We always try to get there around this time of year to get the best effect from these amazing trees. While there are some small rhododendrons, many of the plants here are very old, as the Grove was started back in 1960’s. Most of the trees and flowers tower over my head!
The colour and aroma of the flowers are myriad. The shapes of both flowers and trunks are interesting. The trunks are very smooth and a little twisted. You can see how they grew extending out towards the sun as they went.
Some of the flowers here are hybrids that may not be seen anywhere else. The range is remarkable. While The Grove shows best from Mid April to Mid May, some of the flowers start in late February and others show in June. You can see a carpet of glorious pink petals in one of the pictures I shot, even when the blooms are finished they leave a beautiful reminder! In amongst the Rhododendrons you will see companion plants, such as ferns, hostas, camellias, dogwoods and azaleas. Joy for the senses all around you!
The park has many levels. There are stairs and pathways up, down, and around the trees. So many beautiful plants to admire.
I hope that you enjoy the walk as much as I did! Click on the arrow to move the pictures along.
The last few pictures are a meadow across from the Grove, next to Millstone River.
Nope I haven’t been sick, but I am looking to mend!
I am going to learn how to mend my clothing. Well, I am teaching myself how to mend my woolens mostly.
I have been a sewer, (sewist?) all my life. I started with Barbie clothes and I have made my own and my children’s clothing, at various point of my life, with varying levels of success. I have designed and created costumes for live theatre. And I can mend many of of clothes, as in hem, fix seams, adjust fit and play with anything fabric. But I have seldom mended my clothing, as in fixing actual holes in the fabric! That needs to change.
I also knit. And I have knitted steadily for the last 40+ years. Like most of us knitters I have a stack of woolens to mend. I hate to throw things out, especially now, when we are talking of sustainability and slow clothes and making everything count. So I have been looking at my own pile of clothes that need saving. From woolen undershirts (sorry, they are not pretty enough to be called camisoles) to fine merino sweaters to my handknits – I have things that need mending.
So, over the last few months I have been collecting books and tools to start teaching myself the basics. Okay, not just the basics, in some cases the more interesting and artistic ways of doing things!
Not that I will be starting with the fancy patterns, but the possibilities are interesting.
I am also going to learn how to use a tiny punch needle, really a needle for tambour bead embroidery. Beads as mending! you can see that this is a whole new rabbit hole for me! For mending you are supposed to forgo the beads and just use a fine wool to punch through your knit fabric. And I have just purchased a Speedweve style mending tool. A small one (14 hooks), with a bigger one (21 hooks) on the way.
Tambour beading is a technique that developed in Europe in the late eighteenth century. A small hook (tambour hook) is used to attach the beads to the ground cloth, rather than a needle. The word tambour is French for ‘drum’ and is named after the drum-shaped tensioning frame that was originally used.
Plus there are the traditional means of mending as in swiss daring, patching and overdying. Overdying is a great way to recover sweaters that have been stained by life. I have used this method a few times! I would also like to try some leather patching for sweaters, especially hems at neck and sleeves. So, lots of things to explore!
This is going to be so much fun!
And then, this fall, there will be a class at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns in Nanaimo. After all, there are not many things better than sharing an interest!
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!
Yarn is my Happy Place. Knitting with yarn is the perfect expression of my state of mind. Knitting with yarn that is new to me and often has been gifted to me is my idea of perfection!
I am in my heart a lace knitter – it is one of the most beautiful expressions that can be created by two sticks and some string. And right now I am extra Happy!
Yesterday Angela Beltane of Widdershin Farm, which is just outside of Duncan, gifted me with some of her BFL, Blue Faced Leicester, fingering weight yarn… enough for a large shawl. I am thinking a large Pi shawl! This yarn is soft and glossy and Oh so smooth!
The Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) is a remarkable breed of sheep that traces its origins back to the eighteenth century in Dishley, Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Let’s delve into the fascinating details of these woolly creatures:
Appearance:
BFL sheep have a distinctive blue-gray face, which gives them their name.
Their ears are long, and their fleece is curly and fine.
Unlike other woolly breeds, they lack wool on their heads and necks.
The Roman noses of Bluefaced Leicesters reveal dark blue skin beneath their white hair.
Wool Quality:
Their wool is one of the softest among UK sheep breeds.
Fleeces weigh between 1 to 3 kilograms (2.2 to 6.6 pounds).
Although not heavy, their wool is lustrous and prized for its quality.
It is going to be gorgeous. I took the day off of my other projects – dress knitting, class knitting and future planning to play with my new yarn.
Umm, just ignore the mistake in the first round of eyelets! I am! LOL!
Today is one of my day’s off and it is rainy and gray and the perfect kind of day to knit! Rainy days also produce some lovely photographic opportunities! Check out the Scilla (Glory in the Snow) from the garden. They are the inspiration, and name, for my Pi Shawl, one of my favourite shapes for a shawl. A PI Shawl is circular and can be as big as you can knit! It is going to be full of floral, water and leaf motifs!
I am going to work from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s basic Pi Shawl tutorial and fill it full of my own patterns!
Can’t you just see crystal beads on the shawl? Just like the flowers!
If you are following the my design notes on Ravelry you will find this to be repetitive but if not I hope that you are enjoying the journey!
Three rounds to go and then I start the panel shaping!
Dry blocked I am at about 12 inches. The Panels will add approx 7 to 7.5 inches to the length – dry blocked.
Things I am thinking about and would really appreciate feedback on.
How closely fitting should the dress be? I am thinking fitted with about 2 inches of ease around the waist for comfort and to smooth out over a slip of some type. I have a pretty good idea of how to achieve the shaping as we get closer to the waist. Which will involve more panel shaping.
Are you thinking of something that could be pulled over the head?
If fitted there will need to be an opening of some type in the side seam or up the back. I am thinking side seam buttons under the arm and down past the waist – no zipper – zippers and knits are very chancy. I love the vintage feel of the side seam opening – very old fashioned dress finishing. I am not a big fan of buttons up the back – besides then so much of the dress would need to be knit flat as opposed to circularly. Though there is something about a long swath of tiny buttons up the back of a dress….
If fitted, then after the waist area there will need to be darts. I chose the panel approach to make it easier to add waist darts if I wanted. But then will I need to add bust darts? If so, how? Short rows are the traditional way, but that would interrupt the lace pattern. I could end the lace pattern on the side of the front after the waist and just have panels in the front, but my vision is still of all over lace. Things to think about as I knit.
If you are looking for a pullover style of dress – the option will be there and quite easy to make work – let me know.
I am going to see how far I can get in the next week, after that I will be working on a sample and pattern for a yarn company which will slow this down for a couple of months!
I will be changing needle size on round 15 of the decreasing chart. Just another quarter point from 3.75mm to 3.5mm (US#4).
I am not sure when I will go to the 3.25mm. Most likely before the waist area.
As for shaping the bodice depending upon your shape you may need bust darts or you may not – but you will need some shaping if you want it fitted – even if your bust only has a gentle curve.
If you want a waist line and would like your dress to be a pullover style, we can add a double knit tubular channel for a belt or Gathering cord. Knit a fine belt in i-cord or 1×1 ribbing to run through the channel and we have a waistline. Alternatively we could run elastic through the channel. Anything to gather to the waist.
For a more fitted style, then back to the buttons along the side seam. Or maybe an A-line shape with a slow, gentle line of decreasing stitches.
But before we get there…
At round 29, if you want a shaped waist, stop knitting. We may be adding more shaping panels. Not sure when I will be able to work those out.
If you want a waist that is gathered into the belt or elastic, knit until your skirt is your desired length, and then wait for me to get there.
Double markers for double tracking! I started my first shaping round!
Spring flower popping up through the Lavender!
We are facing a glorious weekend of sunshine here! And the flowers are starting to come. The buds are on the trees and the cherry blossoms are starting to bloom! I love the colours of Spring!
Happy Knitting
Lynette
The lacy tracery of branches and leaves against a blue sky! How wonderful is nature.
This is going to be the year of flowers. Floral motifs in my knitting – you bet! Flowers on my walls – always – courtesy of my mum! Flowers in the garden – we will see how green my thumb gets!
And flowers on my shelves!
Pansies and Florals – Oh My!
I am a collector – yarn (of course) – vintage knitting books – knitting books – yarn (did I mention yarn) and antiques.
The antiques are mostly the small stuff. Silver things, porcelain posies, china and other small things.
Many know about my small obsessions and every now and then I am asked if I would like some more items for my collection. Mostly my flower collection. It was their mothers or their grandmothers and really they have no use for, need of, or interest in them. And I get it, we all have our hobbies. And I on the other hand love all the things that mothers and grandmothers loved in their day. Especially the floral posies, in all my years of collecting I have not a single double, or repeat of a flower not even ones that are close.
Each pot is different, each flower is different. Certainly they are all the common flowers, roses, peonies, pansies, anemones, tulips or trilliums. But each one is hand made, hand coloured, and just like nature, each flower is totally unique from every other flower. Some flowers come with birds on stems, perching on a nest, or about to take flight. Some flowers come in silver vases – those are perhaps my favourites!
I think that the fact that human hands formed each flower, placed each flower in the pot and a human mind chose the colours of glaze to finish each bloom, is what fascinates me about these china posies. Some of the older posies are true works of art, holding a moment in time as the breeze moves the flowers about.
Posies are delicate, easily chipped along the edges of petal and leaf. Petals and leaves also break in half and are often poorly glued back together, again human hands trying to preserve something that they loved and valued. I find the love of flowers such a human thing, something that many of us share in so many ways.
The posies I collect also go well with the many petit point bouquets that I have on my walls and shelves. All lovingly created by my Mother. She spent hours working on each piece. Somehow many of her floral pieces came my way.
My Mothers work – she even refinished the frame to complement the work.
I will most likely have to divest myself of some of the “things” I collect. We all usually have to “downsize” at some point in our lives. Until that time arrives, I will enjoy them, celebrate them and share that love!
So do you collect? Have you got a stash of something special that means a lot to you? I would love to hear about it.
Do you have a button box? Or better yet your Mother’s or Grandmother’s button box? Do you use them? Or simply admire them? I do both.
My Mother’s box was lost to time and just one too many moves. It was a huge glass jar that I loved to look through. She didn’t do much sewing, but she would knit occasionally. Like me I think that she just loved buttons.
But my boxes are pretty full. Collected over my time of sewing, knitting and well, collecting buttons! I love buttons! They are a fabulous item that can just add that perfect touch to your finished garment or they can be applied as embellishments. Adding buttons to button bands, or as design details is the one aspect of finishing my knitted pieces that I actually enjoy! I have also used shell buttons as embellishments in many of my knits – I love their sheen and the way they pick up the colours of the yarn.
My button collection!
This morning I was busy finishing off a childs vest – Reindeer Vest – that I had Jana knit up in Patagonia Organic Merino as a store sample. I also got her to knit the doll vest – Mini Reindeer Vest – as well. The original set was my Grandson’s Christmas Gift a couple of years ago. The Mini Reindeer Vest is a free pattern and will fit most medium dolls or bears! The Reindeer Vest is 50% off right now until Nov 30. Use the code Reindeer.
It was a good thing I found a few button options for the vest as I was scrambling through my button box looking for some buttons! I started to sew on my original choice of button – I thought they were a nice bright red – I realized that the red buttons were really pink – bad early morning lighting! So, I went with another option!
Not a bad thing to have a button box at hand as buttons seem to be a little scarce right now!
It has been a good week, beautiful sunrises and sunsets at Departure Bay Beach. Roses still in bloom on the Promenade and always knitting.
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!
