Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: photography

  • Knit a Dress With Me – Update

    Knit a Dress With Me – Update

    If you are following the my design notes on Ravelry you will find this to be repetitive but if not I hope that you are enjoying the journey!

    Three rounds to go and then I start the panel shaping!

    Dry blocked I am at about 12 inches. The Panels will add approx 7 to 7.5 inches to the length – dry blocked.

    Things I am thinking about and would really appreciate feedback on.

    How closely fitting should the dress be? I am thinking fitted with about 2 inches of ease around the waist for comfort and to smooth out over a slip of some type. I have a pretty good idea of how to achieve the shaping as we get closer to the waist. Which will involve more panel shaping.

    Are you thinking of something that could be pulled over the head?

    If fitted there will need to be an opening of some type in the side seam or up the back. I am thinking side seam buttons under the arm and down past the waist – no zipper – zippers and knits are very chancy. I love the vintage feel of the side seam opening – very old fashioned dress finishing. I am not a big fan of buttons up the back – besides then so much of the dress would need to be knit flat as opposed to circularly. Though there is something about a long swath of tiny buttons up the back of a dress….

    If fitted, then after the waist area there will need to be darts. I chose the panel approach to make it easier to add waist darts if I wanted. But then will I need to add bust darts? If so, how? Short rows are the traditional way, but that would interrupt the lace pattern. I could end the lace pattern on the side of the front after the waist and just have panels in the front, but my vision is still of all over lace. Things to think about as I knit.

    If you are looking for a pullover style of dress – the option will be there and quite easy to make work – let me know.

    I am going to see how far I can get in the next week, after that I will be working on a sample and pattern for a yarn company which will slow this down for a couple of months!

    I will be changing needle size on round 15 of the decreasing chart. Just another quarter point from 3.75mm to 3.5mm (US#4).

    I am not sure when I will go to the 3.25mm. Most likely before the waist area.

    As for shaping the bodice depending upon your shape you may need bust darts or you may not – but you will need some shaping if you want it fitted – even if your bust only has a gentle curve.

    If you want a waist line and would like your dress to be a pullover style, we can add a double knit tubular channel for a belt or Gathering cord. Knit a fine belt in i-cord or 1×1 ribbing to run through the channel and we have a waistline. Alternatively we could run elastic through the channel. Anything to gather to the waist.

    For a more fitted style, then back to the buttons along the side seam. Or maybe an A-line shape with a slow, gentle line of decreasing stitches.

    But before we get there…

    At round 29, if you want a shaped waist, stop knitting. We may be adding more shaping panels. Not sure when I will be able to work those out.

    If you want a waist that is gathered into the belt or elastic, knit until your skirt is your desired length, and then wait for me to get there.

    Double markers for double tracking! I started my first shaping round!

    Spring flower popping up through the Lavender!

    We are facing a glorious weekend of sunshine here! And the flowers are starting to come. The buds are on the trees and the cherry blossoms are starting to bloom! I love the colours of Spring!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

    The lacy tracery of branches and leaves against a blue sky! How wonderful is nature.

  • A New Year – New Resolve!? Maybe!

    A New Year – New Resolve!? Maybe!

    I Resolve that: 

    This is going to be the year of flowers. Floral motifs in my knitting – you bet! Flowers on my walls – always – courtesy of my mum! Flowers in the garden – we will see how green my thumb gets! 

    And flowers on my shelves!

    Pansies and Florals – Oh My!

    I am a collector – yarn (of course) – vintage knitting books – knitting books – yarn (did I mention yarn) and antiques.

    The antiques are mostly the small stuff. Silver things, porcelain posies, china and other small things.

    Many know about my small obsessions and every now and then I am asked if I would like some more items for my collection. Mostly my flower collection. It was their mothers or their grandmothers and really they have no use for, need of, or interest in them. And I get it, we all have our hobbies. And I on the other hand love all the things that mothers and grandmothers loved in their day. Especially the floral posies, in all my years of collecting I have not a single double, or repeat of a flower not even ones that are close. 

    Each pot is different, each flower is different. Certainly they are all the common flowers, roses, peonies, pansies, anemones, tulips or trilliums. But each one is hand made, hand coloured, and just like nature, each flower is totally unique from every other flower. Some flowers come with birds on stems, perching on a nest, or about to take flight. Some flowers come in silver vases – those are perhaps my favourites!

    I think that the fact that human hands formed each flower, placed each flower in the pot and a human mind chose the colours of glaze to finish each bloom, is what fascinates me about these china posies. Some of the older posies are true works of art, holding a moment in time as the breeze moves the flowers about.

    Posies are delicate, easily chipped along the edges of petal and leaf. Petals and leaves also break in half and are often poorly glued back together, again human hands trying to preserve something that they loved and valued. I find the love of flowers such a human thing, something that many of us share in so many ways.

    The posies I collect also go well with the many petit point bouquets that I have on my walls and shelves. All lovingly created by my Mother. She spent hours working on each piece. Somehow many of her floral pieces came my way.

    My Mothers work – she even refinished the frame to complement the work.

    I will most likely have to divest myself of some of the “things” I collect. We all usually have to “downsize” at some point in our lives. Until that time arrives, I will enjoy them, celebrate them and share that love!

    So do you collect? Have you got a stash of something special that means a lot to you? I would love to hear about it.

    Happy New Year, Happy Collecting, Happy Knitting

    Be well,

    Lynette

  • A Fashion Show

    A Fashion Show

    A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to try something different. So I did.

    I sent six of my samples off to a fashion show in Edmonton Alberta. To the Gathering Threads Fibre Festival Fashion show. Here are some of the runway pictures. This was an inclusive event – so every body type, every ethnicity was included in the modeling group. I got to pick the models for my pieces and think about and help choose what they would wear and how they should appear. It was a lot of fun.

    North Sea Hap
    Meandering Meadows
    Seed and Leaf Hat and Poncho with Jester Gloves
    Tidal Pools – hand painted after knitting
    Sundail or High Summer Shawl
    Covid be Damned – one of my personal favourites!

    I was pleased with the results – the photographs are excellent. It is very different to see your knitting efforts put forward this way. I am hoping to go next year and see everything in person.

    I felt for the organizers of the show though – the center where the show was being held became the gathering place for the fire evacuees – it would have been so stressful for all involved!

    Happy Knitting
    Lynette

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • There’s a Little Spring in My Step

    There’s a Little Spring in My Step

    It is official – Spring is happening here. The Indian Plum bushes are starting to green out and the birds are singing a bright and happy song. This is the time of renewal and rebirth; of flowers and leaves emerging from the dark earth; of ideas bursting forth from our heads and fingers in much the same way!

    My brain is buzzing with idea’s tried and new ones waiting! I have yarn to knit and patterns to write – but the knitting is calling out more loudly. Old projects are begging to be finished and the new projects are waiting impatiently for their turn. While I contemplate how to bring order to my ideas I watch the world outside my windows change with the the advent of Spring.

    Squash Blossom Dreams in Buffalo Wool Co. Sexy, hand-dyed by Lorna’s Laces is on the short list to be finished this year.

    The Robin’s next door are busy building their nest in the evergreen ivy on the tree out side the window and I love watching them flit back and forth as they bring bits of string, grass and tiny twigs that all disappear into the green leaves of the Ivy. These Robins have been coming back for many years – I imagine that they are the same birds – and build their nest in the same spot every year.

    We walked around Buttertubs Marsh this morning. It was humming with life, birds, robins, starlings, chickadees, Canada geese, mallard and white headed ducks mostly, but I watched a fat brown squirrel as he leisurely crossed the path in front of us. He did a good job feeding himself over the winter! The people were out too! “Good morning’s” and “Hi’s” making the air happy, and the smiles on most faces, those smiles, making the heart happy!

    I have just about finished work on a big project and I am starting to look forward to and plan the next project. I can’t say much about the big project – except that it involves a big yarn company, pretty yarns and quite a few patterns!

    Butterflies and Bees Hat under construction.
    Butterflies and Bees Cowl

    The next yarn project will involve finishing up a couple of shawls. One I haven’t looked at for over 2 years and the other I started last year! In between I will be working on patterns for the hats I started last fall! Oh Yeah, and the Japanese Lace cowl and hat that I sort of snuck in there! No rest for the wicked! And I do so love doing what I do!

    I have been receiving a great deal of support for my creative journey lately – and from some new and unexpected sources! Life is good!

    I hope that you are all well and moving forward in your individual creative journeys.

    Happy Creating

    Lynette

  • #Wovember

    #Wovember

    I am participating in #Wovember this year. Not sure how I missed it in past years – it has been around since 2011! Though I suppose I live it everyday. I am a proponent for all things woolly and wonderful and have been as long as I have worked at my LYS!

    What is #Wovember you might ask? It is the celebration of all things woolly! It is the sharing of wool related knowledge! It is your favourite wool sweater and how it came into being! It is your favourite yarn store! It is the person who shears the sheep! It the person who dyes the wool! etc.

    Or, you could check out the link in the first paragraph and learn the history of how and why it started, or you could just join in and follow @ithoughiknewhow on Instagram. She will be posting the list of prompts on Wednesday October 27th. You can participate by posting to Instagram something based on the prompt of the day. The start date is November 1st!

    Other ways to participate in #Wovember, include but are not limited to…. you just need to share anything woolly that you are doing with the #wovember hashtag, comment on other participants shares and/or wear something woolly every day!

    Below is an example of a prompt sheet from.a couple of years ago.

    The idea is to use the prompt to post something that is on topic for the prompt. Ie why wool? Is the prompt. A picture of my favourite wool sweater might be my answer, because it keeps me cozy. Or it could be intrepreted as why is wool important to you? Environmental issues, Sustainability issues could be part of your prompt. You decide.

    I will be participating. I am also going to figure out a way to offer up a pattern a day as a prize through my Instagram feed. Just not sure how as yet.

    Be well and knit happy! Wear Wool!

    Lynette