A Little Hello

It’s been a while and life has been busy. Nothing new there I guess, but it is nice to connect again!

I have been working (at Mad About Ewe) with a young woman named Amy West. She knows a lot more about computers and programs than I do and she has been putting my broken site back together. Amy and I still have a way to go, but it is happening and I am so happy!

This years retreat is coming up quickly and I am busy writing up the handout. All of the samples have been knit and I like the technique, Tuck Stitch Knitting. I have added some simple short-rows to one of the tuck patterns to really make the stitch structure pop! To me that pattern looks like cascading water, tumbling down a rock face, so I have named the Retreat Pattern “Rills” for those small cascading streams.

Heads and Hands in Drops Karisma wool, waiting for the retreat. Can you see the Rills?

The dimensional shapes in Tuck Knitting are created by lifting stitches from rows below the one that you are working on. See Tracy Purtscher’s book Dimensional Tuck Knitting for more information.

Rills Cowl – One of the choices for a retreat project.

I still try to get in a walk or two every weekend – but I have been lax at times – sometimes I feel just too busy or my knitting is really holding my attention. Last weekend I did walk at Elk Falls with my daughter! What an incredible park!

Suspension Bridge over Elk Falls.
Marsh at Moorecroft Park in Nanose.

I love Moorecroft Park – there is such a wide range of landscapes all within a small area. Sea and shore with a wonderful little bay; meadow up and away from the shore and next to it, a wonderful marsh, the perfect home for birds and beavers. I have seen eagles here, herons, myriads of birds. And down in the bay sea lions, lazing about! Fabulous!

I am participating in Kate Davies Knitting Season right now. It is all about design and how we think and create. What makes us as designers, keep on creating and what stops us from creating. It is also about being mindful of where you are and of what you are thinking. It is helping me focus and reminds me of the need to keep the focus on the important things in my life. Things like self care, family, knitting and design!

What do you do to keep your life on track? What is important to you?

Roamin’ Hap or Lizzies’ Shawl – knit with Millarochy tweed.

For the Knitting Season, I am working on a project that is related to the Roaming Hat. I am working on a hap styled shawl in the same yarns, Millarochy Tweed, with the same motifs as the hat.

Did you know that the hat was published in the Kate Davies book Millarochy Heids! I was so chuffed! Photo’s below are courtesy of Kate Davies Designs.

Over Departure Bay the most glorious of sunrises keep on starting my days.

Sunrise over Departure Bay earlier this week.

Happy Knitting

Lynette

New Flowers!

Yellow Lilies!

Vivid yellow

Today we walked at Morden Colliery Park.  It was grey with a light drizzle – lovely walking weather.  The paths were edged in brilliant green and the tree branches were greening up overhead!  The side paths looked like fairy lanes!  Such an alive walk!

We saw two new (to us) flowers!  The most exciting were yellow lilies, a member of the Fawn Lily family, but with larger leaves and a more clustered growth pattern.  Curly Lilies have all separate leaves and stems, no clumping; the yellow lilies all seemed to grow in clumps or clusters.  In 20 years of walking around Nanaimo I have never seen the yellow lilies!  Today our timing was perfect!

It was a perfect walk in other ways as well – so many flowers were coming into bloom or just finishing their season!

Pacific Bleeding Hearts are carpeting the surrounding forest floor!

Hookers Fairy Bell

We saw lots of Pacific Bleeding Heart, Trilliums in all colours – pure white to deep purple.  I don’t often see so many perfect “old” trilliums!  And we saw another new flower.  This one is called Hookers Fairy Bell.  It is another small white flower, perfectly beautiful!

I hope that you enjoy the view!

Happy Walking

Lynette

I am all out….

Just about to open up!

…of Superlatives up to the job of describing the Curly Lilies, also known by their common name Fawn Lilies!

Perfect Trilliums

I thought that I had missed seeing them this year.  I have not been getting out walking as much because of a bum knee and the weather really hasn’t been conducive to walking and taking pictures – how many pictures of rain can one camera take!  I know I have taken too many!  LOL!

Today has been gorgeous – clear blue skies and a balmy 11 or 12 degrees Celsius!  So we went to the Canyon, always one of my favourite places to walk.

And there were Curly Lilies, fields of them under the trees, bunches of delicate, elegant white blooms with brilliant yellow centers dancing in the light breeze.  They were beautiful.

It is Spring!

There are wild Dogwood blooms, perfect Trilliums with the petal, sepal and leaves placed just so, tiny yellow violet blooms, hot pink salmon berry blooms and the multiple pink blooms of the red flowering currant!  One of the more curious items I saw today was a tree fungus, blushing a delicate pink, something I have never seen before!  All of these I found on my walk today!

Ground Covering Curly Lilies

I hope that you enjoy the blooms as much as I did!

Happy Viewing

Lynette

Spring Starts and the Rain Never Ends!

Rain Dappled Cherry Blossom from the Grove around Departure Bay

It is Spring here and the blossoms are blooming!

Though they are struggling to handle the rain that has been falling pretty continuously since about 7 days ago!

Golden Knitting – center motif for a shawl – still deciding how to frame the motif! Knit with Kid Silk Haze and Handmaiden Sea Silk! Lots of beads as well!

They say that the rain promises to hang around for at least five more days.  Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mind the rain, there is something comforting about the sound of rainfall, and beauty in the greenery dappled with raindrops  – and there have been random glimpses of blue skies and sunshine – but we want more!  The flowers want more and my muddy, construction zone yard wants sun too – only then can it be finished!

The flooded basement is still awaiting carpets and nothing can be moved back until the carpets are in the trim is replaced – current date for carpets is April 19th!  Patience is not really my strong suit!  LOL!  I am finding lots of yarn I had forgotten and coming up with new ideas for the yarn I am finding!

The upside to everything being upside down!

A highlight from last weekends walk at Pipers Lagoon – a gorgeous hummingbird just sat and posed for me!

Celestial Mountain Dreams for the Buffalo Wool Co and a Summer KAL! Knit with Earth Lace Weight and Sexy and beads!

I have been knitting a lot right now – and starting a lot of new projects right now – I have Spring Startitus!  And my current projects all seem to be packed in boxes waiting for the basement to be finished with the finishing!

During the week Departure Bay saw an influx of California Sea Lions! There were a lot of them just lolly gagging around the Bay!

What is on your needles?  Do you suffer from wanting to start multiple projects in the Spring?  I suffer it every year!  It is like my brain is exploding with ideas!  My hands can’t keep up!

I have recently finished a couple of Top-Down Chunky Toddle/Child Sweaters.

I am also working on several hat patterns.

As well as a Chunky Shrug for the painting class this Summer and the list just goes on!

Today we walked in the rain at Colliery Dam Park.  The old fruit trees are blossoming and the leaves on the lupine look like they have been sprinkled with sugar – the drops are so tiny and numerous!

No wonder I love beads on my knitting everyone dapples the knitting just like the rain on the plants!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Knitting

Lynette

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Of Kate Davies, Sir Harry Lauder and Memories

How can I put a knitting, yarn designer like Kate Davies and a singer of Scottish Songs like Sir Harry Lauder in the same sentence as Memories?  Let me share a story:

Shetland Oo – a wonderful view of the wool industry and people of the Islands!

To properly begin;  I have been a fan of Kate Davies for quite a while.  I have a few of her books and I have always enjoyed her blog posts.  Late last fall Kate started talking about a new yarn, a fingering weight tweed made with 70% wool and 30% mohair.  It is called Milarrochy Tweed and she was going to introduce it as a club, The West Highland Way Club!  There would be yarn, patterns, essays about the West Highland Way and eventually a book.

Worthy

I was hooked!  I love tweeds (more about tweeds here); I love mohair – one of my favourite fibres; and I loved the concept!  So I gifted the club to myself for Christmas.

The lace shows so much better in the lighter colours!

My original club package was lost in the mail.  It is still lost in the mail!  But Kate and company sent me a new package (excellent customer service) – it arrived a couple of weeks ago!  I liked the yarn well enough to order a sweaters worth and will be ordering more!  You know how I love Purple!  I now have enough Milarrochy Tweed in Gloaming, a purple, to knit a sweater!

Worthy

One of the unexpected bonuses of the club was that Kate had added a small design competition to the club.  Design a hat using her yarn – I love design and competitions so I was hooked again.

I was only going to make one hat!  Really!  The first hat was all planned, colours, style etc. and I was happy with the plan.  Lace bands and Fair-Isle bands, and a classic Fair-Isle Crown; because of the wait – I named the hat Worthy!  As in the yarn being Worthy of the Wait!  Once the yarn arrived I sat down and got to work knitting.  And Oh, what a nice crisp yarn it is to work with!

While I love the results from my first hat, I was disappointed that the lace details did not show.  I should have known better!  So I had the pattern test knitted in a lighter colour and different yarn and I am much happier with how the lace shows.  I couldn’t use Milarrochy Tweed as I knew the background colour I needed would never arrive in time!

But then there was this colour in my package!  I have just finished knitting my second hat for Kate Davies hat design competition with that colour.

Milorrochy Tweed in the Gloaming colourway

This last week has been a week of knitting – no surprize there – and memories of my Granny, all starting with this one colour of yarn – Gloaming.  Gloaming is a gorgeous purple tweed, crisp and neppy and quite beautiful.

I have spoken of my Granny Baptie a few times in my blog.  I have spoken of both my Grandmothers and their influence in my life.

My Granny Baptie (her maiden name was Clark, and she grew up in Lochgelly) came over from Scotland when she was 16. It was 1916. My Grandfather was already here and working the coal face in a local mine.  Her courage astounds me!

My Grandmother’s favourite song was and remained through most of her life Roamin’ through the Gloamin’ as sung by Sir Harry Lauder.


Roamin’ in the gloamin’ on the bonny banks o’ Clyde
Roamin’ in the gloamin’ with my lassie by my side
When the sun has gone to rest
That’s the time we love the best
Ach, it’s lovely roamin’ in the gloamin’

I’ve seen lots of bonnie lassies travelin’ far and wide
But my heart is centered now on bonny Kate McBride
And altho’ I’m no’ a man who throws a word away
I’m surprised mysel’ sometimes at all I’ve got to say.

One nicht in the gloamin’ we were trippin’ side by side
I kissed her twice and asked her once if she would be my bride
She was shy, so was I, we were baith the same
But I got brave and braver on the joumey comin’ hame

Last nicht after strollin’ we got hame at halfpast nine
Sittin’ at the kitchen fire I asked her to be mine
When she promised, I got up and danced the Hielan’ fling
I’ve just been at the jew’llers and I’ve picked a nice wee ring

She would hum or sing that song whenever she was working, or happy or sometimes just because!  She even gave me a copy of one of his records when I got my first record player!  My favourite song was a rollicking drinking song called a “A Wee Deoch-an-Doris”.

Roamin’

Roamin’

When I received the yarn, I held that colour in my hand, with the name “Gloaming” on the band, and a wealth of my Granny’s memories came back to me; of Sir Harry and Roamin through the Gloamin; of heathers and thistles; of climbing out back windows to run off to dances; of shortbread and peat and all the memories my Granny would share.

So I designed and knit a second hat.  This one called Roamin’.  It has all of my Granny’s memories in one small piece.  It is really for me and all those who dream of visiting the “Old Country”, as my Granny called it, at some point in the future.

Fascinating reading and wonderful patterns.

Thank-you Kate for creating the yarn that inspired this walk down my memories.

Happy Knitting

Lynette

PS – if you are interested in the Shetlands and the textile history of the Islands you will need to check The Vintage Shetland Project by Susan Crawford!

Worthy worked in a different yarn with a much different colourway!

A Busy Time…..

 

Belle Starr

This time of year always seems busy!

Spring is coming and I always start a few new projects as ideas and yarns keep pouring into my life.  The Retreat always happens and that keeps me busy right up until it happens!  Then I keep myself busy!  Now that I have so much more family around; a grandson that just keeps on getting cuter; my father is about to move into the basement and both my brothers have moved to the Island as well; there is never enough time.

I had this last week off of work.

It was wonderful – I got caught up on some things that had been piling up!  Patterns  mostly!

Meandering Meadows!

I have released 3 new patterns onto Ravelry in the last week!  Belle Starr for the Buffalo Wool Co; Knitting an Estonian Garden, the Retreat project this year; and from last year, a forgotten pattern that I had written and had test knit and then submitted to a couple of magazines.  I put the sample away and got caught up in the busyness of life!

Well I found the sample this week, dusted off the pattern and just submitted it to Ravelry!  The found pattern is called Meandering Meadows, I hope that you like it – if you do, please use the coupon code Almost for a 33 % discount on the price of the pattern.  The code is good until midnight March 11th.

I found a couple of other samples as well!  More dusting is needed on those!

This one needs a name!
Got any ideas?!

Tomorrow I go back to work!  I have been told that lots of new yarns have arrive and new colours in old yarns I can hardly wait!

Happy Knitting

Lynette

Knitting an Estonian Garden

This afternoon I am off to Kiwi Cove Lodge for Mad About Ewe’s Annual Retreat.  This is our 18th Retreat and I will be teaching Rooistud or Inlay, an embellishment technique common to Estonian Knitting.

Inlay is the dominant technique that I will be teaching, but there are other techniques as well, other small embellishments that compliment the project.  The other Estonian techniques that are included in the retreat handout come with names like peas, peppercorns, roses and most involve colour – lots of colour and lots of play!  My favourite types of knitting.

Click here for a downloadable photo tutorial on inlay.

Our projects are fingerless mittens.  From a simple ribbed cuff to wildly adorned options – the idea is to pick and choose – personalize and play!

I have been trying to improve my media skills – with varying success.  Check out my facebook page for a video of the Travelling or Horizontal braid that I use in one of the mittens.

I hope that you have a great weekend!

Happy Knitting

Lynette

 

Flooding In

Well it is Winter on the West Coast – which means that it is raining!  Right now it is the soft gentle rain, constant and sort of soothing.  Which is how I like life to be, soft, easy and no major ups and downs!

Nanaimo River in the Fog this morning.

Last Sunday the rain came down in torrents and that was after a few days of heavy rain!

(please note here – difference between heavy rains and torrential rains – heavy rains, water runs in ditches and torrential rains, WATER RUNS IN BASEMENTS)

We woke up Monday morning to 3/4 inches of ground water in my basement;  we have been living with huge fans running ever since!  Out came the brooms and dust pans, every swept water up onto a dust pan?  Interesting activity!  Followed by the much more efficient wet/dry shop vac!

On the up side, my basement will get new flooring and the outside of the house will acquire new drainage ditches!

Not sure of the time line as to when all this will happen as quite a few houses were flooded that had never been flooded before and the restoration guys are running around trying to rent equipment to handle more jobs at once than they had ever seen!

To go with the weather I have a few things coming down my creative pipes, ideas overflowing with possibilities and flooding onto my computer screen and on to my needles!

To begin with, a little while ago I started a Facebook Group – LeTissier Design – Pump up your Knitting.  Something where I could create a bit of a community, focused around knitting and friends.  Run a few KAL’s (Knit Alongs), creating small things that will focus on skill building.

All you need – yarn – appox 200 yds heavy lace or fingering weight – sample is Koigu Lace, 2.0mm US 0’s straights, circs or I use 2 dnps’s, approx. 800 to 900 size 8/0 beads and a dental floss threader (usually found by the tooth brushes at your local drug store)!

I am planning my first KAL – Beaded Fingerless Mittens

  • Knitting Skills required – only the ability to knit Garter St!
  • skills learned – threading beads and then working with pre-strung beads

The pattern is an older one of mine – Beaded Pulse Warmers or Fingerless Mittens – I have used it many times to teach this style of knitting with beads.  We can all knit garter stitch – that leaves the mind free to focus on learning how to handle the beads!

If you wish to participate in the KAL, use the code “First”  to purchase the pattern for $2.50 US.

 

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Koigu Lace, Miyuki 8/0 bead and some Zings – how could I resist purchasing the needles – they matched my colours beautifully!

 

And then Stash Dive to find the perfect yarn and beads!  You can use a heavier Laceweight – I am starting a new pair in Koigu Lace, or any fingering weight yarn, one of my favourite yarns for these mittens is Drops Alpaca.  You will need about 800 to 900  8/0 beads for the project – maybe less depending on the chart you choose!  The pattern offers a few options!

The KAL will start Feb 9th and run until approx. March 9th.  The code for the pattern is good until the end of the Olympics Feb 25th.  I am hoping to get my pulse warmers knit by the end of the Olympics – I know how life does like to interfere!  So I gave us all a little extra time!

Isn’t this pretty?

Not into beads and garter stitch, how about some beautiful lace?  A friend of mine is also starting a KAL February 9th.  Selena Miskin of Wayfaring Yarns has a new pattern with kits available.  Check out the KAL for her Frostflowers Shawl.

Coming down the Pipes – the Retreat – Fingerless Mittens embellished with Inlay or Rooistud – the weekend of February 16, 17 and 18.  And one week later – two new patterns for the Buffalo Wool Co!

Happy Knitting

Lynette

 

 

 

Branching Out

I have had a busy year – family, health, designing – all have presented challenges and rewards.  The biggest challenge has been to my time and time management.  I am hoping for better this year!

One of the biggest changes and challenges has been the addition of a new designing outlet.  I am now working with Selena Miskin of Wayfaring Yarns.  We met last year at Rhinebeck and have hit it off both as friends and as designers.  We are selling kits for some of our patterns through our website Sweater Sisters.

 

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My second pattern for Sweater Sisters is still under construction!

My first pattern for Sweater Sisters is being released tonight on Ravelry.  And I am so excited to be sharing this with you!  The pattern and kit will be available as well on the Sweater Sisters website!

 

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Lumi is a hooded capelet.  It is cabled with lace faggoting cables and regular cables, shaped to the neck and at the shoulders, sprinkled with beads and knit with mohair and silk!  I am quite in love with this enchanting accessory!  I hope that you will love it too!
Light and luminous this hooded capelet is the perfect topper for your coat on a cold day or better yet that beautiful evening dress that just needs a little something to keep you warm and beautiful. The open Faggotting Cable makes the basic cable stitch a little more elegant and adds to the ethereal effect of the silk mohair yarn. The Size 6/0 beads are scattered around the edge of the hood and placed on the first few rows of the Garter stitch edging, adding just the right amount of sparkle.

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Detail of the new Belle Starr Shawl

I am continuing to work with Buffalo Wool Co.  That will never change.  Their yarns continue to be endlessly inspiring!  We have two new designs coming out at Stitches West!  I also work full time at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns!

 

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So much rain lately – Millstone River is barrelling down to the Harbour.

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The ducks are happy!

I am still walking regularly and have the pictures to prove it – I must start blogging more regularly again.  This year is starting out a little chaotic, but it is looking to calm down in the near future, cross your fingers for me!

 

Happy Knitting

Lynette

Random Thoughts and Minor Musing of another Knitter – compulsively addicted to the craft!

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