Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: Double knitting

  • Embrace Summer Joys: The Blanket Project Update

    Embrace Summer Joys: The Blanket Project Update

    Waves and Sunny Daze

    It is July already and I am not quite sure how I got here. How are you feeling? Is time getting faster in your world this year?

    I have really been focused on The Blanket Project, Threads of Colour – A Year in Squares for the last six months. And the Renovation. And now the final bit of the last years move – the Organization. In between I try to fit in some life. This last week had a lot of “life” in it.

    La Dolce Vita – living a life.

    It has been a beautiful Sunny week. With a little bit of rain here and there. We popped up to Fanny Bay Inn to meet some family on Wednesday and had a lovely lunch. it was a gorgeous day and the views were spectacular.

    On Saturday we drove down to Victoria to catch some baseball with our Grandson. The afternoon before the game we popped over to Cadboro Bay for lunch and a wander down to the beach. Tom had read about a new Olympic sport being practiced there. It was a combination of running and rowing and then running again – Rowing Beach Sprint. It was being run in timed heats. It showed potential I think.

    As for the game – the Harbour Cats won the night and Logan was thrilled.

    We stayed the night and made our way leisurely back up Island. We stopped at Goldstream and wandered a bit. Checked out the Farmers market and had lunch with some friends… A very satisfactory week in all.

    So I took a few photos over the week as we travelled.

    A beautiful view with a perfect Gary Oak at Fanny Bay Inn.
    Fanny Bay Inn has a lovely little garden.
    Rain dapple Hydrangea – I love watching how these flowers open up.
    Roses in the rain.
    Sun reflecting off the Moon one morning this week.
    Cadboro Bay – watching a new Olympic sport develop. Running and rowing.
    Sun dappled new growth at the point of a broken off branch! Such a vivid green.
    Looking Waayy up at Goldstream Park.
    More new growth at Goldstream.

    Threads of Colour – the July Square and Fancy

    I have a new block and a fancy for you today.

    For the block I went with the tried and true. One of my favourite Shetland Lace patterns, Old Shale, is always beautiful and always effective. Here it is representing Waves. Reminding me of Summer leisure time, idling away hours at the beach, swimming and reading.

    WavesDownload

    Are you a Summer reader? I read more in the Summer than I do in the winter. Light reading, science fiction, mystery and romances to while away time when I feel too hot to knit. And not so light reading, research for my fall classes and patterns – I love delving into my knitting book collection and playing with ideas!

    So this month I took a look at double knitting and decided the technique would create a fun fancy. How about a bookmark to go with the Summing Reading.

    This one is light weight, totally revesible and was a really fun, quick knit!

    The Sunny Daze Bookmark.

    sunny daysDownload

    The July block is the start of the second half of our block collection. If you have knit all of the blocks so far you will have 8 blocks completed. I am having fun playing with technique and colour and hope to add a few more colourful, textural options in the next couple of months.

    Planning Ahead

    If you have been knitting every block you will have 8 blocks completed. I will be knitting 20 blocks for my blanket (maybe 24) so I have to decide which Squares I like best and knit an extra one or two. If you want a more Afghan sized blanket your will need to double up on a few of your squares as well. The 12 or 16 squares I have planned for the year will make more of a lap robe sized blanket.

    I have started to play around with how to connect our blocks into an interesting and useful blanket. Of course we could keep it simple with just the basic connections outlined. Those ideas will be covered. As well as a few more unique ideas. More on that in the next blog post.

    Happy Knitting

    And Happy Canada Day!

    Lynette

    Our Collection to date. Only the February fancy is not here. It is currently attached to a hat, which is somewhere in my very disorganized yarn room.

  • New Year

    New Year

    New projects, more plans, life goes forward. I have many plans but no resolutions, I seldom keep a resolution, but plans can be changed and adapted to fit the moment. How about you? Do you make or keep resolutions?

    I have finished knitting the Moebius and I am very happy with the result. I love a fringe bind-off. It takes an extra long time, but the effort is so worth it. I wore the Moebius to work on Thursday. It looked great, the feedback supported my thoughts on the matter, and felt good. I did not block it as I really wanted to keep it deeply textural.

    I will need to reknit the moebius with a different yarn for the workshop in March. Gathering Yarns Popcorn is not currently available, so I am going to use Fleece Artist Slubby Mix.

    Slubby Mix is a Merino/BFL blend, thick and thin single ply, and it will give me the texture that I really loved about the Popcorn. The pattern I designed I think will look good in a smooth yarn as the pattern is a very simple knit and purl texture. But it looks fabulous in a textured yarn that adds extra depth to the textural pattern.

    This full day workshop will run March 22, 10:00am to 4:00.

    The Year of Hats, a series of 4 hour workshops, will start in a couple of weeks. Each hat will focus on different techniques. Some will be easy, some will be more challenging. There will be homework to do before each workshop. The ribbing or band will need to be completed before the workshop so that the class time will focus on the technique being featured in each hat.

    Jan Cap
    Feb Cap – Beret
    March Cap – fair-isle beanie

    It will start with the Jan Cap, something a little simple to set us up for success as we work our way through the possibilities. This cap is a little slouchy with a seed stitch body, a slip st detail and is finished with a jaunty tassel. This workshop will run this January 25th from 11:00am to 3:00pm with a 4 hour workshop.

    The Feb Cap is a classic Beret. This Beret has a little bit of stranding for detail and a little I-cord loop as a final flourish. This workshop runs February 22nd from 11:00am to 3:00pm.

    The March Cap is a fair-isle beanie, the Sea Star Beanie. A 3 colour fair-isle band is topped with a textural knit and purl sea star crown. This workshop runs March 29th from 11:00am to 3:00 pm.

    Any curling fans out there? I will be going to Kelowna to watch the Brier, at the end of February. While in Kelowna I will be teaching a couple of classes at Kelowna Yarn and Needle Crafts.

    If you live in the area and want to take a class, or are coming to the Brier and want to add on something a little different, check out the information below and/or contact Kelowna Yarn. I usually bring a few extra samples to touch and wear so if there is something that you want to see…. maybe I can accommodate.

    First there will be a workshop on double knitting, and a then a class on knitting the perfect pair of gloves.

    I am designing a new double knit pattern for the workshop. Winter Florals, knit with Ancient Arts Superwash Merino DK in the Cranberry and Mineral colourways. I am very pleased with the way the pattern is knitting up.

    If I have time I will finish a pair of gloves that I have already started for myself. They feature a beautiful beaded cuff. The beaded pattern looks simple but is very effective. The beads are pre-strung and then knit in as the cuff progresses. The remainder of the gloves will be plain stockinette.

    This year I will be focusing on finishing some projects already started and hopefully expanding my designing skills. There are still so many things to share! I know you must have something that you want to make or learn how to make. Let me know and maybe a new class can be created.

    Around the house we have gone back to “normal”. The Christmas decorations are down and there is a pot of pea soup simmering on the stove. I don’t have any baking planned today. We are kind of taking a small break from sweets. I ate waay to much over Christmas and New Years.

    We do have a very big plan this year for ourselves! We are downsizing! Heaven help me! How will I fit all of my yarn into a smaller place!? That is a future problem that will take all of the next few months to figure out!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette