Little Cotton Rabbits

A thought for the future

When I went over to the Hali site to follow the link on my previous post, I noticed that a record auction price was recently reached for an antique sampler. The piece was created in 1797 by Betsy Wardwell and sold at Christie's New York textile sale for $329,600! It got me thinking - I wonder what antique auctions will include in another 210 years? Maybe a vintage Raspberry felt piece, a much-loved Molly Chicken bear, an antique Flibbertygibbet quilt? Well, you never know. You can bet your lucky pants that Betsy Wardwell never imagined that her beautifully fine stitching would ever become so sought after. She created her work with humility and grace:

"May spotles inocence & truth my every action guide and guard my unexperienced youth from arrogance & pride”, “BETSY WARDWELLS WORK PROVIDENCE 1797”.

I wonder what she'd make of it all?

I've written up a little free pattern for knitted flowers - same as my cake toppers (it's over on the side bar). These could be used for decorating any number of objects. I'm making a little hair thingy for Amy with 3 contrasting flowers on - will post pictures when it's finished.

 

Past lives - Hali

I was thinking (again) this weekend about life before kids and pondering what I'd have been doing on a Sunday morning 10 years ago.

For a start I'd have had a lie-in followed by a long, hot shower, a leisurely breakfast and then a day of gentle pottering. Instead we were up early, and out into the cold to continue our attempts to get Amy riding her bike without stabilisers (a bit of a thankless task at the moment!). Overall, it was a ruthlessly demanding weekend without any relaxation time but, all things considered, I'd definitely rather be here today as a full-time Mum, part-time knitter than back as a working girl.

I had my kids quite late in life but having kids late gave me time to 'throw myself into a career'. My second 'proper job' was as Advertising Manager at Hali magazine. This is one of the world's most exclusive magazines. When I worked there it retailed at £18 per copy (the equivalent of a hardback book) and came out 6 times a year. It was and I believe still is the be-all-and-end-all in antique textiles, ranging from oriental rugs, Navajo blankets, pre-Columbian textiles, Swedish marriage tapestries and everything in between - basically if it's textile and old it's been written about in Hali. During the 4 years that I worked there I had a fabulous time (or so my rose-tinted specs say!). I actually worked for a real bully and the hours were long, but still overall it was pretty good. I travelled throughout Europe and the USA attending antique fairs, major auctions, museum previews, private viewings and visiting clients. I also got to see an incredible history of the world through it's textile art. It's worth checking out the Hali site just for the inspiration, and follow the links to see where they take you.

I do have some happy memories of my time there and being in close contact with such beautiful textile art profoundly influenced me. I now have a bookshelf full of books on pre-Columbian mantles, Ottoman textiles, Moroccan carpets and Anatolian kilims, rugs on my wooden floors, salt bags on my walls and a 5 foot wide, home-made rip-off of a thousand year old pre-Columbian chancay textile (well, we can't afford the real thing and anyway I believe that the originals should be in museums in the country of origin and not on the wall of those individuals rich enough to buy a country's heritage!)

So, given the chance, would I turn back the clock and reclaim my lazy Sunday mornings? Would I hell! I could definitely use a lie-in now and then and it's no understatement that being a parent is the hardest job in the world but, it's still the best!

New homes

The latest batch of toys that were sold last week have started arriving in their new homes. I'm so grateful to Kim, Carolyn, Sarah, and Sue for their lovely emails letting me know that everything arrived safely. Lucy sent me a lovely email too and a wonderful picture of Isabel with Little Green Rabbit who was a special commission requested before Christmas.

Thanks everyone for your feedback, it's much appreciated.

Snow!

Unlike some parts of the world we don't get snow that often. A lucky thing, as we're not well equipped to deal with it and everything tends to grind to a halt. However, you can't deny the feeling of excitement that you get when you open the curtains in the morning to find a white, winter wonderland.

Amy was certainly in high spirits this morning and it took twice as long as usual to walk to school.

Poor old trees had just got their spring attire of beautiful pink blossoms, now frozen in sad little clumps. Still, we're making the most of the snow as it will probably be reduced to brown slush by lunchtime! Keep warm everyone!

PS: Thanks to Terry At Softies Central for the recent mention and the link. If you like softies, check out her site as it features a comprehensive run down of gorgeous handmade items from all around the world. I don't know how she does it, it must take a great deal of research. Keep an eye out too for the Softies Awards 2007 competition which will be announced soon.

More yummy yarn

One of my daily visits in blogland is to Rebecca's site. I admire her philosophy, her creativity and she also has fabulous photos of the beautiful countryside around her home. I discovered the concept of a 'carbon footprint' via her blog and her informative, unpatronizing writing makes me ponder more about the wastefulness and destructiveness of modern living and ways of living in better balance with the environment. Anyway, in tribute to her ecologically-friendly life style I've decided to work on a couple of partially* eco bunnies. I've found this gorgeous organic cotton yarn (from Angel Yarns) in natural shades - it is un-dyed and actually grows in these colours. On the label is says that the growing of cotton around the world accounts for 50% of world pesticide use(!!) so buying organic cotton helps to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and defoliants. It's a small step, but it's a start.

* can't find an eco-friendly stuffing - anyone got any ideas??

On a non-knitting note, I have been tagged by Rachael at Tinkerblue to reveal 6 weird things about myself. I am as averagely normal as they come, but here goes:

1. I cannot stand to get pruney fingers. So whilst I love a long hot bath I need to keep my hands out of the water and once my fingertips start to wrinkle, that's it, I'm out.

2. I learnt to ride a motorbike before I learnt to drive a car. In my pre-children days I used to love commuting into London and bombing around the countryside on my Honda 400 (now sadly sold - although I did ponder the merits of a side-car for the kids!). This is my helmet.

3. I can read novels over and over again. I’ve read some of my favourites more than 6 times - even though I know what’s going to happen.

4. I usually read the last page of a new novel first, to gauge whether it’s worth the investment of time! (apparently this is not that weird as both Monica from Quilt While You're Ahead and Carolyn from Willow House do it too!)

5. I would happily live in pyjama bottoms - the most comfortable item of clothing ever invented. The first thing I do after I come into the house is go and change into my jammies. I have 15 pairs of brushed cotton jammy bottoms - not quite enough to rival Ali's impressive knicker collection!

6. I have an occasional but undeniable craving for pickled eggs! Sorry!

There are rules that come with this tag but I'm going to throw caution to the wind and ignore them. Instead I throw the challenge open - give it a go and reveal your inner weirdo!

A BIG THANK YOU

This is a post mainly to say a humongous thank you to a wonderful person called Julia who is so thoughtfully kind and generous and has sent me 10 balls (!!) of yarn from her stash (which, judging by what she sent me, must be an amazing treasure trove!) Julia, I can't thank you enough, I love all of it but my special favourites are the baby alpaca - a beautiful butterscotch colour and very soft, the gorgeous luxury tweed - the mottled colours are lovely and the wonderful ball of red marl cashmere. I was so excited by this that I had to begin knitting with it straight away. I've not knitted with such fine guage yarn before and have opted for 2.25mm needles (tiny stitches!). This will become a most luxurious jumper for one lucky little bunny - I love the marl effect and it is extremely soft. Thank you Julia for making my day. Aren't some people amazing?

 

I'd also like to thank everyone who emailed me when my shop went on line yesterday evening. Thanks to everyone who bought a toy and many apologies to those of you who were pipped at the post. I will be making more soon and will email my advance list the day before putting the shop back on line. Have a great weekend everyone.

Ten in the bed

There were ten in the bed, and the little one said roll over, roll over...

Ten little toys, looking for on their way to good homes. For sale All sold (!) in the shop now.

A splash of colour

The skies are so grey and dreary at this time of year that I've been yearning for a bit of colour. I think I need a visit from these guys I found in one of the books I brought back from Mum & Dad's

But I've settled for spreading my shade cards out around me while I seek some inspiration for new colourways. I'll shortly be turning my attention to a bunch of rabbits and teddies in spring dresses and a new free pattern for a knitted flower in an attempt to herald in warmer, brighter days.

In the meantime I'm just finishing off the 10 toys to put in the 'shop'. Will email everyone on my advance list shortly - thanks for your patience!

Tops and bottoms

Firstly thanks so much to everyone who commented on my last post. It's wonderful to read such supportive comments. I find it difficult to know how much to write about life with Toby and the last thing I want is to use my blog as a forum for a moan, so it's very heartening to know that you don't all ignore me when I'm 'going off on one!'

Anyway, back to the knitting. I'm STILL working on the toys and to be honest it doesn't look like they'll be going into the shop this week. I'm also being distracted by several other projects but more details on those another day. For today I thought I'd just post a few pics of the work in progress.

If you've asked to be added to my advance mailing list then you will receive an email from me at least the day before the toys 'go live' in the shop. If you'd like to be added to this list just drop me an email and let me know. Now, I'm off to knit like the wind!

Bouncing without trousers!

We had a funny weekend (funny peculiar not funny ha ha!). As Toby gets older and becomes more aware of the world outside his insular one he's beginning to find changes to routine harder to cope with. He's also developing a stronger will so although he's 5 years old he's really just hitting the terrible two's tantrum phase - if he wants something and doesn't get it we know all about it!  Anyway, Saturday was a nightmare day. Toby was very unsettled - probably because he'd had only 2 days back at school and then along comes the weekend (that is NOT his routine!). There was much crying, screaming, flinging and fussing and he ruled the roost with the rest of us mostly doing his bidding in an attempt to have a quiet(ish) life. He finally went to bed at 11pm and we rolled in soon after, completely shattered. So on Sunday we decided to keep busy and got up early to go swimming. The local pool does a fun family session with waves and floats. The kids had a great time but once again we were reminded just how different life is when you're living with autism. I looked around me at all those happy children, chattering and laughing and playing with their mums and dads and there was Toby - happy as anything, drinking great gulps of pool water, oblivious to all but the ripples in the water and literally screaming with excitement at the waves. I'm long used to 'funny looks' and stares from others but it is hard when your child is so obviously different and people make an effort to move away from you. We came home to lunch and then Toby spent the afternoon on his trampoline in the garden.

Fun you might think - well yes, but Toby has to bounce with no socks and no trousers and it was raining lightly. It goes against all my maternal instincts to let him stay outside for 3 hours and bounce with no trousers in the winter rain but then I'm learning that flexibility is the key to surviving with autism and if he's happy then we all are! (and I bundled 4 tops on him so he looked like the michelin man with 2 stick legs!) I think my New Year's resolution this year is to have the confidence to go with my gut instinct and not worry so much what others think, afterall what counts is your kids happiness not the judgement of others. A lofty ambition for me, but I feel so supported by all of you who read and comment on my blog that I might just achieve it. Thanks so much for reading my whitterings and commenting - it means a lot to me!