Lucy Neatby - Tradewind Knitwear Designs -intro to Lucy
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Welcome aboard!
I am Lucy Neatby and a self-confessed fiberholic, hand-knitting designer, teacher, and former Merchant Navy Officer. Join me on a voyage of knitting discovery: my vessel is laden with a rich and precious cargo of knitting kits, patterns, ideas ...
and practical help for those requiring it.
Lucy Neatby

Knitting is a greatly under-valued art,
and many people do not fully realise its potential!

Compass

The simplicity of the equipment needed contributes to the myth of knitting as "nothing much": as with a scale of eight basic notes you can squeak out a ditty or compose a concerto, so it is with the 3 basic knitting manoeuvres: knit, purl, and yarn over - the sky is the limit...

I knit for the feel of it: there is little to beat the pleasure of handling a wonderful yarn with a good pair of needles, and magically creating a fabric. All of the yarns I use in my kits or one-off designs have to pass my high 'feel-good' standards.

Lucy A variety of surface textures, colours and styles of knitting within any one garment fascinate me, and I particularly enjoy getting the patterns to run seemingly unbroken across the side seams. This leads to separate charts for the front, back and sleeves as they are all different. Why not? Each stitch is individually created and this is the opportunity for hand-knitting to show its true distinction.

I enjoy trying to work in details that verge on the humorous, and although I take my knitting seriously, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't get a laugh or a puzzle from it. Surface decoration and finishing is vital to complete a piece. My knitting is preplanned to aid the best possible finish and to frame any surface decoration. There is much truth in the saying: "finishing is best considered before you even begin."

There are some luscious yarns produced by specialist yarn producers across Canada. I have been working with Shelridge Farm yarns to produce a range of knitting kits. Many of my kits contain lots of the bright yet subtle colours that Buffy Taylor hand-dyes her wonderful yarns. (I am pictured here in an array of colourful Shelridge Farm knitwear! - snug and warm for the voyage).

Just recently, I have begun to work with a wonderful local fiber artist to produce a line of fine yarns in cosmic colours under the "Celestial Yarns" label. Yet another knitting adventure ........... Lucy Neatby


About the Tradewind Logo

Flags The colourful flag logo for Tradewind Knitwear Designs is represented by the Marine Code and Signal flag codes for T, K, and D, all proudly flying aloft on knitting needles (what else!).
Back home hot     tamale socks and sextant.

TRADEWIND KNITWEAR DESIGNS
45 Dorothea Drive, Dartmouth, NS, B2W 5X4, Canada
All images and text Copyright © 2008; Lucy Neatby, Tradewind Knitwear Designs