The Patterns of Ron Schweitzer 

In 1998, the late Betty Lindsay, co-owner of Yarns International in Bethesda, MD, made a trip to Shetland. On that trip she met Oliver Henry of Jamieson & Smith. From that meeting came a partnership and the development of a new yarn, Shetland 2000 (now Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight), inspired by the traditional undyed yarns of Shetland. Betty knew that this special yarn needed special patterns to make it sell and she and her partner Bonnie Hassler commissioned patterns that would show off the yarn. 

 

Among the people she turned to was store customer Ron Schweitzer. He had been knitting Alice Starmore samples for the store and loved the intricate designs. In an interview in 2020, Ron described what happened, "...she kind of offhandedly said one day, 'Do you think you cold come up with some designs for this yarn?' And so I did." He went off and came back full of ideas. Nine were selected and these became the initial collection, Travel Logs. Ron continued to design creating over 80 patterns for Yarns International, incorporating the addition of naturally dyed colors to the line. Produced between 1998-2012, these patterns were not, until now, available in digital format.

 

Knitting Tales is pleased to be able to work with Ron Schweitzer to make these patterns available digitally. Each pattern comes with additional material to support contemporary knitters. This includes tips on yarn substitution, steeking, sizing, and reading the charts. Sign up for the newsletter to receive information on new releases. To see the patterns and for a link to buy on Payhip click below. 

 

• Travel Logs  (1998)

• The Chesapeake Collection (1999)

• Appalachian Portraits (2000)

• Postcards from Shetland (2003)

• The Celtic Nations (2004)

• Knits from the Northern Seas (2006)

• Elements (2007)

• Seasons (2008)

• Echos of Shetland  (2009) 

• Shetland Lighthouses (2010)

• Shetland Fishing Villages (2011) 

• A Visit to Shetland  (2012) 

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