Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: baking

  • From Traditions to New Memories: Our Unique Holiday Story

    From Traditions to New Memories: Our Unique Holiday Story

    This year was not a traditional Christmas for our family, but it was perfect nonetheless.

    Quite often our Christmas Day is culminated with Christmas Dinner that will encompass everyone, friends and family – up to 20 or so bodies at the table. And it all started as the smell of the turkey pretty much enveloped our guests as they walked in the door and up the stairs to the living room which had a center table set-up with a cheese board, and lots of baking. At the table there will be crackers, toasts, a table groaning with more food. There is always so much conversation and laughter punctuated by the occasional sip of wine!

    And the conversation. Lots of individuals catching up and sharing the happenings since their last visit or since last Christmas. And I am at the head of the table ready to refill bowls, pass the gravy and listen. I listen and just take it all in and I take so much joy in the presence of family and friends. I do not usually get much visiting in or get to share in the finer details of the evening, it is just not possible to do it all!

    This year was different. Because we have downsized and the space needs work and mostly because we need a kitchen renovation – the stove doesn’t work well enough to bake anything properly so we decided not to do the big dinner this year! I do not trust the stove! The kitchen reno will be happening soon, hopefully! That will another full story or two I am sure!

    So, as a result these things happened:

    My brother and his wife did Christmas dinner. It was just us and them. Much laughter, starting with the fact that they chose Prime Rib for dinner not turkey! Guess what we were doing for Boxing Day! Yup! Prime Rib! Another family Christmas tale was born. We laughed and visited for a few hours.

    Boxing Day lunch a good friend and her son came for lunch. We have know each other for over 38 years, we even shared a home with our children for 2 of those years. That was a two hour visit with lots of laughter and conversation.

    Boxing Day dinner, my son, daughter and grandson were there! There was laughter and conversation, memories and more conversations.

    Day of after Boxing Day my nieces and nephews and their family came for a quick visit – that turned into a couple of hours of shared laughter and memories. All of us sitting around the table, eating the nibbles and just being together.

    So – the moral of the story – sometimes the ritual forgets the point of the season! The shared time and love with family and friends. I did miss making my small Christmas gifts, the baubles and tree decorations. I really missed decorating our home. What we did was very minimal as we had to buy everything as almost everything we owned related to Christmas was in the back of the storage locker!

    Who know what next year will bring!

    Happy New Year to all!

    Lynette

  • It’s Starting to Feel …

    It’s Starting to Feel …

    … a lot like Christmas around here. There are only a few decorations up as yet, but other things are falling into place. And of course the knitting for Christmas is very important.

    Some presents are knit! And others are in the works. And the shopping is almost over too! As usual, my gifts for my husband have not been organized, except, don’t tell him – the fingerless mittens I am knitting for him – I have almost finished the first mitten! But I haven’t got much of anything else found for him yet!

    Tom takes care of most of the other Christmas things as he is retired, and he is an organized type of person – unlike me! So, he is always on top of gifts and cards and all of those kinds of things! And he does most of the decorating of the house – he does a really good job of it too! We do decorate the tree together though!

    I have started the Christmas baking – two batches of shortbread were baked last weekend and the Christmas cookies yesterday! And I have leftover homemade mincemeat from last year for some tarts.

    My Grandmothers’ Traditional Shortbread
    Canada Cornstarch Shortbread with the addition of walnuts.

    Every year I make Knitted Christmas Balls – usually the Arne and Carlos balls – they have so many options now for the patterns and I will create my own pattern on the balls as well – they provide a blank pattern grid that is perfect for putting your own images and patterning on!

    A couple of Christmas Balls from last year – the beaded one is mine and the other is a Carlos and Arne pattern.

    This year I am adding a new style of knitted pattern to my repertoire, and I am quite excited by it.

    They are Christmas Baubles by @apassionforlace MoniqueB. Two are complete, Lace Bauble in blue Malabrigo Lace and Ocean in ivory Handmaiden Lace Silk. Boom is under construction. Each bauble is a different Shetland Lace pattern. They are so much fun, small, intricate and very satisfying. I had to go out and find some glass balls of the right size. The coloured ones I found locally but the clear ones I had to order on line. They are from BestPysansky, out of Chicago.

    How are your Christmas Preparations coming? Are you organized and ready? Or like me, is someone else doing the organizing for you? However you roll I hope that you are having fun and that your Christmas is starting to come together.

    Be well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • Another Week, Another Hat!

    Another Week, Another Hat!

    February is usually Retreat Month. Not this year – above is Kiwi Cove Saturday morning on the Retreat Weekend 2 years ago – perfect knitting weather.

    Instead of working on my Cathedral Sweater sleeve or the Serenity Waves Shawl edging – both of which are so close to being finished! I chose to work on another Bio Shetland hat, another fact finding exercise you might say! And I am very happy with the results. This one is called Dahlia. So Called for the beautiful floral crown.

    I have a thing for floral crowns. I have a thing for flowers. I am not particularly good at growing them. I am not much of a gardener. I find things that survive my somewhat indifferent skills and go with them. The basic rule is that I do try to find plants that either flower, or I grow herbs I can use in the kitchen.

    I surround myself with my mothers floral petit points and have collected a multitude of the floral “posies” made by Ainsley, Denton and Staffordshire. Flowers quite simply, make me smile, make me happy. They are small things that I note and enjoy, their colours, shapes and scents are all part of the lexicon of things I find enjoyable.

    I hope to have the Dahlia pattern up on Ravelry next weekend.

    I was really happy with the way the Classic Lapel Vest fit. It is just the right length and fit for me.

    I am short with a 44 inch bust and a little more weight than is good for me, but the vest is still flattering.

    Now to write the pattern for more sizes than my own. It will have to be a bit of a formula pattern I think. A few basic sizes and lots of information on making it for yourself.

    Today I am baking a classic lemon layer cake with blackberry jam in the middle and lemon icing all around. It is really just a white cake with lemon extract instead of vanilla extract and fresh lemon peel thrown into the dry mixture. Lemon icing is also simple butter icing (soft butter and icing sugar beaten together) with lemon juice instead of vanilla and milk. This makes the icing very tart and it tastes like lemon candies. Yuummm! If I am being fancy I will candy up some lemon slices to decorate the top!

    Ready to ice the sides. I noticed that I put the bottom layer down upside down – so the jam is oozing more than it should. I think that i will have jam in my icing, and I did!

    I love to cook and bake which is why I carry a few pounds to many. It also runs in the family, most of my cousins also love to cook and bake. And we all love to eat good food! Food is one of lifes’ most basic pleasures and with Covid rules dictating life all around we need to take pleasure where we can!

    I am still feeling the need to start something new so today I am going to start a shawl in some new yarn from The Small Bird Workshop.

    These are non superwash, Island grown Babydoll Southdown wool fibre, blended with Kamloops area mohair and sourced silk (70/15/15) fingering weight yarns. There is no more of this particular blend left, but a small bird told me that she is working towards having more next year.

    This yarn was milled at That Darn Yarn Mill, Kamloops.

    I am really looking forward to starting this project!

    Have you anything new on your needles? Or pulled out a long overdue project? Something for you to wear? You know that often what we make for ourselves is the last thing we finish as we are always knitting for others! Be kind to yourself and knit or finish something that is just yours!

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

    PS – Did you see the moon this week? Simply stunning.

  • A New Sweater for Me – Maybe?!

    A New Sweater for Me – Maybe?!

    Ok, it really isn’t new. I started it eight years ago and have picked it up and put it down so many times as I have gotten distracted by other knitting projects – nothing is better than that next project sometimes.

    It was pointed out to me on Friday, as I reviewed my 5 + started sweaters for myself, that if I just gave myself a little push I could have a new sweater in a couple of weeks. A sweater perfect for this weather and something that would actually co-ordinate with my current wardrobe of slacks.

    Well the straight black sweater wasn’t ever going to happen. I need to rip that one back! Why did I ever even start? Well – what goes better with a wardrobe of hand knit colourful shawls than a basic black sweater? I really should knit myself one, just a plain one, one that would be a great backdrop for anything. In DK. Well between boredom and possible blindness I gave that one up. And it is staying that way.

    The cabled and lace Aran Riding Jacket is just a little too complicated for right now and even on the larger needles will take a fair bit of knitting. I am knitting it with some 35 year old Sunbeam Bainin, a traditional lanolin infused Irish wool.

    The fingering weight bohus yoke sweater in Solje is gorgeous and is supposed to be my travelling project as I am on the absolutely plain body. Who knew that travelling was suddenly not an option!

    The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.

    Robbie Burns

    Seems appropriate for our times.

    Well, the 4th sweater option I just can’t find. It would be perfect! A boxy, short, big fat cabled sweater knit in Prairie Wool on 10mm needles. It is currently lost in my stash and I am not willing to do the deep dive it requires. Which just leaves me with one option…. The Cathedral Sweater.

    It was started 8 years ago when this absolutely gorgeous hand-dyed dk weight merino from Madeline Tosh came into the store! I bought it all and started the sweater right away. It was going to be a top-down raglan with easy lace details. I really loved it! And then…. it got put down. I picked it up again a couple of years ago and really got into the body of sweater, it was going to be an A-line shape with a bit of swish, and down it went again….

    I knit for about 4 hours on it yesterday and this morning and added almost 3 inches to the length of the body! Only 5 or 6 inches left. That is motivation enough to keep me knitting. Then the sleeves. They will be fast! Lets see how fast this sweater will finish.

    I seem to be into fast knitting right now. I just finished a cowl and hat combo. Started Thursday evening and finished Saturday morning. Textured Bricks, I love the deep cushy feel of the yarn and slip stitch patterning. The yarn is Slubby Mix by Fleece Artist, in the Boreal and Earth colourways. I added this pattern to the 7 Hats More ebook as well.

    Today is a cooking day. I really do love to cook and some Sundays just seem to lend themselves to the task.

    I made whole grain waffles for breakfast and a Wacky Cake is already cooling on the counter. The recipe that I linked is pretty close to mine I think. I didn’t realize that there were so many versions! It was our family favourite when we were growing up! It was also perfect for my grandson as he was born with egg and dairy allergies, which he is growing out of now. But for a while it was the only cake I could make for him!

    I think that I will make Spanakopita (recipe from Greek with Gusto) to go with supper – finger foods in front of the TV! The Football playoffs have started and my husband is a big fan! And it gives me the excuse to cook something a little different!

    And of course I will be knitting on my sweater and winding yarn for a new project. A fair-isle vest in the Bio Shetland! I have brought home 12 different colours so far to play with – though there is this turquoise that I haven’t brought home yet! LOL!

    The Bio Shetland is the yarn I have been working my new shawl with, it works into lovely stitches, with crisp pattern definition. The first half of the shawl is resting while I contemplate my next move. There are two ways I can work the center, not sure which one I want to use yet.

    I will start with a hat to play with the colours and see what works and what doesn’t. This will be the biggest fair-isle project/pattern that I have attempted to date. I am not much of a garment designer, that requires a lot more patience and sizing expertise than I usually practise. But this year is going to be a year of trying new things I think, expanding on what I already do and just trying new variations.

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

    PS – while looking for my partly finished sweaters I found a another purple sweater, also half done and a great many of my stitch markers!

  • 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

  • …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