Who wouldn’t want a knitted summer top to wear around town or to the beach this summer? Not only are knitted summer tops great to wear in the heat, they’re also great to knit, because the yarns are light and cooling. If your fingers are itching for a summer project, try one of these on for size! We have 16 patterns to choose from, including two free patterns and three free-with-yarn patterns. One of them is destined to become your summer go-to.
Free Knitted Summer Tops Patterns
The Lake Diamond knitted summer tank from Kristin Jones is designed with open lacework at the back to pick up cool summer breezes, while the front is stockinette with eyelets at the collar and hem. It’s specifically designed for Wool and the Gang’s Shiny Happy Cotton.
It’s no secret that we’re fans of Jessie Maed Designs here at The Yarn Queen. Her Summer Secret Crop pattern is the perfect easy breezy top for the beach, a party or just lounging about. It’s top knit from the bottom up and uses knitting in the round and decreases in its construction. This is a size-inclusive pattern that goes up to 5X. It would be especially nice made in something like Zealana Kiwi Fingering.
Knitted Summer Tops Kits
With these knitted summer top kits, if you buy the yarn you get the pattern for free! The Love Me Tunic is a relaxing knit suitable for the beginning knitter. The Hold On set is an intermediate pair of patterns with a crop top for those hot summer days, and a cardigan to throw on once it cools down at night. The Saltwater Sweater is another intermediate kit which uses an open knot stitch to create a knit top that picks up the summer breezes, and can be layered for wearing the rest of the year.
Love Me Tunic Kit
The Love Me Tunic is relaxed with dropped shoulders, ¾ sleeves and a bateau neckline. An especially great “throw on and go” summer knit, perfect with jeans or shorts, it makes a great throw over your togs. This kit uses Wool and the Gang’s Buddy Hemp yarn. It’s 55% hemp and 45% cotton, soft and airy with sharp definition and a hand feel like linen. It will keep you cool all summer long!
Saltwater Sweater Kit
It combines classic ribbed edging with a breezy open knot stitch to give the kind of texture us stitchers obsess over. This intermediate level project has a relaxed, cropped fit, with a crew neck and roomy sleeves.
This kit is knitted with Shiny Happy Cotton. It is certified by the Vegan Society, meaning it’s free from animal fibres and has not been tested on animals.
Hold On Set Kit
This kit is intermediate, and uses 1×1 rib stitch, 2×2 rib stitch and stocking stitch. The pattern booklet will help you master these techniques.
This two piece is sure to turn heads for all the right reasons. Stitched in summer-friendly Shiny Happy Cotton, made from hand-picked Pima cotton from Peru. Soft and sleek with beautiful drape, it is available in a rainbow of colours!
Paid Knitted Summer Tops Patterns
Knitted Summer Tanks
We love so many of the new patterns for Urth Yarns Galatea, and Adrienne Larsen’s A Day at the Beach tank definitely takes advantage of its eye-catching colours. It is designed to be reversible, so it can be worn with either a boat neck or vee neck. The colour-changing, mesh pattern and ribbing combine to make it a tank that will definitely stand out!
Simple stockinette construction never looked so good! The Anna Top by Naked Knit is a deceptively simple knitted summer tank. It features a deep V at the neck and can be worn with the V either in front or in back. It is knitted bottom-up using your own measurements, allowing you to truly make it your own. This would look and feel fantastic with the good stitch definition and soft texture of Zealana Kiwi Lace.
Retro colour-blocking, a sporty silhouette, true size inclusivity and heaps of fun to knit – that’s the Mooncrush Tank by Jacqueline Cieslak. If you’ve never used intarsia for colourwork, this is a great opportunity to learn. There are three-colour and two-colour variants, and a cropped and full-length version. The soft crispness of EYB’s Bel Viso yarn lends itself to this, and the colours would lend themselves well to this colour-blocking.
First featured in Pom Pom Magazine Issue 25, the Deauville Tank by Tina Tse is a sporty, striped, size-inclusive top with a fun texture stitch. Tse designed and knitted the first one in a day, so while some of the techniques may be intermediate-level, it’s a project that is very achievable. This top was specifically designed for Wool and the Gang’s Shiny Happy Cotton.
Knitted Summer Tees
The ballet-neck, raglan-sleeve Plenilune Tee by Alicia Plummer has eye-catching cables that will get you compliments everywhere. It also has a substantial size range; the bust size in this pattern ranges from 84.5 to 169.5cm. It’s largely worked top-down, in the round, seamlessly, but it begins as a flat knit until the neck is joined. It calls for a laceweight yarn like Zealana Kiwi Lace.
The Outline Tee by Jessie Maed Designs is another creation that is fun to knit. It has drop sleeves, twisted stitches, dropped stitches that create the outline in the name, and a lovely drape. You’ll get to use techniques like knitting in the round, bottom up, decreasing, German short rows, holding stitches, 3-needle bind off and wet blocking when you make this gorgeous tee. (If you’ve never done wet blocking before, read our illustrated Easy Guide to Wet Blocking.) This would be beautiful knitted with EYB’s Bel Viso yarn.
If you’re looking for a glamorous, retro top with several customization options and true size inclusivity, the Tumble Tee by Lydia Morrow may be just the thing. Knitters liked it so much that they started planning additional makes while making their first! This raglan top has a size range from UK 4 to 32, two different options for the neckline and the waist, and optional bust darts. It even has an option for short row shaping to accommodate very large busts. It’s knitted in the round, top down, and is seamless. Zealana Kiwi Fingering would give this a soft feel while maintaining the definition in the ribbing.
Other Knitted Summer Tops
The Sidestripe Cardigan is another colour-loaded Adrienne Larsen design for Urth Yarns Galatea. It calls for three different colours of Galatea, which create a rainbow circular yoke effect. This short-sleeve cardigan buttons to about the bottom of the sternum, which allows you to show off a contrasting top beneath.
The Pure Mesh Pullover by James N. Watts is “a quick, satisfying, and sexy knit.” This long sleeved, open mesh top has inclusive sizing. Though it may look simple, it’s a great opportunity to practice many techniques, including long tail cast on, knit and purl, yarn over, picking up stitches, knitting flat, knitting in the round, bind off and mattress stitch. It is designed for laceweight yarn, and Zealana Kiwi Lace would be an ideal fit.
The Kuutar Top by Sari Nordlund is designed for those who are up for a rewarding challenge. It’s worked seamlessly from the top down with a delicate lace pattern that will show off your fine stitchwork. It’s finished with i-cord edging that continues into the straps. It calls for cotton, viscose or linen blend yarns with good stitch definition, and EYB’s Bel Viso definitely fits that description! If you wish it had sleeves and a slightly tighter fit, try the Kuutar Tee.
This open stitch pullover project will come together very quickly! It’s suitable for beginning knitters and will allow you to practice your seaming. The Beleza top by Alison Green is a boat-neck, cap-sleeve mesh shirt that is light, airy and perfect for summer. We think Urth Yarns Galatea yarn would provide the kind of stitch definition this lovely pattern calls for.
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