This post is the edited transcript pulled from my 5 Free Top Pattterns video.
I have to regularly go through my Ravelry queue to keep it reasonable. It’s never really reasonable, I probably have more patterns in there than I can actually knit before I’m 93 but I found some amazing gems in my queue, and lots of them are free.
#1 Mariposa by Drops Design
This first one, Mariposa, is the first of two Drops Designs patterns. The puffed sleeves are so cute and the stitch pattern on them is repeated on the sides of the top. It’s a really cute detail. I love the shape of the sleeve and I love that it also has a stitch pattern on it.
The whole garment is worked top down, in the round and is available in sizes small to 3XL. It’s knit in a sport weight yarn, the Garn Studio Drops Safran is the suggested yarn, and it’s cotton. If I was going to sub for this yarn I’d go with another sport weight cotton, Paintbox actually has a nice cotton yarn in loads of colours. I love it in white but I’d have coffee on it within an hour of putting it on so I’d probably make it in a darker colour or maybe even a light brown, like the colour the coffee turns when it dries on a white shirt. That would be perfect for all my knits! Ok so this pattern is free on the Garn Studio website. So you can add it to your queue and projects on Ravlery and the pattern itself is on the Garn Studio website.
#2 Cascata by Filipa Carneiro
This next one has a cute little whispy sleeve like the Mariposa. It’s called Cascata and my favourite detail is this side panel! It’s lacey and pretty but since it’s a small part of the top it’s not overwhelming to knit. I also really like the drape of it and how comfortable it looks too! I would definitely knit this in a bright summer colour and wear it with my favourite jean shorts.
The suggested yarn for it is a linen flax blend in a DK weight and Ravelry suggested the Shibui Reed in my stash as an option, and I see loads of different DK yarns in the project pages – and there are over 800 projects of this pattern. I love when a pattern has tons of projects because it’s so nice to see it in so many different colours. It’s knit top down in the round with short row shaping. The pattern is available as a Ravelry download and is a well organized pdf. So number two is Cascata.
#3 – Cool Cropped Top by Paintbox Yarns
Ok so this one is my favourite in this list, even though I put it in the middle at number three – and keep in mind that this is a list of my favourites from a much longer list of patterns I love. This just looks so fun to wear and style and I think it will be really neat to knit. It’s the Cool Cropped Top from Paintbox Yarns. Just look – how fun is this?!
The front is pretty plain, with a simple tiny scoop neck and it has the cutest little cap sleeves. The real party is on the back and I am totally into it! The construction is neat. It’s knit in pieces and stitched together. The pattern is available as a very nice PDF download on the lovecrafts website. The recommended yarn for it is the Paintbox Metallic DK and while I’m sure pretty much any DK that gives you the same gauge will work out just fine, this metallic one is really pretty in this pattern. It’s pictured in a pink and gold speckled yarn called Pina Colada – and it’s gorgeous but I think I’d maybe do it in the red on red Sangria or the purple and blue Daquari colour. It’s actually a really fun way to use this kind of yarn. I’ll link everything, but this pattern, done in this yarn, is at the absolute top of my list the next time I buy yarn!
#4 Petronella Top by Drops Design
Number 4 is the second Drops Design pattern in this little collection and it’s so cute, it’s called the Petronella Top. The body is very simple and plain, so the knitting is nice to relaxing, but the lace details on the tiny sleeves and the bottom hem are adorable. This pattern is a great example of taking a simple idea and dressing it up so it’s special enough to knit and love but not so over the top that you wont get regular wear out of it. I’d wear this all the time! It’s knit top down (from mid back), in the round and you can see the raglan there as well, so it looks like it will be a fun knit too.
The recommended yarn for this top is the Drops Muskat, which is a 100% cotton DK. Again, I think any cotton DK would work out and in the world of cotton DKs, you can really find any colour you can imagine. I like the minty colour it’s knit in, but I think this top would look good in literally any colour. Whatever your favourite colour is will be perfect, and so would whatever cotton DK you already have in your stash. Just like with all the Drops Designs patterns I’ve seen you can add it to your queue on Ravelry but the pattern itself is on the Garn Studio website.
#5 – Kentia by Marie Amelie
And finally, number 5 is called Kentia by designer Marie Amelie and it’s so beautiful and at the same time so comfy. It has a relaxed fit with this amazing lace detailing at the yoke and I mean it’s not really just the yoke so I’m not sure it’s fair to call that a yoke design since it’s like 1/4 of the sweater but however you describe it, it’s stunning. It’s a little cropped, in my opinion the perfect length, but of course you can just keep knitting for it to be as long as you’d like it to be.
The lacey yoke with the plain body makes the drape so beautiful and just like with all knits you’ll wear often it can be styled up or down! I’d wear it with a pencil skirt to go out or with leggings to walk Nacho! It’s knit in light fingering and the suggested yarn is Madeline Tosh Euro sock, which would be stunning – and with almost 300 project pages, there are loads of options. Lots of people have knit it in fingering too.
It’s a top down, in the round construction with a chart for the lace. It’s a free download, with a very nicely organized PDF. I think this would look so good in either drastically contrasting colours like lime green and black or very subtly contrasting colours like a light pink and a peach. The lace needs to be shown off for sure whatever you pick. This is another that’s on my absolutely must knit list.
Ok so those are my five favourite free top patterns right now and I hope you love them as much as I do. I’d love to hear from you in the comments, which is your favourite one? Are they any that make you want to cast on right away? Because there are at least two in this list that make me want to toss all my responsibilities and knit them for myself this summer!
Three have PDFs and two are available on the Garn Studio website, you can save the webpage as a PDF and either print it or mark it up with your touchscreen like me.