow. It has been a cold and dreary and annoying February, with most of the bad weather coming on just the wrong days and just bad enough to make everything difficult but not overwhelmingly bad so that you are justified in saying, “I give up!” and staying inside to knit and nap, or whatever your favorite indoor pursuits may be.
But come Spring shall, and I have been knitting a few lighter-weight things here and there and feel that it’s time to start showing you what I’ve been doing and giving you some ideas for warmer weather.
This is my new version of Knitting Pure & Simple’s Cap-Sleeve Vest, an easy seamless top-down vest that is always a popular choice for warm weather. This year I made it from Tahiti, a 100% cotton tape from Fil Katia that is machine washable and quickly knits up into a light fabric that looks particularly nice in the double seed stitch used for the borders of the vest, as you can see from this detail:
I also love this style because you can use a number of things to close it – a favorite vintage pin, a shawl pick that will coordinate with another layer, or one beautiful button. I used a funky pin that I picked up at a flea market years ago:
A different type of look, a bit more trendy but still very wearable, is Transitions from Vera Sanon. This top is cropped in the front and longer in the back, so should be worn over a longer layer like a loose tank top in a matching or coordinating color. I made it from Kakadu from Euro Yarns, a lightweight and colorful yarn that can be knit single as I did here, doubled (which I will show you in a couple weeks) or combined with other yarns to add texture and color. It has a ton of yardage for a very reasonable cost so it’s a great choice for a fun little top like this:
You can see how light the fabric is, which means it will be easy to wear all summer long:
I modified the pattern a bit, and these changes will be available with purchase of yarn.
As usual, my photography doesn’t do the sweaters justice, there’s just not enough light in my house on dreary winter days and it doesn’t seem appropriate to show these lightweight tops outside against snow. I’ll try to do better next week; meanwhile, knit away and dream of spring!
