Calla Lily Wrap by Carol Herman. Photo by Avi C. Dascaloff

Calla Lily Wrap

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Pattern Related, Q&A Leave a Comment

The next release in the Technicolor: Matinee eBook is Calla Lily Wrap by Carol Herman (aka Knit Equals Joy). I love Carol’s blending of highly textured sections with easy sections. Curiously enough we both picked the same pattern from the 4 to use and were both inspired by Katherine Hepburn! 1. Which came first, the movie or the design?  The design came first, based on the stitches our group of designers selected.  My original hope had been to come up with a colorwork design, but our choice of stitches ruled that out.  Once the design became concrete, it led me to think of Bringing Up Baby and other madcap romance/comedies of the 1930’s and ‘40’s. 2. Is your design something …

Steam Heat by Laura Patterson

Steam Heat

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Designers, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Pattern Related, Q&A Leave a Comment

The next release in Technicolor: Matinee is Steam Heat by Laura Patterson.  We may have totally different design processes, but one thing we do both love is jazz in movies… especially when sung by power-house singers! More about how this relates to Laura’s design in the essay section of Technicolor: Matinee ;-).   1.  Which came first, the movie or the design The movie. Actually, a set of movies came first. Starting with old black and white movies, and progressing to pictures that are much more current. Parts of each of these movies shared a feeling, a theme as it were, in a certain kind of scene. 2. Did the movie play a role in your yarn or yarn color …

Silvia Needs a Bag

Silvia Needs a Bag

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Designers, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Knitting Events - KALs, MKALs, UMALs, etc., Pattern Related, Q&A Leave a Comment

The next release in the Technicolor: Matinee eBook collection is Silvia Needs a Bag by pattern engineer, Christine Guest.  Christine’s designs fascinate me!  She incorporates such incredible detail scientifically proven to work together in beautiful artistry.  I’ve had a few peeks into her process and her pile of swatches to get everything perfect is mesmerizing!  I’m also privileged to be test knitting an upcoming release of hers, a men’s sweater, and am loving her attention to detail.  The care she takes to make sure patterning develops in a beautiful method even when doing something like increasing for a sleeve – wow!  But you’ll hear more on that a little bit later.  For now, Christine was kind enough to let me …

Fasten Off Yarnalong 2022 logo

Fasten Off Yarn Along 2022

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Fasten Off Yarnalong (FOYAL) 2022, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Pattern Related Leave a Comment

Happy social knitting days! This Christmas season I’ll be taking part in the Fasten Off Yarn-a-long (FOYAL) as both a designer and participant. If you’re new to the FOYAL, check out this link! The event kicks off tonight at 9pm (Nov 25) and runs through December 31st. The social side and games takes place on a dedicated discord channel and social media. This year, the FOYAL features 109 designers with over 4,300 total eligible patterns including 3,500 discounted patterns! Use code: FO2022 to save 25% off 25 of your favorite Knit Eco Chic designs. Code works on both Payhip and Ravelry and expires December 8th midnight EST.

On the Set close up

Technicolor: Matinee

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Designers, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Pattern Related Leave a Comment

Introducing Technicolor: Matinee, a collection of small knitting projects by 6 indie designers!  Over the past few years (I won’t admit exactly how many years this project has been going on behind the scenes), Jill Wolcott, Laura Patterson (Fiber Dreams), Christine Guest, Carol Herman (Knit Equals Joy), Sue McCain, and yours truly have secretly planned a two-collection set around the theme of movies.  Technicolor: Matinee, is the first in the set all focused on small projects inspired by some of our favorite films. Like previous collections the idea was simple – so often designers end up releasing patterns with similar stitches at the same time; what would happen if we did it on purpose?  This time, we added 2 twists …

Tassels

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Hems and Ends, How-Tos, Pattern Related, Q&A 2 Comments

Tassels and plant-based fibers can tend towards a bit of a love-hate relationship.  Love the look, but do they ever tatter quickly!  Without the natural felting abilities of wool and depending on the yarn twist, what looked lovely, can, after just one wash look like it was chewed to death by an active Great Dane 😉. Don’t fear there are solutions! The “ends” feature in the new release, Autumn Sense, in our Hems and Ends year showcases one very easy solution… Don’t cut the yarn… leave them loopy! Cut, bead, and knot – okay, I know this is fringe and not a tassel, but you can use it on tassels, too.  If going this route, you may wish to decrease …

Summer Hideaway Tank close up

Around the Arm Openings of Summer Hideaway

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Pattern Related, Q&A Leave a Comment

An interesting conversation came up during the testing / TE period of Summer Hideaway.  How can the same pick up around the arm opening result in the tank and sleeved versions having two different lengths on the schematic?  If the pick up stitch count is the same, shouldn’t the schematic be the same? It’s really a nerdy answer, but in short, the proof is in the pudding.  See the difference when they are laid one atop of the other? The reason is it isn’t just a matter of the pick up stitch count, it also depends upon what happens to those stitches after you pick them up. On the tank, the stitches are picked up and immediately bound off (loosely!). …

our concrete floor in maine

The Easy One

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Meanwhile in Maine, Pattern Related 2 Comments

A Meanwhile in Maine update Remember back at the beginning of this year when I started to struggle with the Meanwhile in Maine design and decided to put it aside and work on an “easy sweater”?  I’m happy to say that pattern release is right around the corner.  However, it proved anything but easy! My sample was finished and shot in April with a promised summer 2022 release agreement with the yarn company, Malabrigo.  But then my typical pollen fog never lifted.  It’s strange how God uses events in our lives for change and this sweater was one such atypical tool! After writing, rewriting, and finally drawing out each and every size in excel, I “thought” I’d cracked it.  The …

Floral Chic tip

Tips for Floral Chic

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Pattern Related, Q&A Leave a Comment

Creating petals and leaves in stitches was an unexpectedly fun experience, but also one with a lot of frogging.  So, as I travel the journey back through the process, here are some tips for you to succeed the first time through! Tip 1: picking yarn colors – check the grey scale. I asked Diane at Eco Stitch to pick out the colors for me with the caveat that they were 2 color families – I picked pinks or purples and green – and they were highly contrasting.  Here is what she surprised me with! Checking the colors out on grey scale reveals the amount of contrast between each color. When picking your colors make sure you have a contrast between …

circa 2013 - yep I was into intricate even back then!

How Does Your Garden Grow

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements, eco world, Into the Unknown (2022 theme), Pattern Related, Q&A, Stitch in Focus Leave a Comment

Stashing down for the move to Maine, I came across this beautiful skein of 100% cobweb weight linen yarn from a discontinued yarn company. It has been in my stash for years! And over the years I’ve tried to make several different design concepts from it. But nothing really stuck.