Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: superstitions

  • Are You Feeling Lucky?

    Are You Feeling Lucky?

    Are you Superstitious? I am, just a little. Most of my superstitions center around numbers. For example, my lucky number is 13. Many good things have happened for me when that number is involved. And a Friday the 13th is the best.

    I am participating in the MarlyBird 24 Days of Quickies which is 24 days of free patterns, each day a new knit and a new crochet pattern! My pattern Lucky Sevens will be available for free on Dec 15 from early morning to early morning Dec 16. I really wanted Dec 13 but it was already taken. So I went for the 15th, seven days after my birthday. This is new for me and with all those lucky sevens I am hoping that it will be a lucky for me as well!

    UPDATE: Well Lucky Sevens is no longer free but the link will take you to other free patterns from the Marly Bird site. I hope you “get lucky”!

    The number “seven” is a lucky number in many cultures and religions, and is especially significant in most Western Cultures. For example: seven days of the week, seven wonders of the world and Lucky Number Seven. So here is another lucky seven, the Lucky Sevens Beanie or Toque.

    This hat has the number seven in abundance.  Each cable is 7sts, a very traditional way of making the cables, not much seen nowadays.    There are seven twists on the beanie style hat and seven full cables on the toque style hat.  The cables are short, making them rounder than tall cables.  They are sometimes called “Coin” cables. Gold coins are a treasure in any culture and the colour red is a power colour. Symbolism abounds in these hats.

    These lucky “Coin” cables are mirrored and move up the body of this beanie or toque styled hat.  The cables are worked into the crown and then are evenly decreased as part of the crown, creating a flower finish.

    This pattern is easy to memorize, as the cable pattern repeats both around and up the hat, making it a a quick and easy knit. The recommended sport weight yarns are not too heavy, but the cable pattern keeps it warm. Make your Lucky Seven a beanie (gold hat) as shown or add one more Cable Chart repeat (8 rounds) for a more toque (red hat) like finish.

    The gold beanie was knit with Ulysse by de rerum natura in the colourway. The red toque was knit with Estelle yarns in their Eco Tweed DK. The sizes are small/medium adult or medium/large adult and either hat can be knit as a beanie (short) or as a toque (8 rounds longer),

    Materials: 50 grs 185m sport weight yarn will make either sizes, 3.5mm US #4 40cm 16inches circ and dpn’s, cable needle, markers and the regular notions.

    Lucky Sevens is available from my Etsy Shop or Ravelry.

    Happy Knitting!

    Lynette

    I hope that you are feeling very “LUCKY”!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette

  • Circular Magic – Symbols in the GreenMan Shawl

    Circular Magic – Symbols in the GreenMan Shawl

    Here are a few of my thoughts, and reasonings as to why I choose to use these symbols in the GreenMan Shawl. I think that the need to work towards the renewal of our environment has more to do with some aspects of our past. From when we were closer to the environment and had more understanding of why it was so important to our well being.

    This is a circular shawl. Why?

    Circles are magic. Circles in knitting are even more magical! Where else can you take a straight line and make it do circles and spirals.

    Knitting is a straight line.

    Knitting is a straight line made with curves.

    Every individual stitch is curved.

    It is tremendously fun to take something that most people think of as a straight line and make the knitting run in circles, hence my love for circular shawls.

    In history, in folklore, in magic, circles are powerful objects. They hold, they contain, they encompass. They can be everything and nothing.

    I love to knit circular shawls.

    A circular shawl is very important to the concept behind the GreenMan KAL. Because circles are magic. Because the Green Man is an ancient and powerful concept. Because I may be more than a little superstitious and have a tendency to be intuitive and to trust my intuition.

    This shawl is full of superstition. It starts on Friday the Thirteenth of September. Usually considered unlucky, the number 13 has always had a positive influence in my life. The Green Man is a figure of legend and lore. There will be mistletoe in the Oak and Acorn band. and there is power in the spirals that form the knitting of the shawl. Our knitting spirals out from the center of the shawl.

    A spiral that spins clockwise (from the inside-out) represents growth, expansion, evolution, harmony and cosmic energy. It can also represent the inner (spiritual) and outer (physical) worlds and the connection between the two.

    The center of the spiral is often associated with the Source, God, or One Consciousness, out of which everything emerges. The spiral emerging from the center and expanding outwardly in all directions in an everlasting manner represents creation, cosmic energy, and infinite possibilities. It also represents the cyclic nature of the universe.

    22 Powerful Spiral Symbols & Their Deeper Symbolism, by Lyza Hayn

    The spiral and the Green Man are related in their basic representational meanings of growth, rebirth and future possibilities.

    Together, the oak tree and acorn represent the cyclical nature of life. The oak tree, with its roots firmly planted in the earth, represents the past and the present, while the acorn symbolizes the future and the potential for growth and change.

    Oak Symbolism and Meaning – Thorn & Claw

    The Oak has for centuries represented strength in thought and purpose, the Oak stands for longevity. It stands tall in growth and last long when used to create the things of man. The Acorn, the seed of the Oak, is a symbol of fertility and growth, but also of wisdom because of the slow growth of the Oak, the Acorn also represents the slow passage of time as wisdom is attained.

    And Mistletoe, because it produces berry’s in Winter and is evergreen, represents rebirth, life and fertility!

    I hope that I have entertained you, enticed you and made you curious.

    Apologies to “Queen” here – Knitting is a “kind of magic”!

    Happy Knitting

    Lynette