Little Cotton Rabbits

Cup cake homage

I've been mulling over some new ideas for cup cakes for a while. It's nice being able to bounce between knitting rabbits and knitting cakes - both are enjoyable in different ways and involve different techniques (variety is the spice of life and all that...). Anyway, I wanted to knit up some seasonal cakes for Easter. The inspiration for these came a while ago when I was making a rabbit called Bunny Slippers. As I was making her I thought that the little bunny heads might look sweet on cakes and here's the result.

The other cakes I've been experimenting with are inspired by the work of Kylie Lambert - a woman of great artistry and skill who creates edible cakes so beautiful that it seems a shame to stick a cake fork into them. I am continually stunned by the detail and perfection of her cakes, she's got a magical touch and must have a very steady hand. Anyway, inspired by her beautiful work, here are a few interpretations in yarn!

 

Watch out, watch out, there's a Toby about!

You can always tell when Toby has been in a room. For a start there's a tell-tale trail of crumbs from his constant munching (he 'grazes' all day), then there's another trail of discarded clothing (he'll not wear trousers or socks in the house) but the biggest give-away is the little stacks. Everywhere he goes he is compelled to stack items. It always makes me smile as I wander round the house after he's gone off to school which is something I need to do today. This last week he's been very distressed to leave his beloved lego stack at home (school won't allow him to take it as it 'distracts' him). It's hard to wrench it off him in the mornings and drag him to the school bus crying and screaming while trying to reassure him that lego will be there after school. I'm looking at the battered and chewed lego now, sitting on his little table ready to  be taken up and 'loved' when he gets home- who knew lego could be a snuggly?

Mahar Drygoods

I am very proud today to be sending off a batch of bunnies to Robert Mahar at Mahar Drygoods. If you're not familiar with his emporium of delights then you should definitely acquaint yourself quickly. He has a fantastic eye for gorgeous things and the website is beautifully designed. I'm very flattered to think of my knitted toys in such fine company.

 

spring!

It's here! In our garden the first herald of spring is the emergence of blossom on our old plum tree and today the first blossom has opened! In a week or so the whole tree will be a cloud of white (barring more snow / frost / windy weather!) I'm feeling spring-like, my cold is disappearing and the sun is shining. Hoooorraaayyyy!! roll on warmer days, longer evenings, newborn lambs, primroses and Easter eggs!

Hello again!

Well, here we are again. School has resumed and I'm once more free to choose how to spend some of my time. Today I shall be staying in my jammies, feeling sorry for myself (I have a cold), having some uninterrupted knitting time, doing lots of lovely blog browsing and, most of all, enjoying the peace & quiet.

Considering the weather was a bit dismal we had a pretty good half term and that's mainly thanks to my Mum & Dad who provided us with board, lodging and excellent on-site entertainment.  My Mum and Dad are brilliant with the kids and are both well experienced at entertaining them with an impressive range of games, crafts, stories and day trips. Dad created a bathtime game for Amy which she adored and he valiantly repeated it for each of the three nights. Mum was tireless in her delivery of multiple bedtime stories and rustled up a seemingly endless selection of yummy food (even more delicious for the fact that I didn't have any part in preparing it - thanks for the break Mum!).

We had some fun trips too - along the river in Henley-on-Thames and a visit to the brilliant Wind in The Willows exhibition at the Rowing Museum. Amy and I loved this 3-D walk through experience with models based on E H Shephard's original illustrations and telling the wonderful story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and of course daft old Toad. On Friday we visited the Living Rainforest Centre in Hampstead Norreys.

This is a fab place for kids to explore and learn. there are animals (crocodile, bugs, monkeys, fish, reptiles and birds), real rain (a fine mist comes down without warning!), monster plants (huge leaves and real bananas growing) and heat (wear layers so you can strip off!). There was also a brilliant outdoor adventure play area. It's not a huge place but there's lots to discover and we had great fun. 

Thanks to my Mum & Dad for putting up with us for 3 days, the noise, the mess and the sheer inexhaustable exuberance of the kids! Hope you're now relishing the peace and calm!

Snow family

With all the snow here school was cancelled for the last 2 days of the week which has meant an early start to the school half-term break for us. So far we've made a snow family, been swimming, made cakes, done sticking, and of course lots of drawing. I'll be out of the blogging loop for the next week tending to cries of "What are we doing today?...I'm bored!" but will catch up with everyone on the other side! I'll leave you with a picture of Amy and the snow family - complete with pink food colouring cheeks! Have a great week everyone!

My new Best Friend!

I miss having animals around. Granted we do have Bibble the lovely goldfish but it's not quite the same. I love dogs and cats (can't decide which I love more - they both have many merits). My brother and I had a beautiful, sweet natured cairn terrier when we were growing up along with a long succession of hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits. As a student living by the docks in Hull I regularly fed the hoards of stray cats and got quite friendly with a some - Chapati, Boris and Devil Cat to name a few. My favourite was Poppadom who became a house pet and slept on my bed each night. She used to travel sitting on my lap and looking out the window on the 7 hour train journey from Hull back to my Mum & Dad's in Reading (I swear she had more dog in her than cat). When I left college she came with me and lived with me for 5 years in various skanky bedsits and basement flats until her gentle passing away one night from old age - I like to think that after her life on the streets her last 5 years as a pampered and much loved pet were the best - she was certainly a very special pet and I always felt that she chose me rather than the other way round.

Anyway, missing having animals around is where we came in and so you can imagine my delight this morning when this little cutie arrived all beautifully packaged from the lovely Stacey Hsu of Original Sock Dogs.

Stacey and I did a 'pet' swap. Nutmeg is so beautifully made and Stacey's attention to detail is fab - he has a little tag on his collar and the cutest belly button and paws. He also came with a beautifully designed label detailing when he was 'born' and his breed (Kerry Beagle, boot socks) and a lovely, touching little description of his likes:

"Everyone has a favourite place...mine is the woods. I love exploring all of the cool stuff out there. I collect a lot of the things I find, like rocks, acorns, moss, leaves...once I even found half a rawhide chew. But the most amazing thing I've found is peace and quiet!"
How could anyone not fall head-over-heels in love with him?!

Please go and check out his brothers and sisters at the Sock Dogs shop - they all have wonderful personalities and are in need of good homes and when you buy one you know that you're doing something to help their real counterparts as Stacey donates part of her profits to The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City where she also regularly volunteers. Please check out Stacey's new blog too. She's quite amazing, making all of these beautifully crafted sock dogs and cats, volunteering at the animal shelter and expecting her first baby any day now. Thanks so much Stacey, I love him to bits!

Tea, cake and yummy yarn

Just a quickie to say a big Thank you to Kerrie at Hipknits where I spent a very relaxing morning, browsing yarn, chatting and scoffing tea and cake. What a wonderful place to work - surrounded by gorgeous, jewel-like piles of scrummy yarn. And Kerrie herself is some kind of wonder-woman, hand-dyeing and winding the yarn, running the Hipknits business, publishing a brilliant magazine - Yarn Forward, setting up Sewhip, oh and just a small matter of raising a family - she has 2 children and is awaiting the imminent arrival of her third! But then she did say she likes to be busy! Thanks Kerrie, it was a real pleasure to meet you and I look forward to visiting again.

Rosie Cosie

The onset of Spring brings thoughts of Easter and choccie eggs. So I thought I'd design an egg cosy for boiled eggs if you're so inclined or chocolate ones if (like me) you prefer!

I hope to have a few of these for sale the next time the shop goes live.

Inspired

Something that I read over at Quilt While You're Ahead recently got me thinking. Monica was pondering her inspiration behind choosing colours for a for a quilt project and it occurred to me that how we all see things may be similar but our perceptions of them may be wildly different. I thought a similar thing recently when reading a post over at Melly and Me. Melly and Rosalie are fearsome thrift sorters and they have amazingly creative eyes for seeing potential in an item. I was so amazed with a wonderful bag that they created, part of which started out in life as a pair of shorts. It's a real gift to be able to look at something and envisage what it could become with a magical sprinkle of creative input. That's what I love so much about browsing all the wonderful blogs out there - everyones different creative perspective, the range of beautiful work being created from all kinds of diverse materials is definitely inspirational.

It's great that blogging gives us all a forum for open exchange of creative ideas and inspirations. The best thing is that the community is growing daily and every time I go browsing I find more and more lovely sites packed full of wonderful work. So on that note I'll offer you some links to some of my favourite new places to visit. Go grab a cup of your favourite brew and have a browse.

Elfie & me    French Knots    Suzie Sews

And as for my inspirations. Well, this week I have been mostly knitting rabbits (nothing new there then!) I love the fact though that they all emerge differently even though they're all knitted up the same and when it comes to colours for clothes there aren't many limits. I suspect that I may be inspired by some of my lucky charity shop finds this week -  a little French letter rack (a bit battered but cute shape and lovely gold stars) and a 1930's Colclough afternoon tea-set (only 3 cups and most of the gilt worn off but lovely acorn design and such a pretty colour):

So if you shortly see a rabbit with an acorn design turquoise & white jumper you may just guess where the idea came from.

Have a fun and inspirational weekend everyone!