Little Cotton Rabbits

germy half termy

Last weeks half term break turned into a rather germy affair for us when poor Toby came down with a mystery virus and reacted with his usual high temperature fever of 103^o - 104^o. He looked really awful and was groaning a lot and that together with the really high temperature had me on high alert. I always find these episodes rather scary as it is difficult to gauge how ill he really is because he simply can't tell anyone how he's feeling, and like all things Tobyish you have to rely on guess work and trust your instincts. After 2 days of lying flaked out in bed refusing all but the tiniest sips of water his temperature started coming down and when he started requesting chocolate ice-cream again we knew he was feeling better!  Having his big sister on hand for tickles and cuddles cheered him too.

Today they are both back at school and I'm enjoying some time to knit again. I have been working on lots of animals over the last 2 months but seem to be having difficulty with knuckling down to finishing them off. Recently I've been in a real knit phase and the thought of sewing up and stuffing is a chore, so for now I'm going with the knitting urge and as a result have this big old tangled basket of bits and pieces. I've been especially enjoying making clothes - mostly lots of dresses with flowers which are probably a result of my yearning for the arrival of spring!

 

Hopefully the desire to sew up and stuff will seize me soon and a few more finished animals will emerge from the mess!

me old china, finished

 

 

In some ways I'm a little sad to have fastened off the last stitch in the edging of this blanket.

 

It has been a pleasure to make; rhythmic, undemanding and soothing.

 

After a bit of a false start (when I had a crisis in confidence about the colour choice and unpicked 20 squares) I started again and I'm now very pleased that I did take out that yellowy colour.

 

 

The colours to me are rich and comforting and it has turned out just as I had hoped.

 

In fact I am ridiculously pleased with it.

 

So here it is, all finished (though it's not easy to photograph)

 

 

And here are some stats:

:: Started on August 31st 2011 and finished on January 27th 2012

:: Worked with a 3.5mm crochet hook in 10 colours of DK yarn:

5 balls of Rich 911 (red) Rowan wool cotton (including 2 for the outer edge),

3 balls each of Geranium 976 (dark pink), Tender 951 (pale pink), Antique 900 (cream),  all in Rowan wool cotton, Basil (green) in Rowan Belle Organic DK and Mirage (pale blue) in Rowan Classic cashsoft DK

2 balls each of Cypress 968 (aqua), Clear 941 (silver grey), Blue Wash (dark blue) all in Rowan wool cotton,

9 balls for the main background Celandon 979 (pale green/aqua) in Rowan wool cotton

:: There are 99 squares (9 x 11) and it measures 133cm x 163cm

:: Each square is a traditional granny square (there are lots of tutorials on the internet such as this one) and each square has 6 rounds of different colours. There's a sort of checkerboard pattern, alternating between squares with red near the centre and those with it near the edge but it's fairly random.

:: Each square is surrounded by a round of the background colour and I worked 3 rows of this around the 99 squares.

:: The edging is worked as follows: 1 row of single crochet, 1 row of double crochet, another row of single crochet and a row of picot edging.

 

I've got used to working on a little crochet in the evening so now I'll have to ponder what to make next as my one a day project, though I think I'm a little blanketed out.

Any ideas?

(part of the one a day project)

making winter January

Part of the Making Winter series started by Silverpebble and Thriftyhousehold.

This month the Making Winter theme is cosiness and comfort. For me these are two words which conjure up images of warm woollen blankets, a mug of hot chocolate and a fire crackling in the grate. I've not made any hot chocolate today but the fire is lit and I do have a pile of snuggly blankets to make a little knitting nest from.

 

Over the last couple of years I've been a bit of a blanket collector. Starting off with this one which I bought in 2008 to commemorate my Grandparents following the death of my Gangan. I sewed on an embroidered a linen patch and I often think of them when I'm sitting snuggled in this blanket. It's a nice way of remembering what special people they were and how much they contributed to my happy childhood and my love of making and growing things.

 

 

More recently I've been making my own blankets. I like working on these one square a day (or thereabouts) and while I'm making my squares in the quiet of the evening I like to mull over the pleasurable bits of the day just passed. So far I've made two; a 'flowers in the snow' and I'm just finishing off my 'old china' granny square blanket.

 

 

 

I'll post some more pictures of it when it's completely finished. If you feel the need for a little cosiness & comfort then pop over and visit the January Making Winter Blog Hop at Silverpebble, there are lots of lovely ideas and some delicious recipes.

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PS: if you are looking to buy a blanket for snuggling, these are my favourite blanket shops:

The Atlantic Blanket Company

Melin Tregwynt

Avoca

Hat

 

We've had quite a few cold and frosty mornings of late.

 

And since there is still a fair bit of yarn left over from my mitten knitting, I thought I'd put it to good use. So I now have a hat to match my mittens.

 

Considering how cleverly designed and gorgeous Kate Davies's pattern is, it would have been rude not to, but I think I've satisfied my fairisle fixation for now. I can feel a major bunny knitting phase approaching.

 

 

I shall be warm and toasty in the woods this weekend. Wishing you a warm and happy weekend wherever you are x

Finished

Yay, I've finished my Peerie Flooers and am looking forward to wearing them on my next wood walk with Toby, which will definitely bring me a smile - I do love them!

 

 

No doubt there will be quite a few wood walks (weather permitting) over the next couple of weeks because here we are again at the last day of term. Toby went into school this morning laden down with homemade peppermint bark for all of the teachers (this is so easy to make and is really good, so it's now my first choice for teachers gifts).

 

Tomorrow is the start of 17 days of full-on Toby watching. Keeping him safe and entertained with the changes in routine and the added differences that Christmas brings will be a challenge but hopefully there will be some good times sprinkled in there too. I'm hoping for a quiet and calm Christmas with good food, plenty of sleep and some peaceful walks in the woods (with warm and pretty hands!)

All that remains is for me to wish you and those you love a very merry Christmas and a happy New year wherever you are xxx

 

Making Winter, December part 2

Like I said in the previous post, I think warm woolies are one of the very best things about winter and over the years I have built up quite a collection of mittens and scarves...

 

I do like to keep out draughts when I'm out and about, so chunky wool scarves are a big favourite on really cold days. My yarn of choice for a quick chunky scarf is Rowan's big wool. You only need 2 balls (160 metres) and a pair of size 8 or 9mm needles and within 2 or 3 evenings you can whip up a new scarf. Here's a simple tutorial:

Cast on 17 stitches and work the whole thing in moss stitch which is basically:

(K1, P1) 8 times, K1

repeat this for every row, joining in the second ball when you run out of the first and casting off in the same stitch pattern when you only have around 12 inches of yarn left. Weave in the cast on and cast off ends and you're all set for a windy winters day.

Of course I do have another one on the go at the moment...

 

 

This time I'm working in Misti Alpacas cloud-soft, hand-painted chunky baby alpaca yarn, this shade is called Swan Lake.

 

 

 

It's not quite as chunky as the Big Wool but works just as well and it really is super soft.

If you fancy grabbing your needles and casting on a scarf or a pair of mittens then pop over to ravelry where there are literally hundreds of wonderful free patterns to choose from.

Happy knitting xxx

 

making winter december

Part of the Making Winter series started by Silverpebble and Thriftyhousehold.

In my opinion one of the best things about winter is the woolies. I do like to be snuggly when it's cold and have a particular weakness for gloves and scarves so anytime I make anything for myself it usually ends up being either of these. Since winter is now well and truly here, it's inevitable that I'd have several such snuggly projects on the go...

The first is a pair of mittens from a beautiful fairisle pattern called Peerie Flooers by Kate Davies.

 

 

I'm knitting these flat because I find it much quicker and I really, really hate knitting in the round. I've made another few tweaks to suit what I like (all notes over on ravelry) but Kate's colour choices are so perfect so I'm working in those...

 

... Arncliffe, Bainbridge, Hubberholme, Leyburn, Muker, Nappa, Richmond in Rowan fine tweed.

I've also got 2 other pairs of fingerless mittens on the go, one that I started last year and never finished and another that I started a few weeks back. Both are worked in Madeline Tosh sock yarn. The yellow ones are from a free pattern called hedgerow by Amy Ripton and are worked in 'winter wheat'. The stripey ones are worked in 'thyme' and 'wash' and are based on my favourite ever mitten pattern Endpapers by Eunny Jang (which is also free) with lots of personal tweaks.

 

According to H, I have enough mittens to sink a battleship already but I reckon there's always room for a few more pairs (my ravelry queue is testament to this and has links to some great patterns).

And then there's my scarf collection, but we'll leave those for another day - I'll be back later in the week with a simple scarf tutorial.

just a bit excited!

These days it's not often that I feel feel full of childish excitement but today as I walked out of the newsagents I had to resist skipping back to the car, because clutched in my hand was a copy of Let's Knit magazine and it has a little bit about me and my knitting in it.

 

Thanks to Adrienne for the lovely write up and to H for taking a half decent picture of me - I truly hate having my picture taken!

Happy weekend all. I shall be trying to finish up some christmas knitting and snuggling by the fire as it's a cold one here!

one a day update

I'm still rather astonished at all of the comments that I received on the previous post for my little giveaway. When I started this blog in 2006 I didn't really know where it would take me and I certainly didn't imagine for one minute that I'd have so many people around the world who were interested in the little things that I love to make. I don't know how to  begin to thank everyone for the kind comments and for keeping me company here, I am so very grateful.

After all of the recent bunny knitting I've been enjoying dipping back into some of the other unfinished projects that are lurking in baskets and bags around here. In particular my old china blanket which was supposed to be a one a day project but has been a little neglected of late. Back in October it had 49 squares...

 

Today it has 68...

 

 

Still, it is progressing, even if the pace is a bit slow. I've decided that I'm aiming for 99 squares (9 x 11) with a wide-ish border of some sort. I had hoped to have it finished by Christmas but I'm beginning to suspect it won't be, especially now that we've entered the final run up and there are so many other demands on my time. I have also begun to suspect that it will in fact not be mine when it's finished as someone around here seems to have taken rather a fancy to it!

 

Still, that's what it's all about really, it is a lovely feeling when you've made something that someone else treasures.

Wishing you all a stress-free week, may all your Christmas shopping trips be successful!

Giveaway time

I've been pretty disorganised this year and I missed my traditional giveaway to celebrate the start of my 6th year of blogging at the beginning of September. So instead I thought we'd have a little pre-Christmas giveaway and here is my giveaway bunny girl Ullie.

 

She's made from a yarn blended from alpaca and silk. Her dress has christmas trees around the hem and a little peter pan collar and she has a little stocking of her own. If you'd like to win her please just leave a comment below and I'll draw a winner at random on Sunday 4th December which should give me enough time to package her up and have her to the winner in time for Christmas morning.

As always, thank you so much for your interest in my work and for supporting our little family xxx

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Comments (wow, so very many of them!) are now closed and the random number generator has swung into action and come up with number 156

which is Chris

Thanks so very much to everyone who took the time to enter and leave such kind comments, I really appreciate them all xxx

a little army

Family life has been full on here over the last few weeks, with various appointments for Toby, plus the usual night-time shenanigans and a few day-time tests of my heart health, once when he got a pea stuck up his nose and then when he climbed over the banister on the upstairs landing. Amy is adapting to senior school life, has had her first unpleasant experiences of the power games of others from someone she thought of as a best friend and has crossed the threshold into womanhood. And I, well I have been being Mum and knitting because it helps keep me on an even keel! In fact along with a couple of scarves, a pair of mittens and my crochet one a day blanket I also seem to have a little army on the go!

 

I am off now to sew on tails and name those that are finished and then I'll be listing them for sale later this week, most of them lottery style and the rest on Etsy. I'll also pop some better pictures of each up on Flickr.

 

I'll keep facebook up to date with details of when they're ready and send out the usual emails to the mailing list. I also have a little batch of christmassy, nordic dressed ones which should be ready by early December and I'm also thinking that it's been a rather long time since I had a giveaway so I will sort one out shortly.

Kitchen poetry 3

Well despite the lack of chill in the air these past few weeks the leaves have started changing colour and the clocks have gone back, so it feels that autumn is well and truly here again. Its arrival has made me want to get ready for winter and I've been making lots of soup for the freezer. Soaking split peas for split pea and ham soup (from River Cottage Everyday)

 

and roasting butternut squash for Squash & Cumin soup (recipe from my mum)

 

 

To serve 6:

3 teaspoons of cumin seed

1 teaspoon of coriander seed

1 teaspoon of caraway seed

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

olive oil

1 medium squash (either butternut or onion) around 1kg in weight

2 large onions

3 garlic cloves

50gms butter

750ml stock (vegetable or chicken)

220ml creme fraiche

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 190 degrees / gas mark 5. Cut the squash in half and remove all of the seeds, place in a roasting dish, drizzle over the olive oil and bake in the oven for up to an hour until soft. Toast all of the spice seeds in a dry pan and grind to a powder.

Finely chop the onions and garlic and sweat in the butter until they are soft and translucent. Set aside until the squash is done. Scrape the roasted squash flesh from the skin and put in a deep pan with the onions, ground spices and stock. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the creme fraiche and blend to a thick, smooth soup. Good to eat with warm crusty olive bread.

 

Even my knitting has been touched by autumnal colours - I've been working on a very soft and very decadent new scarf in gorgeous pure cashmere (Jade Sapphire 8ply cashmere in Chamomile). I've gone for a very simple garter stitch because when the yarn is this special I don't think it needs fancy stitches.

 

These autumny pursuits have inspired Amy and I to write another bit of kitchen poetry...

 

When autumn comes a-knocking

Amy and I make soup,

We also kick through fallen leaves

and shop for yarn at Loop!

 Poem by Amy & Julie

 

Making preparations for winter is something lots of people are doing at the moment and there's a wonderful project just started by Silverpebble and Thriftyhousehold called Making Winter which aims to celebrate all of the lovely things that winter brings. So if you fancy sharing some of your favourite wintery things pop over and join in x