Warm Days, Cool Knits: Lighter Designs for Every Season

Most of the patterns in WARM DAYS, COOL KNITS call for merino wool or wool/silk yarns, rather than cotton or linen yarns. This, I think, is a good thing. In my experience, cotton yarns either stretch or shrink when washed (even when hand-washed), and can never be re-blocked to their original shape. Linen yarns tend to be stiff and hard to knit with, although they may soften with washing. But even though they're mostly knit with wool, the garments in this collection are highly suitable for warm weather wear. Many have scoop necklines, with short sleeves or no sleeves. Also, the fabrics are fairly thin and open, allowing for air circulation, because the fabrics (1) incorporate airy lace stitches; and (2) are knit from DK weight, sportweight, fingering weight, or laceweight yarn, on mid-sized (U.S. 5 or 6) needles.Because the patterns call for fine yarns, and incorporate lace and cable-lace stitches, they're appropriate for adventurous intermediate to advanced knitters, not beginning knitters. It takes perseverance to knit a shawl or cardigan from thin yarn; also, it takes some experience to be able to read and knit from lace stitch pattern charts. One fairly simple shawl pattern that I like a lot, and that should give the moderately experienced knitter a spectacular result without Herculean effort, is "Wiley" (a striped shawl knit in stockinette from the top down, starting with 5 stitches that are increased at regular intervals, finished off with a simple knitted-on leaf edging).There are only three included designs that I don't like: "Jonetta", knit in wool/tencel yarn; "Alliemay", knit in linen yarn; and "Rhetta", knit in alpaca/cotton yarn. Notably, these are three of the four designs that are knit in something other than wool or wool/silk yarn. To my eye, there's something wrong with the drape of each garment. "Jonetta" has sleeves that stick out awkwardly; "Alliemay" looks very stiff, especially at the gathered waist; "Rhetta" telegraphs that it will lengthen when washed.Except for those three, I would happily knit and wear all of the designs in this collection. My favorites are "Leora" (a tank top with a lacey neckline, knit from linen yarn, shown on the book's cover); "Denford" (an elegant V-neck cardigan with an allover argyle diamond/cable pattern); "Zolena" (a scoop-neck tee with three-quarter-length sleeves and a separate cowl; the sleeves have cabled cuffs that match the cowl's cable pattern); "Coralue" (a short-sleeved raglan tee with a yoke of twisted cables); "Darl" (a minimalist cardigan with a scoop neck and an allover lace cable pattern); "Emmylou" (a crescent-shaped shoulder shawl with an allover cable pattern and a pretty knitted-in lace edging); and "Wiley", the striped shawl with simple leaf lace edging already mentioned).

The book arrived quickly and was as described.

My wife is a life long knitter, and is always searching for patterns suitable for warmer climates. This book perfectly suits her needs. It has beautiful designs in a wide range of sizes and enables her to knit to her hearts content, and create garments that she can wear and also give away to those who also live in our warm Florida climate. She says she cannot wait to start casting her first stitches! :)

This is one of the loveliest collections of patterns I have seen. Many of the designs use lace or cable trim, shaped to set off a neckline on a tank or to edge a cardigan, taking it from plain to elegant. In northern climes, the fine yarns used make the garments perfect for layering and dressy enough for the office. The combination of design and yarn weight will flatter women of most body types. I can't wait to try a pattern!

In my experience, very few knitting pattern books offer up more than 2 or 3 patterns that I actually want to knit. Not so with Warm Days, Cool Knits. There are at least 14 patterns I want to knit ASAP. The rest of the patterns are lovely as well. There is something for every season whether you live in a warm climate or not. I have knit patterns by Corrina before and she is meticulous in writing them. Fantastic, beautiful pattern book!!

Great book just took a while to have it delivered. Not all sellers fault though.

Such creative lightweight designs for warmer months or southern climates. There are a variety of beautiful pieces for the savvy knitter. The instructions are clear and the photos show great detail. This book is not for beginners, but it will definitely encourage beginners to practice their craft so they can knit these charming pieces.

Great book, lots of cute patterns, but the range of sizes for the patterns isn't very good unless you use smaller sizes. Not very good for larger sizes.