Joy of Knitting!

2023 Theme

Lindsay Lewchuk Announcements Leave a Comment

Over the last few years, I delved deeply into a lot of techniques.  To celebrate 2023 joy of knitting theme, this year we’ll be revisiting some of favorites in new ways.  From brioche to lace, regular cables to slipped stitch cables over garter stitch backgrounds, keep an eye out for easy accessories, technique filled beautifully structured garments, and a couple of exciting collaborations. Without letting too much out of the bag, here a few a snapshots of what’s coming: Last year I fiddled (and fiddles and frogged and fiddled and tossed in time out and fiddled) a design in brioche that featured butterflies.  After designing a shawl with the final butterfly motif in mind, I knit up the “plain” shawl …

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 …

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 …

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.