About knitting in summer

Summer has once again found its way to Norway, it remains to be seen how long it lasts ... sometimes it lasts for a couple of weeks and then it is "gone". And by "gone" I mean temperatures are falling and it is raining most of the time 🌦🌧⛈🌥

Today I am off to my first holiday week and to cooler temperatures up in the mountains. And todays blog is about something that comes up again and again, people saying it's too hot where they are - too hot to even think about wearing wool, and thus that explains why they cannot knit any of the beautiful Norwegian designs.

Of course you can! 

First of all, any given pattern, can be knitted in any yarn you want, as long as you know how to find substitute yarns and/or make a few adaptions to the pattern according to the yarn specifics, you are good to go. And I must say, that a beautiful Norwegian pattern knit in just as beautiful Linen yarn for example, would be awesome!  

Another question I get is, do you really use wool in the summer? Answer is sometimes :D 

Of course we would not ware those thick pure wool knits on a hot summer day, but on a cold summer day on the other hand ... and in spring and in winter ... and in the mountains, because it can be fairly chilli at night, when we enjoy the light long evenings. 

Then there is this question about wool or cotton, and I tell you what it isn't necessarily a good switch in summer. 

There are a couple of things you might want to take into consideration when you substitute wool with cotton.

One thing is that wool has the ability to wick away moisture from the body. It can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet. When you perspire in the summer, wool can absorb the sweat and gradually release it into the air, keeping you dry and comfortable when you knit. Compared to cotton which absorbs the moisture and take much longer to release it and thus giving you a much clammier feeling when you knit. 

Also, cotton that have the right tension/gauge to replace wool is generally denser in texture and thus heavier than wool. Therefore it tends to sag a bit. The reason for this is basically because of the combination of its natural weight and this thing called gravity - and this we cannot really do much about that.

It's important to note that when knitting with wool for summer, you may want to choose lighter-weight wool yarns or blends that incorporate other fibers like linen or cotton. Additionally, selecting patterns for smaller projects or with more open stitches or lacework can further enhance the airflow and comfort of the knitted item in summer.

 Good luck with your knitting and happy summer knit (or winter knit if you are south of the equator) 

Knitting vibes from