A Simple Guide to Seasonal Knitting
Seasonal knitting is the natural way to knit with the changing seasons. Whether you’re facing the brutal winds of winter or the dog days of summer, seasonal knitting is simpler (and more comfortable) than you may think.
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What is seasonal knitting?
When most people think of knitting, they might imagine sitting inside on a snowy night knitting by the fireplace.
Seasonal knitting is simply knitting with the natural rhythm of changing seasons, but with different projects and a different purpose.
Seasonal knitting isn’t quite anguishing through the summer heat to knit a sweater in time for autumn. With seasonal knitting, you typically choose different projects and types of fiber depending on the time of year.
Like your wardrobe and home decor varies each season, seasonal knitting changes based on what’s going on outside our doors. You can knit all year long with projects to suit the different temperatures. You can also follow the naturally slower and hotter months to collect your yarn and plan for future projects.
>>Follow your way through the seasons with my YouTube channel here.<<
This sounds just like regular knitting!
You would think so!
But in my years of knitting, especially in the season of running a knitwear business, there can be a lot of pressure and expectations to keep plowing through knitting each season without rest.
Why would I want to knit with the seasons?
Seasonal knitting gives you rest. You can slow down, breathe, and take breaks! And that gives life to the stretches of seasons that you naturally want to knit more.
I had burnt myself out on knitting back when I sold finished knitwear. I would keep up my goal of finished items all year long, then reach the cold months when people were ready to shop for them, and I didn’t want to knit another stitch. Maybe you’re the same way with gift knitting, or building your hand knit wardrobe?
If you knit seasonally, that means following your natural inclinations to knit when you want to knit! You can start slowly working towards Christmas in mid-summer if you want!
What matters about seasonal knitting
The most important thing about seasonal knitting is realizing that there aren’t set rules.
Knitting in your season means using the new season as a flag, as a marker to check in with yourself. Are you knitting with the same excitement that you were two months ago? Or are you on autopilot?
Awhile ago, I realized that I was overworking myself and knitting became more of a habit than a hobby. Instead of defaulting to knitting each night, I reminded myself that I can choose to knit, or not.
Seasonal knitting follows the seasons of the calendar, but takes into account your season of life as well.
Seasonal knitting tunes you in with the rest of nature
When we first moved into our farmhouse, the lack of central air conditioning was rough.
Quickly, we got small units to put into the kids’ bedrooms. But what I love about having no a/c in most of our house is that we are in tune with our surroundings.
We don’t close everything up and hide in our cold home all summer long. Instead, we’re out early in the day while it’s cool, and in the sprinkler with popsicles when the afternoon heat hits. Summer nights, the windows are open so we can hear crickets and cool the house back down before morning.
We miss out on unfiltered, real life when we tuck ourselves away from what’s happening outside our front doors.
Seasonal knitting
Let’s break down knitting by season. Everyone is different, but this has become my natural flow of knitting throughout the year. Hopefully it helps you to find yours!
Spring knitting
As we transition to slightly warmer days, spring knitting is actually a time when I set my needles down a bit and dream.
Come April and May, I’m looking ahead to plan out a garden to knit! I also love sitting out listening to birds and welcoming them back.
These are the other slow spring hobbies that I’m enjoying in the spring:
- bird watching and welcoming them back north
- reading in the shade
- planning our garden to knit and eat from
- watching new wildflowers pop up in the secret garden
- baking cookies and muffins before the real heat comes back
- spring cleaning my yarn and knitting supplies
While the shade hits our patio, I’ll bring a few books and a knitting project to a cozy bench. From there, I can read aloud to my kids as they wander over for a snuggle. When they run back to play with their siblings, I knit a few rows as I watch and listen to them giggling through the backyard.
My usual springtime knitting projects are socks, shawls, t shirts, and tank tops as I look ahead to summer.
>> Spring knitting playlist on YouTube <<
Summer knitting
What about when it’s 90+ degrees outside?
Once summer begins, I’m usually in the garden in the mornings before it gets hot. We’re done with our homeschool year for a few months, so I have some extra creative energy to give to both knitting and gardening.
This is when I pick up socks that have slowly been started, and really focus on those. They’re lightweight, which is great for summer knitting. Tucked in a small basket just the right size, I can easily carry it outside for some knitting under the shade of the apple tree.
The key to summer knitting for me has been to choose small projects that aren’t just wool. Wool-nylon blends of fingering weight yarn work well here. Or, pick up cotton and linen for some farmhouse tea towels and camping dish cloths.
I’ve found that not everyone (including me, in some life seasons!) is a summer knitter. Some knitters are seasonal in the sense that they only knit when it’s cold outside. These are the summer knitting personalities I’ve observed. It’s fun to see where you are, and that it can change each year.
>> Summer knitting playlist on YouTube <<
Autumn knitting
Ahh autumn knitting. It’s wonderful to imagine the chilly nights ahead as we slowly head towards winter.
For me, autumn knitting immediately turns to wooly cabin sock knitting and sweaters.
I’ve also begun my children’s capsule wardrobes, and this is the time to have those cardigans ready for everybody.
One last thing that I typically pick up in autumn is my family’s knit stockings. They’re a beautiful color work made of wool, and my goal is to get them finished before Christmas. I’ve tried to go against the seasons and knit them in the summer, but it’s just so hot! I’d rather slowly knit the stockings in the autumn and not finish all seven of them this year, than push through and knit them in the summer!
>> Autumn knitting playlist on YouTube <<
Winter knitting
In the northern woods of Illinois, we get pretty chilly winters. I know there are plenty of places that get colder than that!
What I’ve found interesting in my own knitting is that I enjoy using my knitwear in the winter more than knitting new projects. Although I still knit, I don’t have the same desire to have finished pieces. I’m more of a “want something easy and constant to knit while I snuggle my dog and drink cocoa” kind of winter knitter!
Knitting blankets and sweaters with simple stockinette stitches are just the thing to fill that seasonal knitting desire in winter!
>> Winter knitting playlist on YouTube <<
What about Christmas knitting?
Christmas can almost feel like it’s own season. I published a whole video about slowly knitting toward Christmas.
- Try starting gift knitting early
- Have realistic expectations
- Find joy and have fun!
Pin it for later:
That’s it! That’s the seasonal knitting guide!
Seasonal knitting is so enjoyable. Naturally going with the temperatures, nature’s real colors, sunlight, and calendar is better than trying to keep up the same enthusiasm all year long!
Everything has its season, including knitting.
