Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: Design Process

Making Feeds Making

Making Moments and Fall Class Projects

Do you label yourself? What is your view of yourself? Is it defined by your work, your hobby, your family? How do you view the way you interact with the world?

I know that I define myself by what I do now – what I did in the past helped form what I do now but does not define how I see myself now. For example, when my children were younger I defined myself as a mother. That definition is part of me but is not how I define myself now.

I am a Maker first and foremost. I make things.

Mostly, I knit. And when I knit, I design.

Then there is everything else. I love to cook. And bake. And make jam. I particularly love to make jam. I find it very meditative and soothing. I grow herbs in my garden to add to my cooking. Does that qualify as making? It does in my world.

And I sew clothing for myself when I am in the mood.

Crabapple Jelly in the Sunlight.

Everything I do leads to everything else I do. The colour of the jelly leads to me looking for the colour in my stash – couldn’t find it – so I settle for a bright pink. The colour of the gorgeous sunset last night.

In your knitting are you influenced by your environment? Does a walk in the woods or along a lake make you look at the shadows created by sun and leaves and see a lace pattern or watch the waves along the shore and see the classic old shale pattern?

Or are you more influenced by a direct need or want?

For example my latest Fall Intensive Class started with my students. There was a request for a cardigan type of sweater as a major class. Then other requests – I really want to try a shawl collar – could it be fair-isle – I have never tried raglan sleeve shaping – what about a simpler version of the sweater. As I mulled those requests, I was heavily influenced by my interest in a new sweater for myself. In red.

So the base colour for the sweater is red. And a few of my favourite colours for the patterning. Plus I need to make sure that there are a few other skills involved in making the sweater. So let’s do a traditional Fair Isle sweater, that will also include a steek, afterthought pockets, a belt, plus the requests.

AI generated sketch of the pattern based on my notes and actual sweater to date.

So I designed a long Fair Isle cardigan, with a raglan sleeve shaping and a big shawl collar and the fine tuning details I thought needed to be added. Including a simpler style sweater. One that picks up some of the details of the original cardigan, ribbing, v-neck and raglan sleeve shaping.

AI generated sketch of the simpler sweater based on the sweater knitting to date – complete except for the raglan shaping.

Once I started knitting my red sweater I realized I hated my original colour choices. So I ripped out the 4 inches of knitting beyond the ribbing, picked new colours and started the sweater patterning again. Much better colour choices. Umm, my students might have the same problems, so I designed and knit up a gauge swatch hat. Now I have a means for my students to check out their original selections and save them ripping out the sweater itself.

AI generated sketch of gauge swatch hat.

If I could create a flow chart from what I am, a Maker, to how I break down what I do, I wonder what it would look like.

Again, an AI generated sketch of my fall plans and projects.

Projects for Fall Classes

These smaller projects are part of the same circle of making. Each one explores a particular technique or idea that can turn up later in a completely different project.

1.) The Grand Shell Collar – due to the popular response to the pattern I have added it to the Fall schedule of classes.

2.) Mosaic Hat – Mosaic colourwork is a fun alternative to traditional Fair Isle – and “look Mum – no stranding”.

3,) Colouring with Cables – I decided to explore the Beret style hat and this hat was an outgrowth of playing around with top-down beret shaping. Which was a total bust – but it became the happy outcome of a really cute hat with fun cables!

The Beret is such a classic shape I decided to give it a really good look this Fall, which resulted in the last two classes of the Season.

4.) Classic Beret – nothing new here just a clear, classic beret with a few fine details, folded hem, dip stitch detailing and felted pompom to jazz it up.

5.) Fulled (felted) Beret – classic beret shaping knit oversize to felt to size. Beret starts from I-cord to create a more interesting edge detail.

Happy Knitting

Lynette

August 8, 2026
August Fancy: From A Year in Colour

The Collar that Chose Itself

This month’s Fancy is getting its own blog post. I think it deserves one. It is a little “more” than an average fancy.

I’ve been asking around for ideas for the Fancy line of projects, an offshoot of the Blanket Project.

I wanted something small, but interesting,

Something Fancy.

Something memorable.

Amongst other things a collar was suggested. I have knit a few collars, The Grand Pavillion Collar and The Pretty Blue Collar are a couple of examples. My original thought was to keep this one simple. Umm… that didn’t last very long.

Part of the house organizing is going through my stash and thinning it out. I have not been very successful to date, I get sidetracked easily. For example, I found this stunning yarn in my stash.

A fingering weight Cotswold lambswool. It is from a farm on Pender Island, Inish Eile, and is something I purchased at Fibrations last year.

As I learned more about Cotswold sheep, I discovered they are now a rare breed. Their history stretches back to the Cotswold Hills of England, where sheep have been raised since Roman times. Suddenly this skein in my stash feels even more special.

Shimmering grey with soft gold highlights, this yarn demanded something more than a simple design. Perhaps some beads. I could work with that. In fact, I would love to work with that. The yarn itself is amazing. The colour and shimmer holds the eye and has a depth no dyer could possibly create – only nature.

So I started to play with buttons, beads, and stitches. I sketched an idea and then knit a swatch. The swatch confirmed what the sketch had only hinted at – the yarn had found its pattern.

While I really loved the dark beads, their rich colour created a dramatic Art Deco feel against the golden-grey wool that wasn’t where my mind was going. Maybe next time. The cream beads, however, made a quieter statement, allowing the beauty of the yarn itself to emerge slowly.

I love Vintage pieces. This yarn made me think of something rich and classical. So I went to a classic knitting shape, the shell. A shape with a wonderful balance between open and closed space. A shape, that when knit would create a wonderful edge that only got better with the addition of beads.

The stitch pattern is the Grand Shell. It is similar to the shell shape I used once before – on my entry for the Magic of Mohair Competition. That design later appeared in Vogue Knitting, introducing my work to many knitters for the first time. It seemed fitting that this beautiful Cotswold wool should bring the Grand Shell to life.

Photo credit Rose Callahan

Sometimes the right yarn reminds us of ideas worth revisiting.

Some projects are planned. Others seem to choose themselves.

Does your yarn “speak” to you? Can you tell what it wants to be when you pull it out of your stash? Do you think that there is meaning to rediscovering something, not lost, just misplaced and out of mind?

I think that sometimes there is.

Happy Knitting

Lynette

July 30, 2026