After a couple of years in production, I’m thrilled to finally be able to introduce On the Silver Screen. It was a mental puzzle that I eagerly dove into solving – how to take a scarf, On the Set, and convert it into a seamless sweater. More than once my dyslexia had me jumping through hoops, but in the end with lots of photos to remind myself of knitting orientation, the scarf became a garment of beauty to wear!
Glamour
One of the ways my fellow indies enable me to join these collections is through yarn choice. As animal-fiber-free in a woolly world, opting to pick a yarn company with a “Lindsay friendly” yarn was such a blessing. Malabrigo was generous to provide yarn support for a few of our designs, mine included. As soon as I knew my fiber in the collection would be silk, the little grey cells set “glamour” as a key word in the design. Harkening back to the late 50s and early 60s in Hollywood “glamour” was their focus, too. Luxurious, silky, soft, shimmery, fine, elegant, and warm all at the same time – the ideas began to percolate. Though the result looks little like any one particular outfit Katherine Hepburn wore in Desk Set, a lot of the design ideas were filtered through her wardrobe in that movie.
A Peek Inside… Literally.
Two of my favorite features of this design are actually hidden inside – an interior belt loop and a slit cover. When I first tried on the wrap sweater, I was annoyed at how the slit showed my skin. First, I thought of turning it into a faux wrap and just seaming the tie in place. But that meant a very awkward dressing experience of having to step in (or pull over) the immovably structured piece. I twiddled and twisted all sorts of solutions to force the tie filling the space perfectly, but since I’m not a mannequin as soon as I moved some skin showed. Then lightbulb and the slit cover. This little piece of fabric prevents any skin from showing while allowing human movement and not making the wrap a faux wrap!
The interior belt was also a functional design choice. Silk is slippery! So, to help the tie stay around the back at the waist, the interior belt was designed. This little addition also helps prevent the tie from twisting and bunching by providing a “you go here” solution.
Slip Stitch Edge Stitches Hard at Work
Transforming scarf to tie without seaming uses one of my all-time favorite tricks – slipped stitch edge stitches. Perfect for working into, multiple times when needed, the fact they lay slightly on the back gives a truly smooth finish to the front of the work where it joins to the sweater. Inside the pattern is a graphical diagram of how to work the required number of stitches into the different slipped stitch edge stitches. Here’s a sneak peek.
Faux Seams
Seams provide structure that is essential to any well-fitting garment as well as guidelines for blocking. But as you know I HATE seaming. So, the faux seam detail provides some structure and those needed blocking guidelines while skipping the hours seaming.
Plus, they’re pretty!
Enter Cameramom
“On the Silver Screen” went through a couple of shoots. Camera mom was most patient with me, especially with shooting the tutorials – “oh shoot, mom, I need a picture of this before I add the sleeve” while yarn is out and ready to be cast on 😉. We shot both the sleeveless version and about 2 months later (I am a SLOW knitter) the sleeved version at Price Lake on the Parkway. Beautiful late winter and early spring days created glassy water so clear you could have used it as a screen and projector!
Camera dad pitch hit for one of the tutorials, too.
Color
A huge shot out to the testers who came with such different colors than my theme monochrome and vibrant combination. Since it was tested back in the summer, most opted for the sleeveless version. Tanya used the sleeves as a jumping off point to create her own cap sleeve version.
Thanks to them you can also see the design in a variety of yarns and fibers:
Bekeren Gazzal Wool Star
Choi Cotton-wool blendedTanya Scarf: hikoo by skacel cobasi Body: jubilee soft & slim
Kim Knit Picks Stroll Fingering – Navy – MC Madelinetosh Merino Light – Mindful – CC
Adriana Gloss fingering weight of knit picks and Stroll fingering weight of knit picks
Renata Pure Silk from Knitting for Olive and moher from my stash
4mama2008 Lana Grossa Ecopuno
Christina Shibui Knits Koan (70% linen, 30% silk). Colors: Tar (body) and Apple (scarf)
Tanya Scarf: hikoo by skacel cobasi Body: jubilee soft & slim
Technicolor: Movie Night
Buy your copy today here on
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Ravelry – https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/technicolor-movie-night
Technicolor: Movie Night includes 2 patterns from each of the following 4 designers – Carol Herman of Knit Equals Joy, Christine Guest of Christine Guest Designs, Sue McCain, and yours truly. Each week (starting the 17th due to a Ravelry hiccup), the price of the pattern will increase. However, regardless of when you purchase, you’ll receive the entire eBook of 8 patterns! This week the eBook is $33.33.