If you’re a fan of our Facebook page, you may have seen our post about the fabulous Tionne Pullover by Lee Meredith a few weeks back. It’s so unique and versatile that it seems like there should be another word besides pullover to describe it. We’re delighted that Lee agreed to give us some great insights into how she came up with the design, and how Kenzie turned out to be the perfect yarn choice. Of course, we couldn’t agree more!
Be sure to read to the bottom of the blog post. We’ve got a fantastic giveaway of the yarn to make the design!
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I’ve been professionally designing accessory patterns for over 7 years, so I was pretty excited when, near the beginning of this year, I had a brainstorm for a sweater pattern concept that I thought I could handle, with zero previous garment design experience. I had very little experience even knitting sweaters (I’d only knit one!), but this idea was boxy and without shaping, and relied on design elements that I did have lots of experience with, from my accessory designs: modular construction, any-gauge adaptability, stripes going in different directions, and flexible wearability. I got kind of obsessed with turning the idea in my head into a pattern, and after writing out a draft and making a prototype in bulky yarn, I felt confident that this idea would indeed become my first garment design!

So, once I was sure I was going to complete and self-publish the pattern, I needed to choose a yarn for my sample sweater. I decided I wanted to use worsted weight, ideally a yarn on the lighter side of the worsted spectrum. Like I mentioned, the design is for any gauge, so you can actually use any weight yarn – I figured a light worsted is a good kind of middle-weight for a big pullover sweater. Knitters can make their own choices, but I wanted to present the sample in a yarn that was a really excellent fit for the pattern, of course! So I looked around at what I had in my studio already, and I spotted a couple skeins of Kenzie that I’d bought at my LYS because I loved it, but it hadn’t yet found a project…
I swatched with it, and yes! It was perfect for this sweater! Cozy, drapey, soft but durable, tweedy, excellent. Yarn was chosen, now I just needed to pick my colors. Oh colors, always a tough decision!
Skacel sent me a color card, so that helped – well, actually it kind of made the decision harder, since all the colors were so great in real life! I was tempted to make my sample with more colors, just so I could use more, since I loved them so much… but, I didn’t want the colors to overwhelm the design of the sweater, so I decided to stick with just two. I spent about a month (!) thinking it over, making this colored-in sketch in all the different combos I was considering:
I finally landed on Malbec for the main color and Boysenberry for the contrasting stripes.
I am so happy with my choice – I love how the finished sweater turned out!! After knitting my sample, finalizing the pattern, and having it test knit by several fabulous knitters, my first garment pattern,
Tionne, was released to the world at the beginning of November!
Skacel has generously offered up a sweater’s worth of Kenzie to one lucky winner! Seriously lucky, because trust me, Kenzie is an AWESOME yarn! I had a fantastic time knitting with it, and I’ve been wearing my soft, cozy sweater all the time since I finished it. Love it SO MUCH!!
Want to win the yarn to make Tionne? Check out
the gorgeous colorways on the Skacel site and leave a comment here with your choice of the two you would use! Deadline to enter is Friday, November 20th at 12 pm PST. Good luck!
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Published by skacelknitting
The Skacel Collection has been supporting Local Yarn Shops as a wholesaler of high-end yarns and needles for over 30 years. We have created this site, as a resource for knitters everywhere to learn more about our lines, and connect with Local Yarn Shops in their area who stock our products.
Skacel is proud to be the sole North American distributor for the addi Turbo® line of hand-knitting needles and accessories, the Zitron, HiKoo®, artfelt®, and Schoppel yarn lines, and is also home to Skacel Buttons. As a family owned and operated entity, we strive to provide top-notch customer service, world-class products and cutting-edge designs.
Our facility is located just south of Seattle, Washington, in the booming Ikea Commercial District.
View all posts by skacelknitting
Awesome sweater.
I’d have to go classic: Oceania and Seal
My color choices are #1027 Takahe and #1018 Seal. Thank you.
I would use Oceania and Takahe. Beautiful sweater design!
Lupin and Tekapo would be my choices, a little more subtle
Congrats Lee on your first garment pattern! I’m excited to knit this one. I think it would look terrific in Lupin and Seal. Thanks for hosting a giveaway!
Malbec and Seal. I get what you’re saying about the colors. They all look awesome!
It would be so hard to choose two colors! Maybe Peppered and Gray Salt, or Gray Salt and Boysenberry…
Kenzie looks like a beautiful yarn. I’d use Ruapehu and Wombat to combine an earthy brown with sky/sea blue. It’s a relaxing combination, but not dull at all.
I love the colors she chose of Malbec and Boysenberry! I love the yarn!
Glacier & Boysenberry
Absolutely beautiful design and one of my favorite yarns! Oceania and Kea would be stunning!! Thank you for a great pattern and thanks to Skacel for the yarn!
Congrats Lee! Your first garment design truly looks intriguing 🙂
And that yarn looks simply amazing. Thank you, Addi for the opportunity to win it.
I think I need more color in my knit-life and say either beetroot and kiwi fruit combo or boysenberry and Elegan
Elegant and Malbec…drama!
What gorgeous yarn. How to choose just 2 colors? I guess I’ll say beetroot and kea but that was on a coin toss because there are just too many beautiful colors
Great colours and great names – and great sweater! I’d make it in:
Takahe and Tekapo
I can’t wait to make this sweater! I would do it in Malbec and Tekapo!
Wombat and , , , um, Kumara? Yes, loud. but the design doesn’t look like a sweater for a shy person. I like things that can be worn in various ways, but have never seen a pullover that could be worn either side up. (a jacket once.) Congrats Lee, on a great first!
This sweater is such an interesting design, I’d love to give it a whirl. I’d love to make it with the solid being Hokitika, and Elegan for the contrast stripe. I’d probably pick up a couple of skeins of Boysenberry to add a few extra pops of color, because this looks like it’d be such a great statement in acid brights, perfect to fight off the dreary greys of winter.
Hi, I reckon that Lee is a genius!
Pavlova and Kumara would be my choices, I hope to try them as soon as possible 🙂
I love 1022 & 1024 together, reminds me of the ocean
Tionne pullover looks like an awesome project. The Kenzie color choices are endless. My first and sceond choice combinations are Peppered and Lupin, and Wombat with KiwiFruit.
I would choose kumara and ruapehu. Such a neat design!
Too difficult! Chose Tamarillo right away, but the second…hm. Going with Beetroot.
Grey salt and boysenberry
I would like to use Lupin and Kiwi Fruit for this sweater.
So many great colors! I think I might choose Hebes & Boysenberry.
Love the pattern and the yarns. What a great combo. I would probably pick Tasman and takahe or Tasman and manuka. I am suc h a green lover.
Congratulations on the first sweater. It’s fantastic. Love all the colors. Difficult to choose just two. Could see many combinations, but love the idea of Elegan and Wombat.
Great pattern! I’d probably choose Saddleback and either Pavlova or Collingwood.
Collingwood and Kale would look awesome….but there are so many amazing color combinations that it’s difficult to choose only two!
Elegan and Oceania
So many pretty colors! I closed my eyes and poked my finger at my monitor and came up with Boysenberry & Tekapo. ❤ Kia Ora!
Beautiful pattern. Lee is always a genius, I’ve been following her since her “lethal” designs. Very intriguing. Mychoice would be Glacier and Hebes.
asteride on Ravelry
I love all of her designs! ❤ I'd go with Tasman & Hokitika.
I love the colors, but pressed for a choice, I’d go with Oceania and Glacier.
What an awesome design. Congrats to you:). I love Hokitika and Glacier.
I’d choose Peppered and Tekapo.
Oh, there are so many great colors! But I would go with Kiwi Fruit and Wombat. Congrats on your first sweater design!
Bayberry and Seal! But there are a lot of great options.
I would pair Glacier with any colour-but let’s start with Tamarillo. The design would look great with either as the main colour. Intriguing!
Cannot put enough vowels in how much I loooooooooooove those colours. Hard to choose, but definitely Elegan and Tekapo
Malbec and Lupin for me! I love the fresh look of this pattern!
Ruapehu and Kale would look awesome together. imho.
Cute sweater – I would use Glacier and Hokitika too!
As many have said, the choice is quite difficult…but I picked Hokitika right away–I love blues…then I’m not sure whether to go with another blue, a purple or…I finally picked Kumara; I think the combination would be really sharp…and I’m just a beginner knitter so this looks way more ambitious than my ability–but why not try it? ^_^
Boysenberry and Seal are calling to me! Love the sweater!
My choice is Elegan & Tamarillo.
Love this unique pattern. I like the original color choices of Lee in Malbec and Boysenberry. Lee is such an awesome designer. Thanks Sacel for the giveaway!
Boysenberry a do tamarillo. I love the interesting use of stripes.
I would use peppered and lupin.
Beautiful pattern! Hard to pick just two from all the beautiful colours ! My combination would be: #1007 Kiwi fruit and #1029 Hebes.
Hard choice, but I like Grey salt with Boysenberry. gwal on Ravelry
I would have to go with the Malbec and Boysenberry, too. What beautiful bright and vibrant colors
Awesome sweater. I’d use Hokitika and Elegan with maybe a contrast stripe or two of Boysenberry.
I would use Takahe and Malbec. great design!
Possibly Wombat and Grey Salt but there are so many beautiful colors I don’t exactly know!
Collingwood
Ruapehu
I like Tasman and Kumara. That combo seems like it would give people vertigo if they stared too long…love that thought!
I would like 1018 Seal and 1027 Takahe. Thank you. Linda
Lee was totally spot on with the colors she chose for her Tionne. Gorgeous! Malbec and Boysenberry are colors that I always gravitate to in a heartbeat, so I’d have to go with those. Thanks for the fun giveaway!
It was a hard choice a lot of great colors – I finally decided on Hokitka and Grey Salt
Glacier and Grey Salt…although so many combinations would work great.
Lmecoll on Rav
I’m going to have to be a copycat and say I love the original choice of Malbec and Boysenberry. The colors just looks so rich together.
I’d love to see the sweater knit up in lupin and grey salt.
So many choices! I think I would try Beetroot and Pavlova.
I think bee trot and Kiwano would look nice together! Pretty sweater!
Tasman and Tekapo
Oh,the sweater is lovely !
I´d like to knit it with Tamarillo+Baxberry
Happy Knitting
Patricia
I love bright, cheerful things. It’d be Hokitika and Elegan for some contrasty awesomeness!
I would use Takahe and Tamarillo
I would use peppered and grey salt. Souns tastey
I think I’d go with Lamington and Saddleback. Brown is my favorite.
My choices would be Boysenberry and Tasman. Beautiful design!
Mine would be Ruapehu and Seal or Beetroot and Kumara
Grey Salt and Takahe would be lovely,
Kiwano and Kea
I prefer Elegan and Kea.
I’m going for Oceania and Beetroot, and it took me forever to decide among the beautiful colors.
I would go with Elegan and Tekapo. The bright green with a dark teal would look awesome. They’re all some Great looking colors though! 🙂
My preferred are seal (1018) and lupin (1028), I think they will be nice together.
It’s hard to choose! But I like the brightness of Ruapehu and Hokitika.
I would pick grey salt and beetroot, I think that would look fantastic. I love the sweater pattern!!
I’d love to use Grey Salt and Ruapehu
It would have to be Malbec and Seal. Great sweater!
This would look amazing in Wombat and Ruapehu
takepo and grey salt
Love this sweater! I cant say it enough I LOVE this sweater. I would pick Takahe and peppered