It’s been a while but I have a finished knitted object to share with you. The perfect knitted summer top worked in 4 ply cotton; completed just as the weather cooled and it would only be suitable over a long sleeved t-shirt, and photographed on the day we had our first frost. By the time I’m here writing this post we are now in a spell of hard morning frosts.

All this said, I love this finished object and I’m excited at the prospect of wearing it. The only question is whether I have the self discipline to keep it until the weather warms up again or whether, having now blogged about it, I sneak it over a long sleeved t-shirt and layer it with a cardigan or jacket…

I’ve wanted to knit this pattern since it was first released in the Knit with Attitude 10th Anniversary book.

The Everyday Attitude Tee, it is designed by Susanne Sommer aka SOSUknits

This is a a lot simpler to knit than you might think given the number of wonderful design features included. The shoulders were the thing that drew me to the pattern originally – aren’t they cool!

But then look at those lovely side seams, that neat folded hem and the gentle roll of the neckline and armholes.

The side seams are particularly genius. The tee is designed for linen, I used cotton, and those slipped stitch side seams help stabilise the fabric created by using such drapey yarns. This takes me to why I love this pattern, it marries the beautiful aesthetics and the details of the design to the characteristics of the yarn chosen, it works visually and structurally.

I’ve written before about the specifics of working with linen, the fibre of the recommended yarn for this pattern. I used instead a 4 ply cotton yarn that I picked up half price at a time when I really needed something to kick start my knitting mojo in the full heat of this summer.

Interestingly swapping a finer linen yarn with a thicker cotton yarn required me to use a much smaller needle to get gauge and a good fabric. Yes, my previous experience with linen certainly meant I knew I’d have to swatch properly to substitute linen with cotton! Luckily I liked the fabric I got with the yarn when I achieved gauge. Moreover given my cotton yarn was heavier than the recommended linen, I was especially grateful for the structure those side seams gave to the garment.

The other reason I like this pattern is a more general point that draws me to Susanne’s patterns – they’re always so clear.

When I first printed off this pattern it seemed a little long, but once I started knitting it I realised I was in great hands. The pattern took me through the project step by step with total clarity. It’s not over wordy but simply sufficiently detailed so that at no point did I need to second guess or question the designer’s intent.

I have a slightly embarrassing number of Susanne’s patterns waiting to be knit, so far the only one I’ve completed was the test knit of her free half and half shortie sock.

I have also recently picked up my Brioche Mode rectangular shawl that was last year’s mystery knit along with a view to completing it by the end of the year – it’s a wonderful brioche pattern that I’ve loved knitting and the only reason it is finished is that I no longer liked my original colour combinations and decided to start it again. While that was definitely the right decision, it did mean I lost momentum with it.

Now it is cold I’m back to enthusiastically knitting with wool and knitting things I want to wear now. Indeed I finished a lovely deep warm double layer lace weight cowl just the other week, and then promptly left it at my nieces when I was back in the UK last week. So I’ve cast on another one with Malabrigo lace yarn harvested from a featherweight cardigan I started knitting in 2010, finished in 2016 and hardly wore because it was so delicate for a garment, and now it no longer fits.

Also on the needles is a colour work Gertrude tank, from Susan Crawford’s Echoes collection. I’m at the shoulders and have one down to go before I graft the shoulders together and stare cutting the steaks and knitting the bands.

So with 3 projects on the go and my knitting mojo fully restored, hopefully there will be some more regular blog content in the near future.

How’s your knitting going. Are you in full winter cosying mode and wanting to knit as well as wear all the things?

Take care and happy Knitting,

Tess xxx