Knitwear isn’t just for cold weather. As I eke out the final days of the summer season, I find myself drawn to summer-friendly knitting projects, such as my two most recent finished garments.
The Peekaboo Maxi Skirt by Knitatude has been waiting in my project queue for some time now. I think I had been waiting for the right yarn to cross my path, as I realized that I couldn’t see myself wearing a woollen maxiskirt. I wear a lot of skirts and dresses in the summertime, so I wanted something light, breathable, and colourful.
Enter Araucania Papagayo, a hand-painted cotton acrylic blend. All the yarns in this particular line are named after tropical birds, and I was drawn to the Imperial Rainforest colourway, with bits of purple, blue, yellow and orange throughout.
Knitatude is known for its easy-knit, easy-wear patterns, and the Peekaboo Maxi Skirt was no exception. After knitting a foldover waistband and inserting an elastic, there was one row of increases and then all that was left was to knit until the skirt was my desired length before starting the lace pattern (hence the “peekaboo”) at the bottom and binding off. It was a perfect project for shutting my brain off, and very portable since I didn’t have to keep an eagle eye on the pattern or how many rows I’d done. I took this baby on road trips and appointments all over!
With the yarn being cotton, it drapes beautifully, and the painted yarn creates a mosaic effect. It’s airy, comfortable, and perfect for hot days.
When it comes to hot days and summer knits, it makes sense that Knitting Tipsy, a pattern designer down in Florida, has a catalogue full of them. Proving definitively that yarn-based craft isn’t just for those of us in frigid climates.
I’d been wanting to explore Knitting Tipsy’s catalogue for a while now, so when I was looking for lace-weight patterns and she came up, I pounced. My in-laws had generously gifted me a couple of Suri alpaca silk skeins from Polka Dot Creek, a local yarn dyer in Airdrie, for my birthday, and I decided to use them to make myself a two-tone Beachy Breezy Cardigan.
Knitting Tipsy’s Beachy Breezy Cardi is a highly customizable pattern, knit in a series of panels with a 1×1 rib stitch. I chose to make mine a cropped cardigan, almost a shrug. It knitted up surprisingly quickly, considering the thinness of the yarn and the slow speed at which I knit rib (god help me, I will learn how to knit continental one day).
It was also my first time knitting with Suri yarn by itself. Suri is similar to mohair in that it’s used to make extremely fine yarn with a wispy texture. These types of yarn are often held double with yarns of differing thickness and fibre content, such as merino fingering, to add dimension to a project.
I would soon learn that not only does Suri yarn shed like crazy but these little threads of alpaca fibre are drawn to my eyeballs like moths to a flame. Trying to pick a nearly invisible hair out of your eye is harder than the most stubborn eyelash.
The finished product is absolutely gorgeous, though. The perfect intersection of warmth and lightness.
I would also cast on the Friendship Has Lace Borders top that Ponder and Ply published in collaboration with Knitting Tipsy this summer. The pair released their two patterns — a crochet version (Knitting Tipsy) and a knit (Ponder and Ply) companion to celebrate the duo’s friendship. While I doubt I’ll finish my top before summer draws to a close, I’m looking forward to seeing it come together.
I am extremely proud of the handmade wardrobe I’ve amassed over the past three years, with my knitting skills ever improving, and I have no intention of slowing down!
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