Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: ebook

  • Time and Tide wait for No Man (or Woman)!

    Time and Tide wait for No Man (or Woman)!

    I think of that proverb often as I am something of a procrastinator! Never mind something of a procrastinator – I can and have at times turned it into a fine art!

    Procrastination, practiced properly is a time management tool that works to my advantage as I tend to work better when under just the right amount of pressure. That is what happens when I practice it consciously. When it sneaks up on me and I get distracted by the new toy – usually yarn – it can cause a bit of a disruption, which why I am releasing two patterns today – I, ummm, kinda missed last weekend somehow. It got lost in the sands of time and distraction.

    It wasn’t that I have been doing nothing. Just not the planned things.

    Two Versions of the bento box. So called because it is a little boxy with options, just like a bento box. PS – that is me in the Lapel version of the vest!

    Today’s releases are the Bento Box Vest and the Garry O’ hat. They represent totally opposite ends of the knitting spectrum.

    Garry O’

    The Bento Box Vest is knit with big needles, 10mm, (I used my super sparkly ones) and super bulky yarns and can be knit in a couple of days if you have a little time. Garry O’ is knit with much smaller needles, 2.5 and 3.0mm, and much finer yarns and will take a little time. Both are very satisfying knits for very different reasons!

    Today has been very busy! The first jam of the season – ummm, strawberry was made and Elise and I had a great photo shoot. Below is a sneak peak at some of the upcoming patterns for the Just Playing Around ebook.

    Some upcoming additions

    I hope that you have had a couple of great weeks. Working in your gardens or knitting up a storm, even working. Life is starting to feel just a little more optimistic.

    I have picked 8 whole strawberries from my pots so far – and I am seeing lots more forming. The peas are coming up almost faster than whatever bug is eating them and the beans and tomatoes are looking pretty healthy.

    It is the flowers that give me the greatest joy! Peonies, Poppies, Roses, Honeysuckle and Lavender are all blooming the thyme and sage as well. The bees are ecstatic and the humming birds as well. We are getting lots of rain right now which is good as this last Spring was way too dry. How does your garden grow?

    Be well and knit happy!

    Lynette

    A sneak peak into a fall project.

  • Memories Shawl

    Memories Shawl

    Memories last forever – even when we don’t want them too! But the good memories, the ones you never want to lose, never want tarnished or never want shadowed, are the ones we cling too!

    Memories Shawl is to celebrate those memories – a gift from a special friend to commemorate an important event. A visit to an amazing yarn store while on Vacation; with a yarn you had never seen before in a colour that just made you drool! We all have those yarns in our stash! I will remember the event and the people I met every time I wrap myself in the Rhinebeck Shawl.

    Rhinebeck Shawl

    Memories Shawl is designed to take advantage of multiple skeins of yarn. Maybe two skeins that are similar or two the same, or three the same. Some of those skeins might not show lace as well as we want – the pattern in these shawls is small and repeating, perfect for a highly coloured yarn. It is the edgings that need to be more subtle. They will set off the body of the shawl – in all its coloured glory.

    Rhinebeck shawl was made with a larger skein of hand-dyed yarn so the body is bigger and the lace edging is more intricate, because it was for me and my love of lace knitting.

    The B.C. Shawl is smaller and celebrates where I live! Something I know you can all relate too. Most of us have a place that means more to us than anything – a place in the past or the right “now” place.

    B.C. Memories

    The B.C. shawl was made with smaller hanks of yarn and was embellished with buttons. You know how much I love embellishments. But you can knit it plain, the knitting itself is fairly simple and not a bad option for a beginning lace knitter with a little experience under their belt. The edging gets its impact for the sharply defined edge and pop of colour – not an intricate lace pattern.

    The Memories Shawl is the latest release in the ebook – Just Playing Around.

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

    It was a good week, making more memories.

    Night Sky this week at bedtime.
  • #Never Not Knitting

    #Never Not Knitting

    Is a hashtag that I use all the time, because, you know, I knit all of the time! LOL!

    As a crafter I really appreciate the hand work of other makers, like this gorgeous Pear Wood bowl by Terry Marshall of Bowled Over Woodturning. Sorry he is not on the Internet, but his bowls can be found at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns.

    Not a yarn bowl, but a notions bowl, something to keep all my bits and bobs in line. Made of Pear wood with brass filings filling a crack in the bottom of the bowl.. Very cool..

    This week I have been working on the eb00k, Just Playing Around. and today I added two hat patterns to the book. Just Playing around is still available at half price until May 14th or 15th.

    Practically Perfect and Perfectly Practical, a aran weight simple cap that is a free download for all. Knit with Noro Kureyon.

    And Medieval Star, a classic toque with a romantic brim. Knit with Drops Alpaca Boucle and BC Garn Loch Lomond GOTS.

    I started a pooling project for the Just Playing Around ebook as well. Have you ever tried pooling – it is deliberately setting up your hand-dyed yarn to stack and form columns of glorious clear colour.

    Pooling with Llama Lace and Pine Cone lace pattern.

    Jana, my test knitter has finished her version of the stole, Plumier 2 and now I need to finish my version, Plumier 1! No rest for the wicked. Plumier 2 is knit with Handmaiden and Fleece Artist Flyss in the Tourmaline Colourway – look for this pattern to come out sometime early June.

    BC Garn Bio Shetland GOTS for Plumier 2. I am well into the second half, but still have about 2-3 weeks of knitting left.

    So that is what I am up to! What about yourselves? I hope that you are all making up a storm of things to eat, wear and share!

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

    A beautiful Pink Dogwood Bloom to celebrate this glorious Spring Day.

  • Flat Iron Hat and Mitts

    Flat Iron Hat and Mitts

    The third pattern has just been added to my Ebook – Just Playing Around.

    Flat Iron was knit with Ancient Arts Lascaux Fine Fingering. This heathered yarn adds a great depth to the cabled pattern. I like this yarn so much that you will see another hat in the collection knit with the same yarn.

    Lascaux Fine / Lascaux Fine 50’s – 25% Manx Loaghtan/75% Punta Arenas Wool

    Lascaux Fine 50’s – 175 meters / 192 yards per 50 gram / 1.75 oz skein

    Lascaux Fine 100 – 350 meters / 385 yards per 100 gram / 3.5 oz skein

    Gauge: 25 – 30 sts / 4 inches (10 cm) US 1.5 – 2.5 or 2.5 – 3.0 mm

    Lascaux Fine is a delightful blend of heritage and modern sheep fibre spun into a 2-ply fingering weight yarn which is perfect for stranded colourwork projects.

    The heritage breed sheep is Manx Loaghtan, found only on the Isle of Mann, and the modern breed is the Punta Arenas from South America. The natural colour of this yarn is a light brown, so it has a heathered undertone when it is dyed, and although it looks rustic, it actually knits up exceptionally soft! This is a great yarn that feels wonderful against the skin, making it suitable for garments like mitts, sweaters and even lace shawls!

    Note: Lascaux has it’s own unique colour palette due to the natural colour of the yarn. 

    Ancient Arts
    Flat Iron Hat – knit with Ancient Arts Lascaux Fine
    I played around with the photo to really highlight the shading of the yarn witch did affect the colour somewhat!

    The hat and mittens make a great set and take only one skein of yarn.

    Be well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • 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