Little Cotton Rabbits

fighting a loosing battle?

I am not yet winning the battle of the clothes.

I get them on him but within 2 minutes he has flung them all to the four corners of the garden - and he's becoming quite inventive about places to stuff them so I won't find them again! It probably doesn't help that we're having some lovely warm weather - not the best time for me to be insisting on clothes!

Still, on a positive note at least Toby is now starting his bouncing sessions with some clothes on and my quest to get him to keep them on will continue, although I will definitely focus my efforts on stripping off in inappropriate places and save the garden battle for when the weather turns colder again.

Thanks so much for all of the tips and advice left on the previous post about his stripping off. There were some very useful points raised about keeping his clothing soft and light and having a set of clothes that he associates with wearing in the garden - a bit like a bouncing uniform. All of which are really going to help in my quest. I'm hopeful we'll get there - one day! Potty training isn't fairing any better either but we always knew it was going to be a long a slow process for our boy.

His achievements are small and slow but one day I hope to write excitedly here about his first wee on our toilet and maybe even one day in the future I'll be joyfully telling you about his first ever word.

One day.

Maybe?

Hope is a wonderful thing.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Quite a few people have asked me recently how my Mum is doing after her awful accident last autumn. Since today is her birthday (Happy Birthday Mum!) I though I'd give you a quick update. She's now out of her support collar completely and although she still has pain from an incompletely healed vertebrae in her back she is mobile and getting on with some of the activities that she's always loved like country walks and she's started driving again. She's waiting to hear what the specialist advises about the problematic vertebrae and we've got our fingers crossed that it will heal without the need for further intervention. She's been such an inspiration with her determination to recover quickly and I'm so proud that she's kept going with such a positive attitude!

Anyway Mum, hope you've had a lovely day x

Lastly, I couldn't go without mentioning that the lovely Jenny at Frazzy Dazzles is having a very cute giveaway at the moment

How could anyone not want to snuggle Sugar and Barley? To be in with a chance, pop over quickly and leave a comment on her post before Saturday 10pm (EST Australian time)

My recipe for bank holiday bliss

A generous slice of blue sky,

a quick splash of paddling pool action,

and a delicious dollop of knitting in the garden!

oh, happy day! Hope yours was a good one too!

Teeny tinies

This week I've had a lot of fun making some teeny toys for the little cotton rabbits. So much so that I thought you might like to have a go too.

So I've written up a free pattern which you can find here. It's a bit fiddly and is probably an evening's work but they are fun to make and at our house they are proving very popular, as you can see...

Honey loves her little bunny - she's named him Pip and she never goes anywhere without him!

little friends far away

Well, the most recent batch of toys have all hopped away to their new homes and yesterday I heard from Rachel who won the 200th post prize draw that her little rabbit had arrived. She requested a sailor dress and I really enjoyed experimenting with the collar on this one - I'll definitely make some more nautically inspired toys.

Anyway, for a while I've been meaning to catch up with some of the toys who've settled happily into their new homes. So, here they are with a big thank you to everyone who has sent me pictures.

Finlay and Su-Lin are enjoying life with Kim

Soren has found a great place to snuggle at Pauline's house

Axel had a festive time with friends on Susan's christmas tree

Over at Martine's house Crispin and Tallie are relaxing and watching the world go by

Nettie's got milk at Carolyn's place

There's a little gang making themselves at home with Sheri

And cute little Sophia even has a beautiful hand-painted plaque with her bunny on.

Thanks again to everyone who sent me photos - it means a lot to know that my little toys are cherished and enjoyed.

red shoes, no knickers...

...or so according to my friend's dad!

Although I do love red shoes, I'm not really a no-knickers kinda gal. In fact when it comes to pants my view is the larger and more comfortable the better (my g-string wearing days are definitely behind me!)

Anyway, swiftly moving on - my new red polka dot birkis have arrived to help me celebrate the onset of spring!

Enjoy the weekend!

PS: thanks for the shoe love! I got them from Birkenstock's online site.

Verity

This week is MS awareness week and Verity here is hoping to help Anna raise some money. She'll be auctioned off on saturday night together with lots of other wonderful crafts, but if you'd like to lodge a bid for her you can email Anna by visiting scrapping tonight.

annual reviews and getting naked!

Well, Toby's annual statement review is sorted for another year. It was great to hear his teachers say that he's making some progress and having compared notes with them it seems that he's more aware of the world since starting school. Often autistic children are very withdrawn, not making eye contact or even acknowledging the presence of anyone else in the room. They can sit for hours at a time completely lost in a repetitive activity and often strongly resist being touched or held. Toby used to be quite withdrawn and can still get like this when he's extremely stressed. I try and comfort him by touch and a soothing voice but this increases his stress and can result in a full-blown, self-harming outburst. Although it's hard, I've learnt that when Toby withdraws into himself it is best just to give him some space and peace so that he can deal with his stress and I just look for the signs that he's ready to return to our world and accept a little gentle interaction. So, the good news is that he's withdrawing into himself less frequently at school and is noticing more around him. He's also discovering his own opinion and often makes it quite clear - most parents are familiar with this in a normally developing child as the terrible twos!

Anyway, due to this increased awareness school have decided to start toilet training. It could be a long and arduous process but it will be wonderful to ditch the nappies at last and to think that he's moving towards some sense of independance. At home our main target is to tackle the issue of clothing and gradually build up to getting him to wear some! Issues with clothing are typical in autistic children and can include hypersensitivity to certain textures. Toby happily accepts wearing his uniform for school but at home he strips down to his vest and nappy. He also strips when we visit friends and family or even in an indoor play area. Again this is quite common with autistic children - they'll accept something in one location and refuse it in another. It definitely needs tackling because although it's perfectly acceptable for a six year old to wander around half naked, it's quite a different thing for a 6ft teenager and the longer it stays a habit, the harder it will be to change!

So, I'm now on strip-alert and as soon as I see the clothes coming off, I rush to get them back on again quickly. I am not popular at the moment and it will certainly be a challenge!

so, where shall I stick it?

It's been a busy week this week with the latest batch of toys getting ready to go to their new homes and Toby's annual statement review meeting - more of that in another post. I've had loads of emails about the copyright issue and I'm really grateful for all of the support and advice. There was also a lovely email from Sena who wrote to me on behalf of a group of Russian ladies, one of whom had made the toys that were copied from mine and written up a pattern for them. The email explains that although the pattern was shared on a forum it was never their intention to sell the toys or the pattern and they've apologised. I really appreciate that they took the time to write to me in english to give me more information.

Anyway, I've been thinking about 're-branding' my little toys for a while and thinking about copyright has been the catalyst to concentrate my mind again. I've re-designed the labels that I attach to each toy and they will now have specific details on the back including the toy's name, when they were made and what they are made from. I've also ordered a batch of ribbon labels which brings me back to the title of the post above. Popping them into a fabric softie would be simple as you'd just sew it into a seam but on a knitted toy it needs to be attached afterwards.

I'm thinking probably in the centre of the back under the clothes is the best place but thought I'd ask your opinion - where do you think I should stick it? clean answers only please ;)

Thank you

I just wanted to quickly thank everyone for leaving such kind comments on the previous post. It shouldn't happen to anyone - it's not nice to be reminded that not everyone surfing the internet has good intentions at heart. It is however something faced by most crafters creating individually styled work. It's demoralising but it definitely won't stop me from doing what I love.

Anyway, I shall go into the weekend feeling high as a kite by all of the supportive and complimentary things that you took the time to write. So here's wishing you a wonderful weekend from Penelope and me!

PS: Remember there is still a week until the close of the 2nd Annual Softie awards so there's still time to make your softie, photograph it and get it entered. I've entered Penelope in the pink or plaid section and there are 4 other categories too.