15 Modern Lace Knitting Patterns for Spring Summer From Beginner Friendly to Advanced.

As much as I will forever be a fan of intricate, delicate, and elaborate lace, I sometimes find that it's not super practical to wear. So, I decided to gather 15 patterns that feature more modern, simple, and sleek lace, which you can easily incorporate into your spring and summer wardrobe. And I hope it's going to be interesting, so let's get straight into it. And if you haven't subscribed, please consider subscribing so you don't miss my future videos. So, the patterns I'm going to cover will range from more beginner-friendly to advanced, and some of these are more popular than others, but I tried my best to include a few hidden gems for you as well. And for any difficult parts or new techniques you might encounter while knitting these patterns, there's always Craftsy, the sponsor of today's video, to help you tackle any knitting task. Craftsy is my favorite online resource when it comes to all things creative, and they have over 2000 classes in more than 20 different categories. Their topics range from knitting, sewing, embroidery, and other fiber arts, to things like woodworking, painting, cake decorating, baking, and cooking, so there's just so much to learn and explore with Craftsy. And one of their classes I've been really enjoying recently is by Sally Melville, and it's called Where Would You Knit? Perfect Sweater Fit and Style. It is absolutely jam-packed with useful information about sweater knitting, and it will help you understand concepts such as fit, sizing, gauge modifications, and yarn choice like the back of your hand. Believe me that after this class, you'll look at sweater patterns and sweater knitting completely differently, and you'll be able to create pieces that fit you, your style, and your vision without any issues or hiccups along the way. There are always new and exciting classes added to Craftsy's library, and every class is taught by a friendly and approachable professional who is there to help you learn and guide you along the way with detailed video instructions and downloadable content. So if you want to join Craftsy, the first 1000 of you watching this video to scan the QR code on the screen or use my link in the description will get a full year of Craftsy Premium Membership for just $1.49. And this offer is valid for new members only, but it will include access to every single Craftsy class for you to explore for a full year, so please make sure you click the link in the description or scan the QR code. And thank you so much Craftsy for sponsoring this video. And now let's get into the patterns. I'd like to start this list with a couple of sweaters and cardigans, and the first one is called the Mod Sweater, and it's by Coco Amore Knitwear. I fell in love with this pattern ever since it came out last year, and it's such a bummer that I didn't have the chance to cast this on yet, because I love how textured and lacy it is without being really frilly. This is a crew neck drop shoulder sweater that alternates five different panels of stitch patterns, and it has double moss stitch and a slip stitch panel, also some eyelets, and of course the lace motif that is the center feature of this design. The panels are repeated both on the body and on the sleeves, and of course the lace section is the widest, but I really love how it's integrated into the other panels in a way that makes the whole thing look really cohesive and intentional. The sweater has a folded crew neck knit in one by one ribbing, same as the cuffs and the hem, and the shoulder shaping here is done with increases instead of short rows. And the instructions for this pattern are well written and easy to follow, and despite the variety in texture, they're actually really simple repeats to memorize, and there are no complicated stitches or lace charts involved. The sweater is intended to be knit in a combo of fingering weight yarn plus a strand of lace weight, for example lace weight alpaca. The recommended needle size here is four millimeter needles for most of the stitch patterns, but it also asks you to go up half a size for the slip stitch pattern, because it's usually much denser when it comes to stitch gauge. The light pink sample in the pattern photos is knit using a combo of susurye cashmere sock with a strand of their deluxe lace, and the cashmere sock is such a beautiful sock yarn that has so many vibrant hand dyed shades to choose from. And while some of the colorways for this yarn are really saturated and just mesmerizing to look at, I would maybe suggest sticking to less vibrant options or something that isn't too variegated, because it might distract from the texture of this garment. And if you'd like to knit this in a single strand, I would suggest Seasons by Rosarios, which is a yarn I've tried recently and really loved. It's a wool and cotton blend in a really squishy chainette strand, which I think would complement the texture of this pattern really well. And for a really summery option, you could go with a classic Drops Belle or Sadness Garn Lina, and maybe knit this in a shorter sleeve to create a really lovely lacy t-shirt. This design is intended to be quite oversized with 24 centimeters of positive ease, and it goes up to 175 centimeters finished bust, which makes it really nice and size inclusive. So this next design is something I've been seeing all over my Instagram lately, and I'm honestly so here for it, because it is a really beautiful pattern, and it's the Marielle Blouse by Maria Shea Morgenstadt. She has also just recently released a cardigan version of the same design, so you have two options to choose from. And this is another seamless top-down construction with a dropped shoulder fit, and the neckline here on the blouse version is folded, while on the cardigan it's instead finished with an Italian bind-off and is more lightweight. The lace pattern is repeated both on the front, on the back, and on the sleeves, which are knit straight and are really blousy, and it's finished with a really short ribbing on the cuffs and hem. The button band on the cardigan version is knit vertically and is attached seamlessly as you knit it to the picked up stitches on the sides, and I have a tip for you regarding the button band. So if you want to make sure that the corners of your button band are not sticking out in a weird way, and the button band itself is not really floaty and doesn't stretch out over time, all you need to do is just create this curve at the corners. So let's say your pattern asks you to cast on 12 stitches and knit it in ribbing, as in the Marielle cardigan for example. I would instead cast on 8 or 10 stitches and then gradually increase every right side row on the outer edge to reach the stitch count I need and have this slight curve or like angle to my button band. And this is such a simple modification, but it makes a lot of difference because not having these extra stitches at the corner really makes sure that it doesn't stretch out and there is no like extra fabric pulling on it. And one more tip I have for you when it comes to button bands is to baste your button band shut before you block the finished cardigan, and if by any chance you don't know what basting is, it just refers to temporarily sewing something together with large running stitches to remove them later, and I usually use just contrasting smooth yarn for this, which will be again easy to pull out after I don't need it anymore. You need to make sure that the two halves of your button bands are securely attached together, especially at the top of the neckline and at the very bottom, because naturally once you wet the cardigan and start blocking it, it will become really heavy and harder to handle, and this way the really lightweight corners such as the edges of your button bands are not like dripping down with water and they don't stretch out. And once the cardigan is dry, you just need to remove the basting stitches and attach your buttons, and I promise you that this way the button band would look a lot neater and more structured, which is usually what I'm concerned about when I'm knitting cardigans. But going back to the Marielle blouse, this pattern suggests two approaches when it comes to choosing your size. So you can either select a size that is 5 to 10 centimeters larger than your bust circumference and this way you will have a more form-fitting blouse, which kind of resembles a lace jumper, or you can go for a more blousy and relaxed look, similar to the pattern pictures, and go for a size that has about 20 to 30 centimeters of positive ease. This pattern is intended to be knit on four millimeter needles with a really classic combination of knitting for olive merino and their soft silk mohair. And there's no need for me to elaborate more on this combo, let's just say that there are so many beautiful colorways to choose from. Another soft combo you can go for is La Mana Como, held together with their premium silk mohair. And one more really wearable all-over lace pattern is the Somme cardigan from Cookie the Knitter. And this is another drop shoulder design, which is knit in a beautiful eyelet scallop motif all over. And it's intended to be really drapey and oversized. And the sleeves here are knit straight and cinched in towards the cuff with one by one ribbing. It's knit on a larger gauge compared to our previous patterns and is intended for two strands of silk mohair held together and 4.5 millimeter needles. The shoulder shaping here is done using short rows and the lace pattern is charted, so it should be quite easy to follow and memorize. And I think I mentioned before that I really like Cookie the Knitter's writing style and I find her patterns to be super easy to follow. And every step is really clearly explained. And the main yarn recommendation here is Sadness Garrington silk mohair held double. But another really cool, more warm weather appropriate option would be, for example, Pasquale's Suave yarn, which is a cotton silk mohair alternative. It's just as fluffy as silk mohair, but it's 100% cotton, so it shouldn't be irritating against the skin. And the strand itself is a little bit thicker than regular silk mohair, so if you use it in two strands held together it might not be as see-through as the original yarn recommendation, but it would be just as drapey and just as lightweight. The intended ease here is 10 to 20 centimeters, and this is another size inclusive pattern that goes up to 167 centimeters after finished bust. And next I have a more simple blouse pattern, which nonetheless has a beautiful lace motif, and the pattern is called Felicity by Yamagara. This is a stockinette blouse knit top down with seamless satin sleeves, which give it a really polished and kind of professional tailored look. But the main design feature here is the feather and band stitch, which is used on the sleeves. And there are two sleeve options. The first one is for a three-quarter length sleeve with a shorter lace motif, which is finished with a standard long tail cast off. And it also includes instructions for a full length sleeve with a longer lace motif, and they're finished with an I-cord edge. Both the hem and the collar here are knit in twisted ribbing, and the collar is really short, and of course most of the body is just knit in simple stockinette. This design only includes minimal ease of around three to six centimeters, so it's intended to have a really classic blouse look. And I feel like the white and flared sleeves will contrast really well with a more form-fitting torso. It's intended to be knit on 3.5 millimeter needles with a single strand of Cardiff Cashmere Classic, which of course would make it perfect to wear against the skin. But this is another pattern which can be knit in two strands of silk mohair held together, or even one strand of silk mohair. For example, I'm currently wearing a t-shirt made out of two strands of Lamanna Premia held together, and this project has basically the same gauge as the Felicity pattern, so I can attest that this combo is perfect for this gauge. And I also don't find it to be itchy or irritating in any way, and despite how lightweight this fabric is, it's not see-through, which I really appreciate for a summer garment like this. And the gauge of this pattern is also great for a lot of fingering weight yarns. So, for example, the cashmere sock I've mentioned before. But again, be first of all careful when it comes to variegated colorways, so they don't distract from the lace motif. And any superwash yarn on its own tends to really grow in length with blocking, so maybe account for this beforehand and start the lace repeat on the sleeves a bit sooner, or maybe knit the body shorter, so once you actually block the garment it can sort of settle into the length you're going for. Another thing I really love about this design is how the feather and fan stitch is sort of broken up and alternates instead of being knit in a single line. I feel like it adds a lot of extra visual interest to this pattern, but it does mean that you have to pay more attention while knitting the repeat, because it makes it a bit longer and a bit more complicated. And now I'd like to move on to tees and sleeveless tops, after which I'll cover a couple of accessories. And I'd like to start with the pattern called Elation from Meliu Calio. And this design is an exceptionally interesting spin on a classic stockinette tee, which from the front looks like your standard knit tee with mock saddle shoulders, but on the back it has this gorgeous lace detail, which starts at the mid back and then flares out towards the hem and adds to this really subtle a-line silhouette. The lace detail here is knit in a really simple and short motif, which is similar to the one on the mod sweater. Because this pattern has mock saddle shoulders as opposed to the standard saddle shoulders, which you knit separately and have a lot of ends to weave in, and you need to pick up stitches from, this one is knit seamlessly top down, including the shaping and the actual saddles completely integrated into the knitting process. After finishing a couple of projects which include mock saddle shoulders or seamless contiguous sleeves, I'm just starting to really love this construction and I find it to be far superior to standard drop shoulders or saddle shoulders, which again you need to seam up and deal with a lot of extra fiddly steps. The construction might seem a little bit intimidating if you haven't tried knitting contiguous sleeves or mock saddle shoulders before, but it's so rewarding to knit because the fit is really nice and polished and it gives your projects a really tailored look. Otherwise, as I've said, this t-shirt has a slightly a-line silhouette on the body and it includes ease of around 10 to 15 centimeters, and the sizing here goes up to 172 centimeters of finished bust measurement. It's knit on three millimeter needles and is intended for a light fingering summer yarn, so the main yarn recommendation here is Gepard Garn Wild and Soft. This yarn is a beautiful merino and silk blend and it has a lovely drape to it and a slight silky luster. Another option could be, for example, Tin Lina from Sadness Garn, which is of course quite different from the standard Lina yarn in terms of the texture and yarn composition, and another yarn which is really cool and would work great for this is the newly released Mulberry Silk from Isair, which I think here would work really well in two strands held together. And of course, no spring summer list can be complete without the iconic t-shirt patterns from Le Knit. It might be a bit bold of me, but I'd say that every knitter should try to knit at least one of her Lace Yoke t-shirts, because regardless of your size, for example, or your body shape, they look really flattering and really cool and they're also extremely fun to knit. And the one that's just been recently released is the Numi Tee, which has a beautiful shell lace pattern on the yoke. And this is a round yoke t-shirt knit seamlessly top down and you start knitting it with the collar, which is done in one by one ribbing and has a textured rolled over stockinette edge. The lace motif on the yoke is knit in stripes and you increase the size of your lace shells with each stripe and the rest of the body is knit in simple stockinette. The cuffs and hem here are also finished with the same combo of one by one ribbing and rolled stockinette edge. And as every other pattern from Le Knit, which has a similar construction, it's intended for four millimeter needles and either Sadness Garlina or its more budget-friendly dupe, Drops Belle. It has minimal positive ease of 5 to 10 centimeters and the sizing goes up to 150 centimeters of finished bust. And in this case I'd maybe suggest to just stick with the Patterns Recommended yarn because both Drops Belle and Sadness Garlina are iconic summer yarns which are delightful to work with and really pleasant to wear. But another cool yarn choice would be, for example, Rosario's Principe Real, which I've tried recently and really loved. It has a bit more dimensional and the difference between the strands is a bit more pronounced and this is a linen silk and cotton blend. And the shell motif from the Numi tee is also repeated in the Le Knit's muslin tee pattern, with the main difference between them being that on the muslin tee it's repeated throughout the whole t-shirt. It also has slightly longer sleeves and doesn't have this rolled over stockinette edge on the cuffs hem and the collar, but otherwise it's really similar, especially in terms of gauge and yarn recommendations and fit. So it's basically your choice depending on if you want to go for a more textured look or a more kind of subtle minimalistic lace t-shirt. And one more t-shirt I'd like to mention is actually a free pattern from Drops and it's called the Ocean Dream Tee. This t-shirt is mostly knit in stockinette with a beautiful striped pattern of mock braids, both on the front and on the back. It has a straight fit with a relatively high crew neck and a subtle drop shoulder and it's knit seamlessly top down. It's designed for Drops Cotton Lite, which is their DK Weight cotton and recycled polyester blend, but to be honest I think that this particular design and this gauge would look really nice in cashmere. Of course our standard DK Weight cashmere options are Cardiff Cashmere Classic or, for example, Pasquale 628 cashmere. And the one from Pasquale is a bit pricier, but in my opinion is softer and more pleasant to the touch than Cardiff Cashmere, even though of course with cashmere it's quite hard to tell because they're all really soft and pleasant. And a really budget-friendly DK Weight cashmere you can use for this is from Viking Garn and it's called Cashmere Silk. It's made out of recycled both cashmere and silk and it's maybe not as pleasant to the initial touch as Cardiff Cashmere or Pasquale, but at the same time once you block it, it blooms and opens up just as much as the other cashmeres. The sizing on this t-shirt goes up to 136 centimeters of finished bust and as I said it has a straight fit and has about five centimeters of ease included. And there's also a sleeveless top version of the same design from Drops and it's called the Mossy Trails. I rarely comment on pattern names but I find the names of the Drops patterns to be so ridiculous and random in kind of an endearing way. It's always something like Rainy Moss or Mossy Rain or Sunny Day or Daily Sun or something like that. It's somehow always weather related, but I guess if they went with the approach of using women's names for their patterns I think they would probably run out already because they have about a million patterns on their website. But I'm just waiting for the day they release a pattern called something like Delicious Dinner or Fresh Coffee. Anyway, the Mossy Trail top is really similar to the Ocean Dream, but of course it doesn't have any sleeves and it also has a lower crew neck. And the same gauge and sizing applies here, but it's actually recommended for Drops Belle. An interesting thing to do for this sleeveless version specifically would be to maybe knit it with negative ease in mind because I feel like these vertical stripes would look really nice in a tightly fitted top. And every Drops pattern has a full schematic so it should be quite easy to adjust your size and select the look you're going for. And next I'd like to talk about a set of patterns from My Favorite Things Knitwear, which includes two tops and a skirt. And the pattern I'll start with is vest number 10, which is a button-up vest knit entirely in striped garter stitch and eyelet motif. And this has the potential to become a true summer staple and also a quick knit compared to our previous patterns because it's intended for 4.5 millimeter needles and a larger gauge. It's intended to have a really straight fit with around 5 to 8 centimeters of positive ease and it's knit top down with a really subtle shoulder shaping at the back. The recommended yarn combo here is knitting for olive merino held together with knitting for olive pure silk. And I feel like this is such an interesting combo because the silk will, of course, provide the softness and luster to this fabric, but the merino will really hold it in place for additional structure, which might be an issue with a pattern like this that is prone to stretching. Another option that would work great for this pattern is, for example, BC Garn's soft silk held double, and it would be a more drapey version of this vest, which will nonetheless be really beautiful and pleasant to wear in the summer. And there's a similar version of the top, which is a little bit different, mostly because it doesn't have a button band, and it's called the camisole number 11. It's knit in the same striped garter and eyelet pattern, but it has a boat neck instead of a crew neck, and it doesn't have stockinette edges. And otherwise, the same sizing and gauge applies here, and both patterns go up to 144 centimeters of the finished bust. The main yarn recommendations for the camisole are two strands of pure silk held together, or one strand of luxury silk from lambdanor. And to top it all off, there's also a matching skirt pattern called the skirt number two. The skirt is also knit in the same stitch pattern, and it has a stockinette waistband, which you knit and then attach an elastic inside of it, and fold it and sew it down to make sure that it's really nice and snug. And it's designed to sit tightly right below your waist, so when you choose your size, you need to go for a size that is basically the same as your waist measurement, which kind of accommodates for the negative ease if you pull it a little bit lower than your waist. It has a really stylish subtle detail of mock seams at the sides, and it can be knit to be as long or as short as you like. The sizing here goes up to 120 centimeters of finished waist measurement, which is also the same as your actual waist measurement in this case. And of course, this eyelet pattern is quite open, but you can also add lining to this skirt if you feel like the eyelets are too breezy for your liking. And to wrap up, I'd like to talk about a couple of scarf accessories, and the first one is the holly bandana by Suzanne Miller. And this pattern is kind of my personal favorite, I knitted it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a really simple triangular bandana or shawl pattern knit mostly in stockinette with a beautiful eyelet clover motif throughout. It's finished with an icord and also has an applied icord edge at the sides, but I would suggest going with the same modification I've made when I knit this and knit the icord seamlessly with the rest of the shawl. So to do this, you'll need to cast on two more stitches than instructed in the pattern, and also completely ignore the instructions for the edge stitches, instead knitting the three stitches at the beginning and end of each row as an icord. And to make sure that your icord doesn't stretch, I'd suggest switching to yarn over increases at the edges instead of make one, which is pretty tight and it kind of eats a lot of yarn at those edges. So just increase with a yarn over on the right side, and then on the wrong side purl the yarn overs without twisting them, and it will give you a nice stretchy icord edge, and it will save you a lot of time because you will not have to go afterwards and apply the icord. This pattern is intended for three millimeter needles and about 250 meters of fingering weight yarn, so for example Pure Silk by Knitting for Olive or Itoshimo, which is a nice merino and silk blend. This pattern comes in two sizes, which only differ in the amount of clover repeats you do before you switch to the stockinette panel and icord edge. And there's also a free pattern alternative to the holly bandana, and it's called Intermezzi bandana. It has an identical clover eyelet pattern and is knit in the same needle size with a really similar gauge and yarn recommendations, but the main difference here is that it doesn't have an icord edge, and the increases at the sides and in the center are made using yarn overs for additional lacy look. And although I will always love Suzanne Miller's patterns and writing style, I would have to say that maybe the Intermezzi pattern is a bit superior just because it also has a lace chart, while the holly bandana only has written instructions. And the last pattern in this list is something that I think would be a really convenient accessory to have on windy but sunny spring and summer days, and it's the Thelma scarf from Ingrid Dibb. This is a slim small scarf knit tip to tip in a combination of long lines of mock braid pattern and stockinette, and it also has an icord edge that is integrated into the pattern and you knit it at the same time as the rest of the scarf. It's designed for about 150 to 200 meters of sport or dk weight yarn, and it mostly suggests dk weight cashmere. One of the sample photos is knit in double sundae from sadnessgarn, and I also think that this scarf would be a really fun way to use up some leftovers of Lena or Drops Bell after a larger project. The scarf is mostly knit straight after the initial round of shaping, which is done at a sharp angle with increases, and then once you reach your desired length you start decreasing in the same manner. And this construction makes it really easy to knit on the go because you don't have to pay attention to the pattern too much after you reach the width you needed with your increases. It can become really mindless and really potato chippy because of the mock braid repeat, which is quite short, so you'll always want to reach the next one. And you might have noticed that this mock braid pattern is actually really similar to the ones in the Drops patterns I've talked about before, and Ingrid Dib also has a couple of designs that integrate the same stitch pattern in a really beautiful way. And this was actually the end of my little list, so I hope you enjoyed this video just as much as I enjoyed making it. And every pattern I talked about would be in a Ravelry bundle, which I will link below. If you like this video, please give it a like and consider subscribing for more. I would really love to see you here again for my future videos. And if you want to contribute to my future videos and support my channel directly, I have my PayPal linked in the description. And I wish you knitting sunny and warm days ahead, and I will see you in the next one. Bye!