Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Category: fair-isle crowns

  • Just Another Day….

    Just Another Day….

    … In Paradise

    I woke up to the most glorious sunrise. The living room was glowing orange as the light poured in the windows. When I went out onto the deck – the run was rising in front of me and there was a rainbow forming behind me. So awe inspiring.

    The Mini Rose also produced a new bloom this morning that is absolutely perfect. The Hibiscus plant has several new buds, so many beautiful flowers. Just an amazing start to the day.

    Knitting et al.

    The GreenMan Shawl is progressing nicely. I am about 20% into the Oakleaf and Acorn insert and I am very pleased with the effect of the beads on the knitting.

    I have started another shawl for myself. I didn’t really intend on this one. I am not even designing it. If you are old enough you will remember or will have knit a Clapotis shawl. I am more than old enough.

    Clapotis can be considered one of the first viral patterns on Ravelry and has over 24000 projects listed. It was designed to be knit with some of the glorious hand dyed yarns that were appearing at that time. It has just been re-released on Ravelry as Clapotis 24. There is an accompanying KAL that features lots of yarny prizes.

    I didn’t knit it the first time around, so I am giving it a go with some yarn from my stash. Not hand dyed, but striping and lively, and I was not having any luck designing a sweater for myself with it. I had already ripped back a couple of attempts. The yarn is Lang Cloud Tweed.

    Clapotis is designed for a worsted/aran weight yarn (I keep seeing it in some Rios), but is very easy to adjust for almost any weight! The knitting is basic, stockinette on a diagonal, but the addition of the dropped line of stitches keeps it interesting.

    Have you knit a Clapotis?

    I am also working on another class project. Remember the loopy st? Meet the Jingle Gnome Chapeau. Still under construction, but already looking like a little bit of rustic “happy”! The class will feature the loop stitch, basic stranded knitting and how to make the perfect pompom! I am working with the Eco Shetland Worsted by Estelle. It is yarn that I really like to work with and gives me great results.

    Boho Cozy
    Boho Mitts
    Boho Crown

    I hope that you have a wonderful day. Mine is off to a great start!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • Free Patterns

    Free Patterns

    Here are a few of my free patterns that I have loaded up onto the site just for you to download as you please. All gathered up onto a single page.

    If the downloads do not work – please let me know. I have tested the links but things do happen.

    If it is purple I designed the hats for the purple hat campaign. The orange poncho is called Tears for the Children. To commemorate the lost children of the Residential Schools.

    The fair-isle hat, Filigree, was me playing with colours – as an exercise. I was so pleased with the results that I wrote it up as a pattern. The teddy bear vests were teaching opportunities. The Salmon Run hat was again playing with a new to me yarn – to see what it could do!

    The Hurry Up Hat might be my most popular Ravelry pattern. For starters, it is free! And it is a very fast knit. Perfect for last minute gifts or for knitting hats for the homeless with your scraps. Practically Perfect is the same kind of hat but knit in a colourful worsted weight yarn and really designed for beginning hat knitters!

    Braid Lace CapDownload
    purple-kisses-capDownload
    daisy-chain-capDownload
    peakaboo-moon-pdfDownload
    filigreeDownload
    tears-for-the-childrenDownload
    motley-vest-for-bear-or-doll-1Download
    salmon-runDownload
    mini-reindeer-vestDownload
    hurry-up-hatDownload
    practically-perfectDownload

    I hope that you find something you like!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • Time and Tide wait for No Man (or Woman)!

    Time and Tide wait for No Man (or Woman)!

    I think of that proverb often as I am something of a procrastinator! Never mind something of a procrastinator – I can and have at times turned it into a fine art!

    Procrastination, practiced properly is a time management tool that works to my advantage as I tend to work better when under just the right amount of pressure. That is what happens when I practice it consciously. When it sneaks up on me and I get distracted by the new toy – usually yarn – it can cause a bit of a disruption, which why I am releasing two patterns today – I, ummm, kinda missed last weekend somehow. It got lost in the sands of time and distraction.

    It wasn’t that I have been doing nothing. Just not the planned things.

    Two Versions of the bento box. So called because it is a little boxy with options, just like a bento box. PS – that is me in the Lapel version of the vest!

    Today’s releases are the Bento Box Vest and the Garry O’ hat. They represent totally opposite ends of the knitting spectrum.

    Garry O’

    The Bento Box Vest is knit with big needles, 10mm, (I used my super sparkly ones) and super bulky yarns and can be knit in a couple of days if you have a little time. Garry O’ is knit with much smaller needles, 2.5 and 3.0mm, and much finer yarns and will take a little time. Both are very satisfying knits for very different reasons!

    Today has been very busy! The first jam of the season – ummm, strawberry was made and Elise and I had a great photo shoot. Below is a sneak peak at some of the upcoming patterns for the Just Playing Around ebook.

    Some upcoming additions

    I hope that you have had a couple of great weeks. Working in your gardens or knitting up a storm, even working. Life is starting to feel just a little more optimistic.

    I have picked 8 whole strawberries from my pots so far – and I am seeing lots more forming. The peas are coming up almost faster than whatever bug is eating them and the beans and tomatoes are looking pretty healthy.

    It is the flowers that give me the greatest joy! Peonies, Poppies, Roses, Honeysuckle and Lavender are all blooming the thyme and sage as well. The bees are ecstatic and the humming birds as well. We are getting lots of rain right now which is good as this last Spring was way too dry. How does your garden grow?

    Be well and knit happy!

    Lynette

    A sneak peak into a fall project.

  • Happy Valentines Day!

    Happy Valentines Day!

    How do you celebrate Valentines Day? Do you mourn lost loves and hold those memories close to your heart? Do you gather your family close to you and hold them dear? Where does your heart lie?

    I do them all. My family keeps my heart. Husband, children and grandchild, all are loved equally well in different ways.

    My Father is still with me and loved as well.

    But my Mother and Grandmothers and Grandfathers are all gone. They are always loved and always with me in Memory.

    Granny Baptie would approve of the Scottish themed Greetings for the Day.

    I have always found Valentines Day awkward. It usually speaks of only one kind of love when we know there are so many other kinds of love out there – family, friends, activities, yes activities! How much time and effort do we pour into all those things that we love and enjoy!? I know my heart and it lies with many.

    Do we love those things for only the one day? No, but we do make that special effort to love them all harder I think. We take the time to contemplate life without them and we mourn those whose love is lost to us.

    Mother on the right and Grannie Baptie to the left, Myself and Beth, 34 years ago. Three years later both my Grandmother and my mother were gone. So many memories.

    It is snowing here. A serious snow, coming down hard, not the kind we usually get, big lazy flakes that melt as soon as they hit. This snow is lying and accumulating at an amazing rate. It is a wonderful day to stay home and contemplate the energy of the skies as they send snow down upon us.

    Snowy days are perfect for hats. We don’t get that many of them here. And yesterday I was lucky enough to get pictures of hats in snow on Elise for some new patterns. A couple of those patterns were released today and the others will be released over the next few weeks.

    Todays releases are Valentino and Dahlia! Two fabulous (well I think that they are fabulous!) fair-isle hats with beautiful crowns. Fair-isle hats are very satisfying hats to design.  While they can start very plainly, they almost always finish up with a bang, a pop, a fabulous farewell in the design of the crown.  Usually, the name of the hat comes from the design that ends up on the crown.

    They are part of what I am calling a Hearts and Flowers Special. Purchase Valentino on Ravelry and use the code Sweetheart to receive Dahlia for free. Happy Valentines day.

    It will be blackberry pie today – the berries are thawing right now.

    The rest of today will be for my family and my other love, knitting. Working on some fingerless mittens to go with the FlatIron hat.

    FlatIron in the Snow.

    Be well and spend the day doing what makes you happy and loved. Love your friends and family as you will and task yourself with only the things you love to do. If that is PJ’s and coffee – so be it! Do it with all your heart!

    Love to all! Lynette