Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Blog

  • Every Cloud…

    Every Cloud…

    … Has a Silver Lining!

    Right now, as we are looking for the light at the end of this Covid tunnel and only finding deeper gloom, we need to hold on to the good things that we know are there! We need to hold on to our own Silver Lining!

    I think that the silver lining for most of us might be time. The extra time we have at home while we are not doing the busy things that we usually do.

    Time to reconnect to our families from work and home. Our extended families as well. Many of us are getting in touch with those that we have lost contact with.

    Time to rediscover our hobbies – those that we maintain or those that we have revisited (my bread baking skills are much improved!) now that home is our remaining haven. And the things that we do in our homes.

    My haven is knitting! Always has been! It got me through a bad marriage and a worse divorce, it was my sanity as a single mom going back to university, it helped me deal with the death of my mum and myriad other life experiences. So I knit!

    Knitting is helping me deal with Covid – in the most positive way I can. Making things helps occupy my mind so I do not dwell on the things that I cannot change!

    Covid Be Damned was my first response. The happiest colours, a rainbow of course, and 10,000 of the most sparkly beads.

    And right now the Serenity Wave KAL. Calming colours and a few less beads, and wavy repeating patterns.

    And in progress as well are many hats and accessories in 7 Hats More. Lots of quick gift knits, Lots of finishing, lots of satisfaction – again keeping mind and hands busy.

    So, on Thursday, I released,

    Every Cloud… the third hat in the 7 Hats More collection. It is knit with Milano, a light as air Merino/Cashmere blend fingering weight yarn.

    Every Cloud… is a lace patterned hat embellished with silver lined beads and topped with a little bead pom-pom. It is lined with a bright white to make the patterning pop!

    Right now I am knitting a pair of gloves for 7 Hats More. I haven’t knit gloves in a couple of years – it is time.

    These are the Mendenhall Gloves, very much still under construction. Lace, beads, a slouchy long cuff, they are going to be so elegant. They will have a hat and small shawl to co-ordinate with them, and even though this is a hat book – I feel that these glove are the feature item of the Mendenhall collection, not the hat! Sometimes the accessories are the most fun to knit. They are already my personal favourite item from the collection to date – and I haven’t even finished them!

    I love gloves. Yes – they are a little fiddly to knit – but they fit! I have broad hands and short fingers and no commercial glove has ever fit me. I make all gloves to fit my hand. They simply make me feel well dressed.

    There is something so elegant about gloves, even the most basic. They look great, keep your fingers warm and in me evoke thoughts of the classic fashion photography of years gone by… When no elegant dresser was seen without a pair of gloves – women or men!

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • A Busy Weekend

    A Busy Weekend

    It all started with a glorious Saturday morning walk at Piper’s Lagoon Beach. In front of us we saw the sun rise through the low clouds and spill across the Georgia Strait and behind us the moon was bright full above the ridge line. The birds were singing on the branches and the mist was low across the lagoon. It was so calm and quiet that even the waves meeting the shore were only marked by the low sibilance of the pebbles moving against each other beneath the lazy waves. It was a powerfully relaxing time that set the tone for the day.

    …. And the day just kept getting better.

    Some weekends, usually the quiet weekends end up being special nowadays just by being quiet. There were no plans, just what I felt like – which was – you guessed it – knitting, pattern writing or something to do with knitting!

    I worked on patterns. Got some good photo’s of some of the hats on Elise just as the store was opening, knit a little, maybe knit a lot, and basically had an awesome quiet day at home!

    Today, Sunday, is a little different. My morning has been full, I finished the small sample for Textured Toppers, my next release for 7 Hats More. I also finished adding the final small notes to the pattern. I am making split pea soup from a ham bone for my lunches this week. And I am planning on making a roast chicken for dinner – with stuffing etc. – a tune up for next Sundays’ Turkey – I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is almost already here! And Tom requested a Pineapple Upside Down Cake – so I will be baking as well.

    I still need the front page for 7 Hats More and I will need to start a Table of Contents as well. That is this afternoon’s task, in between the other things.

    I released 7 Hats More on Thursday Oct 1 as planned. It was a very quiet release. But I was happy. Tomorrow morning I am going to release the second pattern, Textured Toppers, and suddenly my ebook is no longer a single pattern it is now becoming a small book. A book that will grow every 4 days with a new pattern until there are over 20 patterns! This is so exciting! Which is why I now need a Front Page and Table of Contents!

    Meet the Toppers – a family of chunky knit hats and my next release for the 7 Hats More ebook. Textured Toppers in 4 sizes! I love embellishments so they all have Pom-poms but you could leave them plain or add a furry topper or a tassels or a button or whatever you can think of. They are fun and quick to knit! The baby version took only 2 hours! Not including the pom-pom, that took another hour!

    Soup is done so I have lunches for the week, the cake is out of the oven and the chicken is ready to go in, Time to relax with a little knitting. A full and satisfying day! I hope that you had just the kind of day you wanted as well!

    Be well and knit happy!

    Lynette

  • New Toy!

    New Toy!

    This weekend my fathers toaster died. It was old and it needed replaced. Well I took that as a sign.

    I had been wanting a convection toaster oven for myself for a while and it really wasn’t high on the “list”. But now – I could take my toaster downstairs to my father (he lives in a suite in my basement) and get that toaster oven for myself. And so I did!

    First thing I decide to make is Yorkshire pudding (something as finicky as Yorkshires should be a good test of the oven) to go with the supper roast beef! I had always make the Yorkshires while the roast sat. That made the timing never quite right. My husband was aghast. He loves Yorkshire pudding – what if it didn’t work!?

    It was a little tricky. The toaster oven doesn’t hold the heat as well as a regular oven and when I turned the heat down the Yorkshires all fell! I wasn’t happy, but I put the temp back up immediately and was relived to see them all slowly rise again and brown! So the oven will really cook just about anything that I want it too! I will need to take a little time to get to know its quirks, but I think that it was a good addition to my kitchen.

    I finished the tenth hat for 7 Hats More. This one is called Every Cloud… . It is a lined lace and beaded slouchy and I am very pleased with it. It has a lovely little bead loop pom-pom that just finishes it beautifully.

    It was my Grandson’s birthday this weekend. We drove up to Campbell River and had a lovely visit. In these Covid times everything seems a little more poignant as every visit seems that much further apart. My grandson and I played a little in the garden and I admired my daughters sunflowers and collected some acorns.

    It was a quiet visit, not rushed, yet I cherish these moments all the more now. He is growing so fast.

    Be Well and Knit Happy

    Lynette

  • …7 Hats More

    …7 Hats More

    One hat, two hat, three hat, four. Five hat, six hat, seven hat more.

    So about a month ago I designed this hat. And then I designed another hat and all of a sudden I had designed 7 hats and had more in my brain that were begging for release…. So why not create an e-book to hold all of these ideas and here we are! Above are the first 9 completed hats – two more are already under construction and the third is still to be started.

    It is not just going to be a hat pattern book. There are going to be some coordinating accessories. Some of the hats will be stand alone projects, single size and no accessories. Some hats will be sized to fit the whole family. Some hats will come with a slew of accessories and some will come with only one accessory! There will be 12 hats in 7 Hats More and currently an unknown number (eight and counting) of accessories.

    There are hats in almost all yarn weight catagories:

    • 2 hats in fingering weight
    • 1 hat in heavy fingering weight
    • 1 hat in sport weight
    • 1 hat in double knitting weight
    • 2 hats in worsted weight
    • 1 hat in aran weight
    • 2 hats hat in chunky (bulky) weight
    • 2 hats in super bulky weight

    There are all all kinds of techniques to choose from, slip stitches, mosaic stitches, lace stitches, cable stitches, stockinette stitches, fair-isle stitches and one hat with beads. Two of the hats are lined, one hat is knit with fingering weight yarn plus a laceweight mohair – there will be something for every interest!

    The accessories planned include a cowl, a small shoulder shawl in worsted weight, fingerless mittens, full mittens, and a few other, yet to be decided options!

    I am so excited! 7 Hats More initial release date on Ravelry is only 5 days away, Oct 1. I am going for a gradual release of the hats over a nine week period, a hat or accessory every 4 days or so.

    These patterns will be available on their own or in the book. So why a book if I am going to sell the patterns separately? Because a book gives you the opportunity to have the all the patterns for a much lower price than the separate cost of each pattern. I know how frustrating it can be to want only one pattern from a book so I am planning on alleviating that particular stress.

    The patterns themselves will range from $4.00 to $6.00 US and the book will be $24.00 US. For the first two weeks of the 9 weeks of releases the e-book will be available at $18.00, a 25% discount 😀

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • Closing the Center Line of Serenity

    its a little rough but you will get the idea I think.

    Well, neither myself or Angie will win awards for our attempt at a video, but I think you will catch the idea of how the short-row attachment works on the center spine. You may have to turn up your volume I don’t think the volume on my phone was set high enough :).

    What you are doing is continuing the spine pattern up between the two sides of the center, attaching 1 stitch from either side of the center pattern to either side of the spine to the edge of the “spine” pattern. On the right side using a SSK and on the wrong side a P2tog.

    I decided to upgrade and get video capabilites as I could have used it in the making of Covid and will be using in at least one more time in this project!

    I do hope it helps!

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • As Serenity Progresses

    It has been a very busy Summer – covid has changed everything and anything!

    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/serenity-wave-kal

    I started a new KAL – designed to be a Serene experience, an escape from the stresses of our current life – Serenity Wave KAL. If you want to know more about the shawl please take a look! It is never too late to start. We are a friendly group and there will be lots of conversation and prizes!

    We are are a little over 2 weeks in and I am a little frazzled as the first thing I did was throw out my back! But we are back on track now! So I am working towards Serenity!

    We have just started the second section! And there is lots of knitting left to do. We have lots of time so if you are looking for a little serenity,,,,,

    In the meantime I have published a few patterns and I am working on an e-book of hat patterns and small accessories! More on the e-book later.

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • Serenity Wave KAL

    Covid has hit us all in different ways. How we cope has been different for us all as well. I cope by knitting and designing things that keep my mind occupied and my hands busy. I have taken a few others along on my distraction journey by creating a KAL with my first attempt at distraction – Covid be Damned or the Impulsive Shawl. For this I picked the happiest coloured yarn I owned and a variety of beads and patterns and just started knitting. I am actually planning the next distraction!

    Covid be Damned or the Impulsive Shawl

    I am creating a new KAL – the Serenity Wave KAL.

    This KAL is designed with relaxation in mind. There will not be anything too drastic in shaping, or anything too difficult in terms of the lace sts chosen. I am hoping that we can relax and go with the flow as we work our shawls. The stitch patterns will feature flowing lines with intriguing shapes.

    Think of your idea of a serene colour or colourway and pull those colours together for this shawl

    Dimensions are approx 22 by 62 inches – most likely a little larger. Dimensions will be updated as the shawl is created.

    This is not a mystery KAL. The shawl is a long oval shape and can be knit with 1 yarn or three different yarns. All yarns are fingering, light fingering or heavy lace weight.

    Beads are always optional but if you are using beads you will need approx 3000 beads size 8/0 plus approx 100 larger drop style beads (I am using leaf shaped beads) for the edging.

    There is a thread in my Ravelry Forum about this KAL. There are sketches and links to beads in the discussions.

    The Serenity Wave KAL starts Sept 8 and runs until Nov 18.

    There will be prizes, support and conversation. This is intended to be fun and if not totally easy at least not so difficult as to cause hair pulling.

    If you are looking for an interesting knit amongst friends please join in the fun.

    Be Well. Live and Knit Happy.

    Lynette

  • …And Flying Fingers

    Why flying fingers?

    My hands are in constant motion. I knit or sew with my hands, cook or bake with my hands and quite often talk with my hands! I don’t know what I would do without my hands. Their works have created much of the world that surrounds me.

    What about you? Are you a “handy” person?

    Some of the things that I have made with my hands;

    • Lizzie’s Hap
    • Celebration Shawl – created to celebrate 20 years of working at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns.
    • Needs a name.
    • Italian Almond Chocolate Cake – flourless – something new I tried.
    • Jazz Hands wearing C.C. Snugs – I wished that my hands looked so good.
    • My best pie ever – Rhubarb from the Garden!
    • Garden Gate Shawl – Designed, knit and then hand-painted with dyes.
    • Tea Cozies are my “toys”. They are entertaining to knit and keep my tea warm.
    • Rhiannon’s Cloak – 20,000 + beads and a labour of love.
    • Not technically my creation, but my Grandson has been my inspiration for many of my knits in the last 4 years.
    • Sometimes I dye my own yarn.
    • Sometimes I sew my own clothing.

    My hands don’t always create what I want them to, sometimes they fail. But the failures shape my world as much as the successes.

    Waterfall Pie – todays effort – not quite as expected and I have company for dinner – life at work.

    Sometimes you just have to laugh at what life sends your way.

    Be well. Live and Knit Happy.

    Lynette

  • Of Larks and Linnets….

    When I was about 11/12 years old I was living in Kaula Lumpur Malaysia. It was 1970 and it was a very interesting year in my life. I learned a great deal about being a Canadian. There is nothing like leaving your home country to discover that you do have a home country!

    The humble wren singing its heart out – one of my favourite birds. It sings all year round here and I feel happy when I hear its song.

    While I was there I met a very interesting French Woman. She had been living in Malaysia for a number of years and had many stories to tell. I am sorry that I don’t remember her name. I do remember that she was older and had this wonderful accent and I loved listening to her talk. She called me Alouette. She thought that my name was simply wrong and someone had mixed up two names.

    One time we were visiting and she asked me if I new anything about my name, its meaning in English and its history. My maiden name was Lynette Marie LeTissier. I had been named after one of my father’s old girlfriends as he really liked the name Lynette.

    She told me that Lynette should really have been spelled Linnet which is also called a Lark. She called me Alouette because it is French for Lark. Her interpretation of my last name was less about her fancy and more about the name itself.

    Le – the simple translation is The.

    Tissier – simply translated means Weaver.

    My family name is The Weaver. So, according to my friend the French Woman, my family in the past had been weavers to somebody important, most likely the king and they were granted the Le in front of their name. They were also gifted with an Island – Guernsey, a small rock off of the coast of France. (Please remember that this is her story of my name and its history, not the real history). I have since learned that she took many liberties with history and the past! But how I loved her story! It fit perfectly into that young girls” perceptions of life as it should be.

    Some parts are true – half the names in the Guernsey phone book are LeTissier. To own land there one must be born there as half the land is held in trust for native born and the other half is open market.

    Alouette, just after my family returned home from Malaysia. Twelve years old and full of dreams. I was wearing the batik sarong that had been made for me in my life time favourite colours purple and pink.

    I still carry that story with me today. My Email address is based on her fancies and as is the title of this blog. LeTissier Designs is the name of my Knitting Pattern business because it was a promise I made to myself as a teenager – when I was a famous designer (at that point I was more thinking of fashion design) I wanted to be know by my last name – I was very proud of my history – both real and imaginary.

    I love the fact that my family history is tied to fiber and the creation of fabric and I like to think that I am carrying on family tradition.

    Be Well. Live and Knit Happy

    Lynette (Alouette) 🙂

  • A New Day

    I used to write a blog. A simple blog with stories and photographs. I tried to get fancy and add stuff and screwed the whole thing up. So after a couple of years of thinking on it I have decided to write a new blog. A simple blog with stories and photographs.

    Time to spread our wings and take flight

    I used to think that life would get simpler as I got older. It turns out I was wrong. The children are grown, but they have new issues. I am growing older but my father is growing younger. And life keeps throwing new challenges. It certainly has gotten more complex because of Covid-19, but it was already moving that way long before Covid arrived.

    I am looking to help sort out my life by writing again.

    My favourite spot for a little serene contemplation. I go here in my mind when I can’t get there physically.

    Have you got a serene place?

    Be Well. Live and Knit Happy.

    Lynette