Partly Cloudy - Wild and Woolly

Blue skies in the shop window are one thing. Making them happen outside and up above – in April – in Clapton – is quite another. It’s that time of year where the only thing you can be sure of weather-wise, is that.. well you can’t really be sure. So Brontë and I have been out on the hunt for light sweaters that will warm against the leftover chill from last month, but won’t overheat you if April hits a high note in the afternoon. These are the ones we pretend are for transitional months, but are often just as useful for the not-so-hot days and evenings of summer, and can carry on working like a blouse in the winter too..

Thanks to the garter stitch patterning, there’s a structure to KD’s knitted Tee which gives it a polished boxiness, and the high contrast colours she’s used in the verticals and horizontals adds an inexplicably pleasing weaverly note to the fabric. Stubbornly bottom-up, but worth the inconvenience for the lovely finish.
It wants a light 4ply. My first choice would be JA Harvest Hues, but if you want to go a bit plantier, the Saona would also be lovely. Or for a really soft alternative with lots of colour choice, the Edelweiss has it all.

Notwithstanding sleeve length, which you can really do your own thing with, this is our nail-on-the-head transitional – a knitted top which is not too warm and not too airy, plus beautifully constructed contiguous shoulder shaping – on which subject, they really matter here – so don’t just rely on your bust measurements, and do take the time to measure from one shoulder nobble to the other. We can always help if you seem to straddle two different size columns.
Keep it cool and cottony with Damasco or the Principe Real, or pick a lovely DK like WYS Pure or Laxtons Sheepsoft to make it warmer.

Bulky cotton isn’t a thing we’ve gone a bundle on in the past, but Gepard’s deliciously slubby Cottonwaves has changed all that, and this beautifully considered tee totally gets it. The weight of the cotton means its practically a sweater, but stays cool on account of the cotton. But the real genius here is in the way that the drape, seams and lines work with each other to create a deliberate shape that totally side steps the shapeless-cotton-top problem.

For knitters that want a side order of interesting with their stocking stitch main, this light weight cardigan has all the right construction notes around the shoulders and then goes complex and detailed with lace stitches on a twisted rib hem that hints at the movement of an unfolded fan. Subtitled-Scandi-noir thriller watching knitting, this is not, but I reckon the thrill of working that lace pattern makes up for having to switch off the telly and concentrate.
It’s loosely knitted sport, or plump 4ply, so there’s no shortage of options – go woolly with Pastoreta, Cautiva, Darnie or Ulysse, or for a cooler plantier finish, the Kalinka Linen would be beyond delightful.

From the latest (spring) issue of Laine Magazine, this one had me more or less the moment I turned the page on it. Something about the relaxedness of the neckline, and those blousey sleeves seems to hum that dappled and drowsey line from The 59th Street Bridge Song. The DK-ish gauge means it won’t take forever to make and if endless stocking stitch isn’t your thing, you’ve got those sleeves to look forward to.
I plan to make mine in my favourite rosy raspberry shade of Damasco, but the Principe Real would be a beautiful and more luxorious alternative.

With apologies to all the knitters who don’t share my slubby love this spring, here’s another one designed for Cottonwaves. Yes, it’s a plain raglan but look closely and you’ll see there’s an enchanting dolman-ish curve on the sleeves, that is just perfectly at home with that simple grown-on neck.
The chunky cotton factor means it hits the sweet spot, transition-weather-wise, but maybe not so much on the sheer-weight-of-yarn front. In fact I’m tempted to say the cotton isn’t a good choice for bigger sizes – in which case, the answer would be to save it for later and do it in a lighter wool alternative like RP Zagal, Gepard Puno or Teddy.

So the idea of a knitted blouse may take a moment to get the hang of, but hear me out – because I reckon it has more all-round use built into it than any other garment. Yes, it’s a sweater of sorts, but the blouse format comes by virtue of what you’re making it with. And as we’ve got bolder and better at sourcing interesting plant fibre yarns, there’s any number of options to knit a sweater pattern and make it a blouse. And if you’re not sure where to start, this slashed neck basic from MFT is ready and waiting for you.
Double strand the Kalinka Linen, or single strand it with Damasco, or the Principe Real.

Don’t say, ‘don’t be daft, I’m not knitting trousers!’ Do say, ‘Oh my days, they look comfy and cool.’ So maybe it’s early days to say that knitted trousers are a thing – but things have to start somewhere – right? And these cullotte/trousers are just so inviting, with a pyjama-like pull-on comfyness about them, wouldn’t you just want to wear them all the time?
Worked in a worsted yarn at a chunky gauge means you’d finish them faster than a sweater and they will hang beautifully.
I would go with doubling up the Kalinka Linen. Damasco single or double stranded (depending on how firm you want the fabric) would also work.

It’s all about the texture here in TC’s delightfully decorated tank. Starting with a basic square-shaped crew as her canvas, she’s managed to stage the design and combine pattern so fluently, it feels like this one will not only go with anything you wear underneath, it will make more of it.
I can’t see past a woolly DK like Laxton’s Sheepsoft, WYS Bluefaced Leicester or RP’s Vovó, but really any DK will work with this one.