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
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!
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
