Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Author: letissierdesigns

  • New Patterns

    New Patterns

    Have been pouring out of my head and onto my needles for the last few months. I have been taking time lately to get them written up and sent to test knitters as necessary! So I haven’t been much into writing lately – it sometimes feels like I talk (write) about the same old things, knitting, knitting, and maybe some knitting for a change! LOL!

    I hope that you continue to find that interesting.

    Being creative is both a blessing and a curse. Every creative I have spoken to seems to feel the same way. Ideas can abound and overwhelm you and then they can vanish like the sunset. Gone dark and beyond the horizon. I sometimes feel that if I stop and take stock of all I have done and work on the patterns that should be worked on, I might lose that idea, that creative energy, that lights up my mind at the most inconvenient time.

    I have been so busy over the last few months. Family and Home, Work and Friends all have needed tending. Myself I have been keeping on knitting as it keeps me sane. I have also been finishing – a lot – sometimes too much! I am trying right now to get caught up on some of the pattern writing.

    Fall always is my favourite time of year for a number of reasons! The colours of the foliage on the trees and bushes, the last lingering blooms, and the crisp bite in the air. I am invigorated and ready to take on anything!

    Below are a few of my new releases on Ravelry. They all deserve more than just a picture and some might even get more. We will see.

    Plumier I and Plumier II are the first installments of a new ebook – Shetland Fusion.

    Sundial Shawl is the completed High Summer KAL.

    Traveling Stole and Cables and Lace Hat are the result of a failed submission. I like the idea so much that I had it knit up anyway! LOL!

    Wolf Song is the first of three sweater jackets, all started about 2015 and now finally all coming together. They are meant to coordinate with the Spirit Toques!

    • Plumier I
    • Plumier II
    • Sundial Shawl
    • Cables and Lace Hat
    • Reversible
    • Traveling Stole
    • Wolf Song

    Have you been busy? What invigorates you in the fall?

    Be well and Knit Happy!

    Or simply be well.

    Lynette

  • Tomorrow, Tomorrow…..

    Tomorrow, Tomorrow…..

    Hello All! Tomorrow I release the first phase of the pattern for the High Summer KAL! I am so excited!

    I have decided to release the pattern in 5 pieces instead of 4 – the edging really is two different sections and is fairly detailed do I am separating that up! But nothing else has changed!

    Here is a sneak peak at one of the prizes!

    I am very fond of pretty, sparkly stitch markers and friend of mine, Joan Hoye, makes them for me! I have got her to make up a few sets just for this KAL! All of the markers are sterling silver and beautiful crystals – All in pretty garden colours – 2 Blue Austrian Crystals, 4 floral toned Swarovski Crystals and 1 each of a natural clear quartz and a natural green quartz stone. I found the perfect little pouch to put them in and they look like a bouquet of flowers!

    Prizes will be based on participation in the ravelry thread or facebook group or both – pictures, knitting or gardens, comments, questions, sharing and helping each other out! I am also on Instagram! Hashtag your pictures with #highsummerkal or #hskal or #sundialshawl or #letissierdesigns

    I hope that you are as excited as I am!

    Lynette

  • Knitting Alternatives

    Knitting Alternatives

    What do knitters do when they want to play with fibre but really don’t feel like knitting? I am primarily a knitter, but I can sew, but that isn’t quite the same is it? And I have dabbled at hand-dying yarns and hand-painting my knitting with dyes, two very different approaches to adding dye to your knitting. I love them both.

    Hand-painted after knitting – Garden Gate Shawl

    Hand-dying yarns is much faster to do, but takes longer to get to the finished product. Hand-painting your knitting with dyes gets you a finished product quite quickly, as you have already done the knitting! However painting your knitting takes longer to do than painting your yarn. For a quick fix – I like to paint my yarn!

    Two years ago I started to play at dying with Darlene – my co-worker and friend. She is an old hand at it and basically held my hand as I learned the in’s and outs. We worked with Wilton Cake Dyes – non-toxic – bright colours – inexpensive to play with and a hole lot of fun! Take a minute and google dyeing with Wilton Food Dyes – there are lots of great how-to instructions!

    We painted a sock blank and then we painted some hanks of yarn. I had some fine alpaca laceweight and then some fingering weight non-superwash merino, a good basic worsted wool and some mohair/silk blend yarn. Darlene had a similar collection.

    We had a ball!

    Alpaca lace weight – hand-dyed and then knit.
    Merino Sock blank knit into a small shawl called Shoulder Blade
    More Fruits of our labour!

    Why am I thinking about this now? Well, now that covid restrictions have been loosened, we are thinking of doing it again! Maybe with more traditional acid dyes this time! I will have to start collecting some undyed yarns to play with – stash diving here I come!

    I have already made a bit of a start – I do have a fairly extensive collection of undyed yarns – always thinking that I would do more knitting and then painting – there is never enough time in the year or all of my ideas! What do you think?

    Last time the alpaca went from undyed to Wow! I think that this time I will go for a more subdued sultry kind of vibe, reds with black and gold highlights maybe – or maybe not – dyeing is not a precise craft when you are learning – but we must have goals. I will need to wind off a couple of 100 gr hanks first though!

    I have about 1500 yds of the brushed cashmere and silk, I will need to wind those as well! I am really curious to see how this takes the dyes. Cashmere is usually a little subdued when dyed, but silk takes the dye vividly and glows. The combination is intriguing. I know the Mohair and silk, Maidenhair from Handmaiden will be gorgeous. I have painted this one in knitting many times! But I have never dyed it in the skein before. A good start don’t you think? What else should I try? Any suggestions?

    Well back to my knitting and it is also time for tea. I am going to try a new (to me) tea, It is Whittard # 12, English Rose flavoured black tea. I bought it this morning and when I opened the cannister! Isn’t it beautiful? I hope it tastes as good as it looks! The aroma is that of old fashioned blooming Summer Roses!

    Be well and knit Happy!

    Lynette

    PS – below is the hand-dyed version of the Celebration Shawl

  • On Competition

    On Competition

    Are you competitive? Have you participated in sports your whole life and love the “high” you get by participating and even winning? Or are you an observer, standing on the side lines and enjoying the movement and energy on the field? Until about 10 years ago I would never have considered myself competitive! But now I know myself differently. I have found that I enjoy the challenge of competition. My area of expertise is not the playing field however, it is in the area of design, knitting design. Offer me up a design competition and I am in there with needles flying.

    Who knew?

    In 2011 Vogue posted the Magic of Mohair design competition. A friend sent me a link and said I should try. Another friend printed out the information with a post it note and said I should try. And another friend….

    So I tried.

    Images from Vogue Early Fall 2011, images copyright Rose Callahan

    And I came in Second!. Which won me an interview and publication in a Vogue Magazine. I went on to publish for quite a few more issues of Vogue. Maybe you have seen them?

    • VK Winter 2011 photographed by Rose Callahan at Alina’s loft, Brooklyn, on Oct 18-19, 2011
    • VK SS12 photographed by Rose Callahan on Dec 7, 2011 in Staten Island

    And then the Buffalo Wool Company was looking for a design…. for a very special yarn, a 100% buffalo fibre threaded with a 24 K gold thread! limited amounts of yardage and a western theme – what could I do with those parameters? And so Yippie Ki Yi Yay! was created and submitted. And I won that one. Which lead me to become their in house designer for the next 5 or so years. And I made some wonderful friends to boot!

    Yippe Ki Yi Yay! knit with 100% bison yarn with a 24 K gold thread running through the yarn, embellished with 24K gold delicas

    While working for the Buffalo Wool Co, Which is owned by Ron and Theresa Miskin, there was a call to design, to create a “showstopper” shawl for Stevie Nicks to wear in an upcoming concert. Ron and Theresa ecouraged me to enter and helped me every step of the way! For the shawl Ron dyed 2,400 yds of Sexy, 50% buffalo and 50% silk laceweight yarn, in a deep blue/purple called Rhiannon, plus we ordered 20, 000 24K gold delicas and gold washed crystals. So with the yarn, beads and a couple hundred man hours later, Rhiannon was born. This was truly a show stopping piece. One that I could never repeat. One that was never considered, everyone has a different idea of “showstopper”!

    But for me, for us – it was perfect! It was seen at quite a few Stitches runways over the period of a few years. It was and is truly a showstopper.

    There was something of a break between this flurry of competition and there were a couple of others that I contemplated but never found the time to try until a couple of years ago. And it was a Kate Davies design competition for her new yarn Milarrochy Tweed. A fabulous fingering tweed in a wool/mohair blend! She was looking for hats to showcase her new yarn.

    It was the colour of the yarn, a glorious purple called Gloamin’ that pulled me in. Purple is my favourite colour, Roamin’ in the Gloamin’ was my Grandmothers favourite song, and so “Roamin’” was born. And it was one of the hats included in her book Milarrochy Heids.

    I am always looking for inspiration. I find in many places, images, feelings, comments and in calls for designs – the mood boards they include – and sometimes in the call to competition. To surpass the basic and look for the special, the unique, the unexpected and to rise to the occasion.

    Who knew! That competition for me was in the knitting needles, in the ideas in my head and hands and in the sharing of those ideas!

    How are you competitive?

    Be well and knit happy!

    Lynette

  • Summer Things

    Summer Things

    July 6th was our 25th wedding anniversary and the Covid restrictions loosened just enough so we could have our celebration in the back yard. My husband had been working on this event for almost 2 years, continuing to plan and hope all the way through Covid! Many of the original attendees plus family and friends all came for dinner under a couple of tents. It was a wonderful time. We were all so glad to be visiting and sharing the ours stories from the last 16 months. For many, especially our senior relatives it was their first time out in months!

    Then we went on a short trip to Kelowna in the Okanagan. We stayed at the Eldorado Hotel on the Lake and had an absolutely wonderful time. Swimming in the morning, reading or visiting in the afternoon and eating most of our meals on the Lakeside Boardwalk of the Hotel! The service was wonderful – there was a beautiful little cake waiting for us in our room! The room was comfortable and air conditioned – very important in the heat!

    Our second evening we went out to Mission Hills Winery for a special dinner on the Terrace Restaurant – wine and good food – what a fabulous pairing! I really love the Mission Hill grounds. Every view is beautiful and there is Fine Art everywhere. It was what artists call The Golden Hour as we were leaving – so beautiful.

    Their store is fabulous, full of unique items and of course wonderful wine. I purchased a new cookbook – Wine Lover’s Cookbook by Fiona Beckett It has great pictures (it has to have great pictures) and appears to have quite a few promising recipes. We also purchased some Rose for the wine rack.

    On Friday afternoon I did a Show and Tell at the Kelowna Yarn and Needle Craft Shop! The ladies and I had a wonderful time! I showed off some of my knits and told the stories behind the items. The ladies got to play with the samples and try things on. It was a win/win for us all. I hope to go back in a year or so and maybe teach a workshop.

    The only thing that we didn’t get to do was take a trip on the Kettle Valley Train. It was cancelled a few days before due to the high fire risk in the Valley, well all over B.C. right now. Sparks from the wheels and rails could ignite a fire! That will be a definite for next time!

    I am about a week away (maybe a little more) from finishing the Sundail Shawl. The extreme heat we had delayed its progress and did the trip to the Okanagan, but it is looking great! I am organizing the prizes and can hardly wait to get the High Summer KAL started. I have been collecting pictures of my favourite flowers and have ordered another colour of beads for the shawl. Well if my idea works there will be some more beads added to the shawl. As you know, beads are always optional!

    Be well and knit Happy

    Lynette

    PS The test knitter for Crystalline is working on the edging now! It won’t be long before it is released!

  • Directionality in Knitting

    Directionality in Knitting

    Did you know that knitting only moves in one direction?

    That you can only knit “up” even when you are knitting “down”?!

    When you are knitting you are creating both fabric and garment at the same time and the action of knitting takes “up” the yarn always in one direction. Your knitting will only frog in one direction, will only “run” in one direction and often will only allow you to design in one direction.

    The other day Greta, a friend of mine, asked why certain patterns were upside down when wearing them as a shawl. For example the butterfly pattern in my Covid be Damned Shawl. Why couldn’t they be the other way around?

    Unfortunately, that particular pattern that cannot be reversed, the lines that make up the shape of the butterfly only move in one direction. To make the butterfly right side up, we could have cast-on the stitches, knit the butterfly and then graft the stitches to the body of the shawl to make the butterfly right side up. This would have been a lot of work with certain drawbacks and not worth the effort. Most of the interesting patterns, especially ones with distinct shapes and line are literally irreversible.

    It can be easier to reverse the simpler patterns, but even they can be stubborn. I remember a young designer trying to make a simple sprig go the opposite way in her knitting as she wanted it to go “right” side up, but in the end she bowed to the knitting.

    I just went through the same kind of process.

    I wanted to knit a pattern that was representative of my feelings of shock, grief and sadness. The announcements coming out about the residential school properties and the bodies of the children they were finding were hitting me hard and I know that there is more to come. I decided on a top-down poncho, knit with a stitch that always had reminded me of tears. I wanted to knit the poncho top down and still keep the tear drop shape of the motifs, the stitch pattern did not co-operate. This pattern was a pattern that I could not reverse, after a day and a half of trying I gave up and went to a bottom up version of the poncho.

    The pattern immediately started to behave itself and it knit up in no time at all!

    Tears for the Children

    Knitting this pattern was a type of catharsis for me. I felt compelled by my emotions to knit this idea out. I stopped my other project for a moment (Sundial Shawl) and knit this out of my system.

    The announcements about the Residential Schools and the unmarked graves has hit me very hard. I am not a particularly political person or one who has strong opinions on most political topics, but this, this was very different. As a mother and now grandmother, the thought of my children or grandchild being forcibly removed from my care and culture was a gut blow. That this happened in Canada, my Canada, has really caused me to think and feel things that I had never before considered. I am humbled by our past and want our future to be better thought out and more caring of each other.

    Tears for the Children is the name of the pattern. It is free for all. There are links to donate on the Ravelry Page in lieu of payment. It is very little, but it is a start.

    Below are a couple of links if you are interested in learning more about this issue or donating to the funds to support the healing process for all indigenous Canadians. I am sure that there are more.

    Donate here for the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund.

    Donate here for the B.C. Residential Schools Survivors Society

    Be well, Be aware, Listen to the stories, hear the grief, help the healing.

    Lynette

  • High Summer KAL

    High Summer KAL

    It is too hot to knit! I don’t say that very often, but here on the West Coast we are experiencing an epic heat wave. Since I cannot knit I will tell you the story of what I am knitting and what images and imaginary place influenced the creation of this new shawl.

    My real garden in early June.

    I was planning on posting this blog on July 1st when I post the preliminary sign-up on Ravelry for this KAL But it can be early as I will need to be knitting to catch up on the knitting time that I am loosing to this heat. This shawl is for a KAL (knit-a-long) that I will be hosting starting Aug 1. I am working with Ancient Arts Yarns to create a fun and engaging time to celebrate the Summer and Summer Gardens! The yarn I am using is their Lascaux Fine, a yarn I fell in love with when knitting a couple of hats, Flat Iron and a new one coming up. This pattern will have options to keep you busy and allow you choices in the finishing. There will be prizes; yarns, stitch markers and a pattern or two. So….

    Starting Aug 1, come and join us as we knit a half pi shawl.   The Sundail Shawl will feature lace panels with floral motifs, some beading (all placed with a crochet hook) and a beautiful floral lace edging.  But the highlight of the shawl is the fair-isle garden that edges the bottom of the shawl.  This fair-isle panel will be reversible and there will be an optional sundial motif, also fair-isle, that is knit separately and then incorporated into the center bottom of the shawl.

    While this is not a true mystery shawl as you know the shape and theme of the motifs, the full shawl will not be revealed until almost the end of the knit – when we start the fair-isle section. The pattern will be released in 4 sections.

    I love looking at pictures of wilder gardens, usually English in style. I am not that kind of gardener. I plant, and hope that the object of my affections will survive my somewhat haphazard style of gardening.

    I have just created a Facebook group and forum thread on Ravelry for the KAL. I hope that you will share your progress photos and gardening pictures – your garden or the one you love the most.

    High Summer in my Fantasy Garden

    I love High Summer in my garden.  I can sit on the deck at the back of the house and contemplate the beds of beautiful flowering plants all in full bloom and vegetables all starting to ripen.  The fruit trees are laden with developing fruit.  My time and efforts are showing the rewards of hard work.  The scents in the air make me feel giddy!

    But my favourite spot in the Garden is at the back of the beds, close to the fence.  Beyond the flowers and sparkling fountains.

    There grow the oldest plants and vines, all started by the original owner of my home, a herbalist with an amazing ability to grow anything (some say she was a witch).  That area of the yard refuses to be tamed.  Right now, the roses are climbing over each other to outdo themselves with headily scented blooms.  There are brown eyed Susan’s and Queen Anne’s lace, fighting for space with Forget-me-nots, Poppies and Bergamot.  Under it all in the center of that garden is an old sundial, grounding the space to the passing of time.

    That sundail is special, it doesn’t show the passing of time. the enamel on the face is as bright as the day the sundail was put into the garden. It stays fast and true as teh garden grows around it. There is magic in that sundail. It spills up into the rest of my garden as I plant and tend. I can feel that my ancestress is working beside me willing the flowers and fruits to grow and flourish. Thank-you dear lady.

    Please join me and Ancient Arts Yarns as we celebrate the Summer. Share your favourite garden photos with us and of course your knitting progress.

    Be well and knit Happy!

    Lynette

    Dates to remember:

    • July 1 – preliminary sign-up for KAL – half price
    • July 8 – next level sign-up for KAL – 25% off
    • July 15 – sign-up for KAL – full price – $12.00
    • Aug 1 – KAL starts – first section of pattern is released
    • Aug 8 – second section of pattern is released
    • Aug 15 – third section of pattern is released
    • Aug 22 – fourth and final section of pattern is released
    • Sept 15 – Show-off date and official ending of KAL

    Places to be

    Instagram tags – #HighSummerKAL #HSKAL #sundailshawl

    Badges

  • Tri Leaf Moebius

    Tri Leaf Moebius

    Tri Leaf Moebius is the twelfth pattern in the Just Playing Around Ebook.

    The yarn is Schoppel-Wolle Cashmere Zauber, a lovely soft blend of merino and cashmere. The colour gradation is long and slow so that the lace pattern is not impacted by the colour changes, only enhanced.

    This pattern would look great in a solid. A soft alpaca or cashmere from your stash perhaps.

    A Moebius is a very entertaining knit. The cast-on and first round can be a little fiddly but the result is so worth it. The moebius shaping paired with a soft yarn creates an interestingly graceful cowl.

    The garden is growning and the flowers are blooming. The Poppy is done, as is the Clematis, But the Dianthus is blooming for the first time ever. I moved it from the front yard, where the deer ate every bud just before blooming, to the back yard where this year it is putting on a stellar show.

    • The guilty party – isn’t he handsome though! He lives in the lot next door a great deal on the time.

    Be well and knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • Have you ever…..

    Have you ever…..

    ….knit a moebius?

    What is a Moebius?

    Moebius Strip – from Wikipedia

    A Moebius is a mathematical concept discovered in the late 1800’s by two scientists working independently of each other.  Like the wheel, like knitting, it was it’s time to be discovered.

    Above is  Möbius strip made with a piece of paper and tape. If an ant were to crawl along the length of this strip, it would return to its starting point having traversed the entire length of the strip (on both sides of the original paper) without ever crossing an edge.  Wikipedia

    One type of Moebius – the scarf –  in knitting is often called an Infinity Scarf.  It can be created a couple of different ways.  The most common and easiest method of creation is by knitting a basic scarf and giving it a half twist before sewing the two end together.  Just like the piece of paper above.

    If you give the scarf a full twist it will no longer be a Moebius and it will just be twisted.

    And why is Cat Bordhi’s Technique so interesting?

    Cat Bordhi must have an amazing mind, to come up with such a unique cast-on and create a totally new way of looking at the way we knit!  Elizabeth Zimmermann once said that there is nothing truly new in knitting – new things to us are usually “unvented”, and just recently re-discovered!  Cat Bordhi truly “invented” something new and added to the body of work that is Knitting.

    The Moebius cast-on resembles a modified provisional cast-on; but is not provisional and becomes the two center rounds of your garment.  Like some cast-on’s, provisional or otherwise this cast-on is “un-tensioned” and requires patience for the first half of the round of knitting – the second half of the round is easy.  From the Moebius cast-on, like any other cast-on, a knitter can knit almost any kind of stitch and create a unique garment.

    Be prepared – each half of the curve is the mirror image of the other half.  For example; if every round after the cast-on is knit, one half of the moebius will appear as stockinet and the other half as reverse stockinet.  Because of this a reversible stitch is recommended for those knitters who want both sides to be visually the same.

    • River Moebius
    • Waves – Welted Moebius
    • Parquet Entre “Lace” Moebius
    • Victorian Grace Moebius
    • Tri Leaf Moebius
    • Cloisonne Moebius

    Cat Bordhi’s Collar Pattern – free pattern from Cat Bordhi

    Pop- Art Moebius – a free pattern of mine for Moebius.

    A long needle – at least 40″ – I like a 47″ – is required for the cast-on as you will be working with the needles doubled, circled around each other.  Each half round takes one half of the length of the needle.  In reality the round you are working with is only 20″ to 30″ long.

    As you knit the Moebius you will see the cords holding the two halves start to separate as each round takes them further from the cast-on and moves them closer to the final edge for cast-off.

    The moebius cast-on creates a unique shape that can showcase any type of stitch or knitting technique.

    Cat Bordhi did not limit her cast-on to infinity scarves alone.  She went on to create some amazing felted bowls and cat beds and other vessels – all starting with the Moebius cast-on.

    Once the books were out of print.  Cat Bordhi shared the cast-on on You-tube and made sure that it would not be forgotten. Cat Bordhi passed away Sept 19th 2020. I did not know her personally, but I “knew” her through her work. It was a great loss for all.

    If you have never played with this cast-on it is one that is worth exploring as it offers interesting possibilities for the adventurous knitter.  Not hard to do, just trust the instructions and try it out!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • Textured Tiles

    Textured Tiles

    Another hat for the Just Playing Around ebook.

    Not too difficult, just interesting enough to engage the mind. And a perfect pattern for any gender. Knit it in one of the bright bold colours that I love. One like the Reywa Embrace sample or knit it in a classic, naturally coloured wool, this hat will please anyone on your list. The yarn weight is DK, making the hat a lovely trans-seasonal choice, cozy on a cool evening any time of year.

    Cables and travelling stitches move up the garter stitch background, creating “tiles” out of the moving stitches. The garter stitch background pulls the hat down and shortens the body, if knit with a purl background the hat may become deeper. Let me know what happens if you try that out.

    Textured Tiles as shown is a slouchy toque, but a beanie option is also included in the instructions.

    I hope that you enjoy.

    Be well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

    Why not try working the hat in this eye popping Peony colourway.