Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: knitting

  • The Year Ahead

    The Year Ahead

    Last week we had one of the most colourful sunrises ever! My husband dragged me out and we raced down to Departure Bay Beach to capture the colours and light before the show ended! I hope that it is a promise of things to come!

    2023 is already shaping up to be an interesting year.

    I have signed up for the Sweet Paprika / SmallBird Workshop Yarn Box Club. This is a continuation of my own exploration into breed specific yarns as each box contains yarn, natural and dyed, from a specific sheep breed. Information about the yarn, breed, source, best uses etc. plus there will be zoom meetings about each box. I decided to join just as they ran out of the first run of boxes – of course! But this week they added some more subscriptions so I am in – I am very stoked about this.

    Every two months there will be a new box with the first one arriving mid-February! Six new yarns, and new ideas always come with new yarns. Today is the last day to sign up for the full shot!

    As well, Tom and I are going on a very small cruise – as in small boat, local waters exploration! The trip is around the end of May and we going to see and do things that we have never tried before.

    MotherShip Adventures specialize in Kayak Cruises (I am not a kayaker – a little too up close and personal), but they also do a couple of smaller cruises for history / photography buffs. We are going on one of these. The history and geography of Discovery Islands, Bute Inlet and Desolation Sound will be the focus of our tour. Hiking, zodiak trips and small island adventures await us. Hopefully lots of whale viewing and other wild life encounters! This will be a unique opportunity for us to discover more about our environment and enjoy a very up close and personal journey into the maritime history of B.C.

    The boat is the Columbia III and was originally a hospital ship that serviced the small communities that dotted the rugged coast of B.C. It was totally renovated and restored to become the tour boat that it is today!

    Of course there is always knitting and designing. That will never stop. More patterns, more yarns, ie – the yarn boxes offer intriguing opportunities. I am developing some designs for Gathering Yarns. This is an exciting new opportunity for me, new yarns, working with a Canadian Co. I am the first designer that they have worked with and I hope that we both have a great experience.

    Below are th new patterns that I will be releasing over the next few weeks! Multiple hats, a new Salish Sea Sweater Pattern – this one the Great Bear! and a new shawl, complete with a lovely wide beaded edging!

    We will also be starting classes up again at Mad About Ewe! I do love teaching people to see the amazing possibilities that can be created by yarn and needles. So, as always, knitting will be the focus and creative outlet of the year ahead!

    I hope that your Year ahead is happy and healthy and full of the things that make you happy!

    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

  • Thumbs UP!

    Thumbs UP!

    I have been knitting a lot of full mittens lately (as opposed to the fingerless variety). They seem to be my gift of choice is this year. They are fun and quick and are great vehicles for learning new techniques – they are sort of like hats that way.

    Adding the thumb is the only really fiddley bit. The most popular thumb is the fully shaped gusset with thumb. They are the classic thumb for mittens, but my favourite thumb is the afterthought thumb.

    Why the afterthought thumb? Well, it is especially great with patterned mittens, colourwork, texture or cable techniques. Why is it better? I am so happy you asked! LOL! The best and strongest reason is that an afterthought thumb (or afterthought heel) will not interrupt your patterning. Or does not require a special pattern separate from the rest of the mitten – though it can be a great vehicle for more patterning. Afterthought thumbs are usually added after the mitten body is finished and then worked in the main colour yarn in stockinette – making them an easy finish.

    How about a step-by-step tutorial?

    Technique 1

    I love this one for almost everything! But especially textural patterns in any weight. See Boldly Tweed Set.

    1. first work in pattern to the thumb insertion point; drop the working yarn and pick-up a length of waste yarn and work the desired number of stitches for the thumb as per the pattern size
    2. slip the waste yarn sts from the RH needle back to the LH needle; now resume working the pattern – knitting over the waste yarn insertion – with the mitten yarn and ignore the waste yarn until the mitten body is complete.
    Using a smaller needle size pick-up 1/2 of the stitch above and below the waste yarn insertion.
    Carefully clip the waste yarn stitches and remove the waste yarn
    Stitches are sitting free on the needles – they can look a little messy until knitted.
    Knit the first round as follows (dividing the sts onto the dpn’s; working with the correct size dpn’s and starting at either corner pick-up and-knit 1 stitch, knit across the needle to the next divide, pick-up and knit 2 sts across the divide, knit the sts across the next needle, pick-up and knit 1 st – end of round – round count is double the sts of the waste yarn plus 4 – in the sample above
    8 sts + 8 sts = 16 sts + 4 sts = 20 sts.

    Work next round of thumb as follows; K2tog, knit to 1 st before next divide, SSK, K2tog, knit to 1 st before next divide, SSK – thumb is now ready to complete as pattern requires.

    Technique 2

    I use this one mostly with heavier yarns. I find it easier to work than the other method.

    1. Knit to thumb insertion point, place required sts onto some waste yarn (cable needle in picture – it was handy and the mittens were fast LOL!.
    2. Backwards loop same amount of sts as are on the waste yarn, continue knitting the mitten.
    Mitten is knit and the sts ready to be picked up.
    Stitches are picked up and waiting to be knit. Work the 1 st and 2nd round as above.
    My Grandson’s Christmas Mittens – Jester Mittens and the Monster Mittens

    There will probably be patterns for these mittens – just not sure when!

    Happy Mitten Knitting, Be Well!

    Lynette

  • Season’s Greetings

    Season’s Greetings

    Never quite sure how to acknowledge this Season. For me it means Merry Christmas, not because of any religious meaning, but because it was a merry time of the year for our family. One that included presents, good food, and many friends and family and laughter, there was always laughter. It was my Mother’s favourite time of year and the whole house reflected her joy in the Season. Because of this – it is also my favourite time of the year!

    So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, Blessings this Solstice or however you and yours celebrate this Season of Light – I wish you all much joy and love.

    Every December for the last 7 or so years I have published a pattern on Ravelry that I make free for the month of December though January 1. It is my way of thanking you and wishing you all a Wonderful Holiday Season.

    This year’s pattern is the Mendenhall Shawl. This Shawl took a couple of years to come to fruition. It was going to be a joint project between Selena Miskin of Wayfaring Yarns and myself. Selena’s yarns and my patterns. We were the Sweater Sisters.

    Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier – those colours!

    Selena used to dye the most beautiful yarns, but due to health problems she hasn’t been able to dye any beautiful things for a couple of years. I kept hoping that would change – but life doesn’t always work that way. So, I am releasing the as a gift from us both.

    Included in the Mendenhall Shawl pattern is the code to purchase the co-ordinating Mendenhall Hat pattern. If you have purchased the 7 Hats More ebook you will not need to the code as the hat pattern is already in your ebook – the shawl will automatically be added to your ebook in your Ravelry library. This will be the last pattern of the book.

    Good Health, Happy Holidays and a very Merry Season to us all!

    Lynette

  • Mitten, Mitten who’s got the Mitten!?

    Mitten, Mitten who’s got the Mitten!?

    My grandson’s favourite knitted items are mittens and hats. He has a large collection of hats as his head doesn’t grow anywhere near as fast as the rest of him! He has a large head size for a seven year old – bigger than his mothers!

    So, I have started to knit him mittens, a new pair or two every year. They are fun projects and can be quick as well! I seem to have problem with mittens though – I always start out smaller than they should. This year, just like last year, I have made the first mitten too small. I should have checked my own pattern for the average lengths of the spacing!

    These pattern in these mittens is from my Reindeer Vest pattern. I made him the vest and his bear a matching vest a few years ago. I have always like the colourful diamond motif! If I have enough time – I might make him some dragon mittens! You see I have this idea….

    The First mitten is of course too small – so on to the next one! Yarn is Patagonia Organic Merino.

    I have been designing mittens for a few years and have several patterns out there! My first mitten pattern was for Thrummed Mittens – East Coast Mittens. And from that start came heavy weights like Mitten Love Again or Standing Tall and Multitude of Mittens as well as North Sea Mittens, Eileens Mittens (these ones are lined for extra warmth), Makin’ Mittens, Birds Nest Brioche Cowl and Mittens and my latest mitten pattern – Boldly Tweed, plus countless other gloves and fingerless mittens – keeping hands warm is so much fun!

    Birds Nest Mittens
    East Coast Mittens
    Eileens Mittens
    Makin’ Mittens
    North Sea Mittens
    Mitten Love Again
    Multitude of Mittens
    Standing Tall Mittens
    Boldly Tweed Mittens

    My favourite mittens to design and make were the Patchwork Mittens. I loved the combo of the yarn and pattern! And the colour simply made me happy!

    Do you make Mittens? Do you work from patterns? If so, which are your favourites?

    Or have you made so many mittens that you just cast-on and go!

    Below is my pithy pattern for 4-ply mittens – though the measurements can be applied to any mitten – just not the stitch counts.

    Well, I need to get knitting and so do you! Christmas is coming!

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • Photo Shoot

    Photo Shoot

    Yesterday Elise and I got together for a quick little photo shoot at Woodstream Park. We had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful morning and the trees and surrounding foliage was so full of colour. Gorgeous backdrop for the knitting!

    This is a pattern that I am working on for Cindy and Roy of Gathering Yarn. The yarn is a superwash merino aran called Bingo – a lovely yarn to work with.

    The rest of the items are a few hats and accessories that will be showing up in the next few weeks!

    Be well and knit happy!

    Lynette

  • On the Topic of Buttons

    On the Topic of Buttons

    Do you have a button box? Or better yet your Mother’s or Grandmother’s button box? Do you use them? Or simply admire them? I do both.

    My Mother’s box was lost to time and just one too many moves. It was a huge glass jar that I loved to look through. She didn’t do much sewing, but she would knit occasionally. Like me I think that she just loved buttons.

    But my boxes are pretty full. Collected over my time of sewing, knitting and well, collecting buttons! I love buttons! They are a fabulous item that can just add that perfect touch to your finished garment or they can be applied as embellishments. Adding buttons to button bands, or as design details is the one aspect of finishing my knitted pieces that I actually enjoy! I have also used shell buttons as embellishments in many of my knits – I love their sheen and the way they pick up the colours of the yarn.

    My button collection!

    This morning I was busy finishing off a childs vest – Reindeer Vest – that I had Jana knit up in Patagonia Organic Merino as a store sample. I also got her to knit the doll vest – Mini Reindeer Vest – as well. The original set was my Grandson’s Christmas Gift a couple of years ago. The Mini Reindeer Vest is a free pattern and will fit most medium dolls or bears! The Reindeer Vest is 50% off right now until Nov 30. Use the code Reindeer.

    It was a good thing I found a few button options for the vest as I was scrambling through my button box looking for some buttons! I started to sew on my original choice of button – I thought they were a nice bright red – I realized that the red buttons were really pink – bad early morning lighting! So, I went with another option!

    Not a bad thing to have a button box at hand as buttons seem to be a little scarce right now!

    It has been a good week, beautiful sunrises and sunsets at Departure Bay Beach. Roses still in bloom on the Promenade and always knitting.

    Be Well and Knit Happy!

    Lynette

  • Juniper Moon Farm – Winter 2022/23

    Juniper Moon Farm – Winter 2022/23

    Last Fall I was approached by Susan Gibbs of Juniper Moon Farm Yarns to designs a collection of hats and accessories for this Winter 22/23 Season. So began an epic knitting journey. I created 16 patterns, many with coordinating accessories to be released this fall.

    I don’t think that I have ever created so many patterns in such a short period of time. The yarns made it easy and the support was great. I hope that you see something that you like.

    Many of them will be in your local yarn stores if they carry Juniper Moon. Some are already up on Ravelry with the rest to follow as Juniper Moon has time to put them up. I have linked up the patterns that are on Ravelry, just click on them and you will be wisked away to the pattern. The patterns currently on Ravelry include Cherry, Dimity, Dubloons, Helm, Smoosh and Arabesque and Cricket.

    Be Well and Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • BOLDLY Star Tweed

    BOLDLY Star Tweed

    I love working in my LYS!

    When new yarns come in my brain sets off all sorts of ideas of what to do and when to do it and what should come first! I pull out my stitch libraries and pore over the options trying to find the perfect stitch to show off the new yarn that has captured my imagination.

    Star tweed is a stitch pattern from Barbara Walker’s first stitch library, and it is an easy, repeating, 2 colour slip stitch pattern. Knit in a very bulky wool the tweed is a bold statement that can show off any two colours beautifully! Can you see it in two shades of grey? Or maybe a bold black and white?

    • Boldly Star Tweed
    • Why Not a Headband
    • Warm Cowl
    • Big Bold Mittens
    • Package Deal

    I am featuring this stitch in my new pattern Boldly Star Tweed. Star Tweed is a basic Winter Set, Hat, Mittens and Cowl. The Cowl is small which also makes it a great headband. The complete set can be made from 2 skeins of Estelle’s new yarn – Eco Scandinavian Bulky. Making it quick to knit and economical. I used a range of needle sizes – 6.5mm and 8.0mm for the mittens and 8.0mm and 10mm for the hat and cowl. The Eco Scandinavian Bulky worked up fabulously on any of the needle sizes I tried.

    Eco Scandinavian Bulky is a thick and squishy, super bulky yarn made from 100% organic Scandinavian Wool and is GOTS certified. Its single ply construction has great stitch definition, feels soft next to the skin, and let’s you knit or crochet beautiful projects super quickly!

    Hand wash cool, lay flat to dry.

    The Eco Scandinavian Bulky lives up to its’s name. It is soft, bulky, with a slightly uneven texture that works up quickly. The yardage is very generous – it seems to go on forever! I just kept on knitting and there is still some left over!

    Boldly Star Tweed will be available on Ravelry in a couple of weeks.

    How to work the star tweed stitch.

    Star tweed is a slip stitch and wrap style pattern. it is worked over 4 sts. Stitches are made and moved (dropped over) on every other row. The rows in-between the working rows are knit plain. Note – the first 2 sts of every working row will be slipped forward or back so that the pattern is offset. See pattern for full details.

    slip the first st, find the yarn that runs between the slipped st and the next st on the left-hand needle
    make a new st by knitting into the space below the running yarn.
    pull the yarn through to form a st., slip the next st.
    knit the next st and then lift the first slipped stitch over the next 3 sts.
    drop the lifted stitch onto the knitting.
    knit the 4th st, repeat from

    What do you think? Ready to give it a try? I will post again when the pattern goes live with a code to allow you to purchase the pattern at reduced price!

    In the meantime – Happy Knitting!

    Lynette

  • Wovember is Coming

    Wovember is Coming

    What is Wovember you might ask? It is a celebration of all things wool related! It is a month of prompts on Instagram with #wovember and #Ilovewovember. I tried to participate last year but life got too busy! It may again this year but maybe not – I won’t know until I try! If you are interested check here or here for more information.

    Love Wovember Prompts:

    1. Gather

    2. Sheep

    3. Breed

    4. Herd

    5. Lamb

    6. Guard

    7. Shear

    8. Heritage

    9. Community

    10. Nourish

    11. Delicate

    12. Robust

    13. Natural

    14. Protect

    15. Staple

    16. Spin

    17. Yarn

    18. Color

    19. Craft

    20. Ornament

    21. Luxury

    22. Practical

    23. Fabric

    24. Home

    25. Body

    26. Hands

    27. Head

    28. Authentic

    29. Time

    30. Wonder

    Use the hashtags #lovewovember and #wovember to be eligible to win prizes from our Love November sponsors. Love Wovember is hosted by @IThoughtIKnewHow.

    Happy Wovember

    Lynette