Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: colourwork

  • Create a Colorful Knitted Blanket: Tips & Patterns – a year long exploration of squares

    Create a Colorful Knitted Blanket: Tips & Patterns – a year long exploration of squares

    Make-A-Blanket – January Square

    This month is set-up for the Blanket. Pick your colours, decide on the style and knit your first square. The instructions for each square will be both charted and written.

    I am working with Cascade 220 wool. So my basic gauge is 20 sts in 4inches worked with a 4.5mm US #7 needle. After knitting my first square I think that these (my) squares will be about 10 inches wide, approx. 22.5 cm. My current plan is to make 20 squares and lay them out in blanket form and attach them together (no plan for this yet).

    There are two styles of blanket options that I have considered. I will lay them both out for you so that you can think about it as you knit your first square. Within these two styles there are other considerations. Do you want your blanket to be a solid colour? Or do you want lots of colour? Do you want your squares to be random or laid out in a quilt style of pattern. I bet you can guess which way I am going! Yup, lots of colour and random squares!

    Blanket 1 – knit in strips, biggest advantage, less seams and less to connect. This blanket could be knit in 1 colour, or in strips of colours with a different colour connecting them. The strips could still consist of squares that change colour with each pattern, or each strip could be knit in one pattern that repeats up each strip. How you put your Blanket Squares together is all up to you.

    I do like the stripes and diamonds on this Jester! His motley costume hits all the fun notes.

    Blanket 2 – knit in squares, no advantage, more seams, more connections! But I like the look better. This blanket was my original idea, Lots of patterns and many differing colours; it has been pointed out to me that I am sometimes alone in my love of the motley. But how could that be – there are so many examples of it all around us!

    My sloth’s intarsia coat was a fun example of a motley coat.

    I did a little sketching with Samsung Note and AI. These are the possibilities my sketches suggested.

    This month the Square is a Diagonal Rib pattern. It is totally reversable. And I am really liking that feature. This may be the square that I knit the most. It could act almost like a back drop for the other squares. We will see what tickles my fancy as the year progresses. This square took me approx. 36 grs yarn to knit. With that information I am figuring that I will need at least 7 skeins of the Cascade plus more for the finishing.

    Notes on working with the Squares. I will try to provide both written and charted patterns for each square. When working with charts every square represents 1 st or if the square is grey the absence of a stitch. That square can be regarded as a space to be ignored on that row.

    • Read all flat chart odd rows – 1, 3, 5 etc from right to left and all flat chart even rows – 2, 4, 6 etc from left to right.
    • Read every round from a circular chart from right to left.
    January SquareDownload

    Also included in this months download is the Starfish pattern. I am going to knit a few of these to sprinkle randomly over my blanket. These Starfish will each take about 6 grs of yarn. I can see quite a few colourful starfish on my blanket.

    Blanket Sea StarDownload

    I hope that you will share your pictures and progress with me! I am trying to decide the best way. A group on Facebook and/or a thread on Ravelry. Have you got any other suggestions?

    I am having a lot of fun knitting up Sea Stars, this month’s add on! But I think that next month’s add on will be just as much fun! Now what could they be?

    Hint – what is the famous day in February that is celebrated with “?”‘s and flowers!

    Happy New Year!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • East Coast – Twillingate Thrummed Headband

    East Coast – Twillingate Thrummed Headband

    I don’t like to wear hats. It takes a really cold day before I plop a hat on my head. I don’t like the look of myself in a hat. Very few have suited me.

    But I like cold ears even less.

    So, I finished up the Thrummed Headband for myself. I now consider myself officially ready for Fall and Winter. I have a new sweater… and a hat. Maybe I should make some fingerless mittens in the same colours as the headband? A light grey pair, with multicoloured dots. Ok, almost ready for Winter!

    If you want to knit a Thrummed Headband for yourself click here.

    The thrumming really intrigues me. It is easy to do and adds an extra layer of warmth. I am thinking that I may need to make myself a puffy vest, double layered with thrums in between. Would you wear something like that?

    Yesterday I also knit up a swatch from the Eco Scandinavian Chunky I bought myself last week (for another sweater). I want this sweater to be very colourful and in the Muhu style. This style is from Estonia and features a lot of natural patterns, birds, bees and animals in very bright, not so natural colours. The patterns will be much larger and definitely very visible.

    I love my swatch, but I think I need to add some green and maybe some black to make the other brights pop!

    Happy Knitting!

    Lynette

    PS – I am getting so excited! The GreenMan KAL starts next week! In between my other knitting I have been slowly working away at each section of the shawl. It is looking just as I imagined!

  • Knitting a Dress and Other Projects

    Knitting a Dress and Other Projects

    I am now at the point where the skirt is growing, at what seems like an agonizingly slow rate. I must focus on the fact that the skirt is growing and the pattern is repeating and that is what is supposed to happen.

    I switched to a 3.75mm needle about 12 rounds ago to start the slow shaping of the skirt. I will most likely drop the needle size to 3.5mm in about 40 more rounds. So between the changing the size of the needles and shaping the panels I am hoping for a lovely, gradual shaping the skirt to the waist. At that point the needle size will be 3.25mm for the bodice of the dress.

    Dry blocked the skirt is 10 inches deep from the top of the 4th pattern repeat to the curve of the hem. The points are not included as length. I think that three more repeats will get me to the start of shaping panels (approx 15 inches) which will reduce the stitch count of the skirt. The reducing section will take about 45 rounds.

    I work at Mad About Ewe and I get to play with the yarn. We are now carrying Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Tones Light. I have been playing.

    Wait there’s more! More hats, cables and hearts; double knit fingerless mittens and just so much more to do and create!

    Below is “Smitten” A cabled hat with the “hugs and kisses” cable and the tree of life pattern. Classic in Grey and no bobbles, knit Juniper Moon Santa Cruz in the Palladium colourway! And Wild in with everything – cables, bobbles and hearts, knit with Malabrigo Worsted in the natural and Very Berry colourways.

    Straight forward and cozy these double knit wristers are super cozy and super easy! These Cozy Wristers can be knit in any dk or sport weight wool that you might have to hand.

    Because they are double knit they are also totally reversible.

    I hope that your knitting adventures have been moving along with lots of colour and texture to keep your mind occupied and your hands busy!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • Filigree and More Unexpected Knitting

    Filigree and More Unexpected Knitting

    Well it has been quite a week!

    I just found out that my hat pattern Roamin‘ was included in a podcast! Fleece and Harmony podcast 64

    I am so stoked!

    Also, I finished a hat, Started the first sleeve on my sweater and of course went to work. Work is kind of a hazardous place to be when you are something of a fanatic about yarns. All natural yarns at least! I use man made fibres for some projects of course, they can be very useful. But much less than natural fibres. Man made fibres generally make me itch, they just don’t breathe.

    Wools are my favourite, Blended wools, those that are spun with Bison, Silk, Yak, Cashmere or Alpaca are right up there too. But wools, non-superwash, hand painted or dyed solid, they slay me. I like a slightly textured yarn, one with a bit of bite. I don’t find these yarns itchy at all – they just knit up into a beautiful texture that suits me!

    This week, quite a few boxes arrived from our suppliers. In one was the new Super Bulky Hand Painted Colour Story by Estelle yarn – 150gr, 75m of wooly perfection. It is so new that it isn’t even on Ravelry. Check out the colours of the Colour Story Sock – the bulky is in the darker tones that are also available in the sock! So I dropped the sleeve (isn’t it wonderful how knitting will wait so patiently) and Thursday evening started to knit. This easy distraction is one of the hazards I was speaking about! Perhaps it is also part of my personality – never short of ideas!

    Well this morning I finished a new vest – a shorty version of a jacket vest with a properly notched collar and single button style closure – Classic Lapel Vest. I knit it in the Tapestry colourway. Pattern to follow in a couple of weeks.

    Last post I was starting a hat. I wanted to play with a few of the the colours of BC Garn’s Bio Shetland. I am working up to designing a fair-isle vest. The next step is a new fair-isle hat that will utilize the colours and patterning that I would like to see in my vest.

    Well, I started this first hat with 15 colours, took away 3 that just didn’t work and added another colour that did! So it takes 13 colours to knit as shown, but it could easily be simplified. It will be a great stash buster! the hat is now complete and I am so happy with it that I wrote up a pattern!

    It is called Filigree and I had so much fun knitting it. I hope that you will too! Click on the button below to download.

    FiligreeDownload

    Yesterday we went for a short walk at Bowen Park. I could hear the water roaring but we never went close. I did see an unusual flower – I think that it is a type of Rhododendron, at least it was on the edge of the Rhodo Grove. It is the photo at the top of the post. Does any one know what it is? We were expecting snow today but that hasn’t materialized – but maybe this evening.

    What is your winter like? Full on snow, wind and cold. Or mild like our west coast weather. I have lived in northern climates and in cold prairie climates, even tropical climates, but my favourite is winter here. Some grey mists, cool green foliage and all the rain you can handle – OK – the rain can get a little old, but the rest of it is just my style!

    I love the look of the devolving petals, they start to look so lace like.

    Today I am making what my mother always called Matrimonial Cake. It is really just date squares, but I think that Matrimonial Cake sounds so much more elegant. I don’t use baking soda and I do add lemon juice and a little fresh lemon peel to the dates. I also make it in a 9×9 pan. Yummm, that way the pieces are deeper and moister for more flavour!

    It is almost time to take the Cake out of the oven.

    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