I'm going to be honest here. This is a very unpopular opinion, and I totally understand, but I feel the need to voice it anyway.
I don't really like summer.
Sure, it has some advantages, like longer days and more opportunities to go outside and gardening and flowers, but overall, it's just a few months that I tolerate between my two favorite seasons, spring and fall. It all goes back to my very strong dislike of being hot. I don't mean sweating while running, biking, hiking, or some other activity, I mean stepping outside and sweating, or sweating while sitting on the patio. Also, bugs. Have you ever been riding your bike up a mountain with no breeze while trying to fight off the cloud of gnats swarming around your face? I can assure you that it is terrible. And while it usually isn't hot here in comparison to many other places in the US, this summer we've already hit 90 multiple times. That's really, really hot here. Especially for June.
To help cope with these sweaty months, I've really thrown myself into summer knits. First there was my Seaboard Tank, and now most recently is my finished Saco Stripes Tank (I'm also just a few seams away from a new summer vest, which I'll post more about later).
I thoroughly enjoyed every stitch of this knit, right down to the seams. I considered knitting it in the round, but was afraid my yarn, Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, would be too heavy, which would cause the top to stretch. Speaking of, this yarn really was great to work with. This was my first time knitting with it, and I actually ordered it for another project. It's labeled as a DK weight yarn, which it is clearly not - it's more like a heavy fingering. A lot of comments I read after I got it said it would bloom and transform into a DK weight after washing, but I didn't find that to be true. It did bloom a bit, but not whole lot to make much of a difference. Because I purchased the yarn with another project in mind, I had to make a pretty obvious modification to make sure I didn't run out of the main color - instead of the two row contrasting color stripes, I made mine 4 rows. I'm glad I did, I definitely would have run out of the main color if I hadn't.
I also chose to omit the edging around the arm and neck holes, mainly because it seemed tedious to me, and I didn't want to mess with it. I intentionally slipped the first stitch of every row throughout the entire project hoping it would make for neater looking edges so that I could leave that edging out, and it really did the trick. The straps do roll in a bit, but with a camisole underneath, I don't have to worry about bra straps hanging out.
I chose to knit the smallest size, giving me a bit of negative ease at the bust, and plenty of positive ease at the hips thanks to the a-line shape. In the past I've shied away from this shape, but I will admit that I love the way this looks.
And the drape of this hemp and cotton blend is just wonderful. So breezy and light, and it hangs just perfectly.
I'm totally sold on summer knits, however my fingers are starting to crave a nice, wooly fall sweater. Thankfully, Shannon's summer sweater KAL will be coming up soon - I'm planning to knit an Oshima (finally!).
