Little Cotton Rabbits

Hedgehog pattern

Thanks so much for all of the kind comments about the knitted hedgehogs. The little pattern is all finished and I'll pop some copies into my etsy shop and on to Lulu shortly. I thought I'd give away *20 copies of the pattern and also 2 of the finished hedgies at random - so please leave a comment below if you'd like to be entered into the draw.

The pattern can be made from leftover yarn and is very simple and with just 1 seam - the little feet are optional if you're in a hurry or don't like fiddly! They can be used as toys or make useful little pincushions.

 

I've decided to donate a portion of the profits to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society who were so helpful when we were hand-rearing Herbert Hogwart 2 years ago. Hedgehogs are in decline in many areas of the UK and if you'd like to encourage them in your own garden they have some great tips and advice on their website. They're lovely little creatures - very entertaining to watch and great to have around the garden as they hoover up all those pesky slugs and snails!

* sorry, I've just ammended the draw from being first 20 comments to a random draw (in order to give everyone in different time zones an equal chance!) I'll draw winners on Thursday morning (2nd July)

Comments are now closed (Thursday July 2nd 9.59am) Thanks x

hedgehogs

At last I have a picture of the hedgehogs in our garden!

OK, so I cheated - but the truth is that I feel really mean blasting the real ones with the camera flash while they're eating!

So here are the knitted hodgers that I made over the weekend. I'm still playing around with shaping but am hoping to write up this hedgehog pattern to share very soon.

Garden friends

Amy and I have really been enjoying watching Springwatch on tv this last week. We've been following the progress of all the baby birds and badgers and we've been looking round our own patch to see what we can see. There is a family of dunnocks nesting in the clematis and in our nest box we've had great tits who have just fledged. This little chap wasn't sure about flying to begin with but by the end of the day he joined his brothers and sisters up in the tree.

We also spotted a lovely big fat frog and there's definite evidence that the hedgehogs are very busy at night in the undergrowth. I don't yet have any pictures but they've been eating the food we've left out each night and our new hedgehog box has had lots of leaves pulled into it.

Lastly, there was this little chap.

I've been thinking about a mole for ages and he's my prototype. I have a few tweaks planned but hope to have some moles ready for Etsy soonish.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

still here...

...looking after the two 'C's in my life (children and chickens). The big C's are at school so here's a picture of the little mucky-clucky C's.

...knitting (mostly in the mood for purple at the moment)

 

...gardening (and learning lots)

...just run out of words for a bit (although I now have new glasses which have happily passed the Toby test!)

Further update on cosy pattern...

Sorry to chop and change but there have been a few problems over on Lulu and now that the rush has died down a bit I've decided to withdraw the patterns from there and concentrate on etsy. The patterns are available on etsy now and I'll keep them in stock. I'm checking emails regularly so the patterns are being sent by email within a few hours (apart from during the night).

Thanks so much to everyone who has bought a copy - I wish you happy knitting and a lovely weekend to all.

Update on cosy pattern

Thanks so much to all of you who have popped over to my etsy pattern shop. My little fingers are struggling to keep up and since my tummy is rumbling and complaining I've not yet had lunch I've decided to also upload the pattern to my lulu store. You can download it directly from there without having to wait for me to email you the file. Just follow the instructions on screen and remember to SAVE the file when you have it on your screen.

I'll do my best to keep up with the etsy shop orders but must go and grab a quick sandwich!

Thanks

J x

Draw winners

Thanks so much to everyone for all of the very kind comments about the pattern. I've used the old random number generator thingy again and it has pulled 20 numbers out of the ether:

Which translates to:

Donna Ferrara, Tracy (She's the sweetest...), Edel, Emma (I'd love to win...), Svenja, Jess (Adorable...), Mila Tamaoka, Nina Chester, Helen (Pick me..), Tatyana, Kelly (I'm crazy...), Nancy (You're such a talent...), Nicole (Adorable...), Margaret Lifgren, Allison (Makes me smile...), Gillian (Very Easteric...), Janet (How lovely...), Karen Stevens, Marie (I'm so happy) & Robyn (I'd love a chance...).

Copies of the pattern will be emailed to each of the winners shortly and then I'll pop the pattern into my Etsy pattern shop.

I've decided to run 2 etsy shops from now on - the one above will list patterns for sale and I hope to add more soon. The second one LCRknitted will just list finished knitted items. I have several egg cosies to list over the next week and am finishing off some animals and cakes to add soon too.

Now I'm off to have a cuppa and rest my eyes after all of that counting comments! Many thanks again for all of your interest and support.

a little giveaway to celebrate spring

I know that I always bang on about blossom at this time of year but plum blossom is the first indication that spring has arrived again in our little garden and that makes me very happy. Toby is an outdoorsy kind of boy and life in the warmer weather is more relaxed and fun for him, so I'm cheered by the lovely thought of all of those warm and sunny days to come with paddling pool splashing, bubble chasing, tea in the garden and a bit of knitting in the sun for me of course!

Anyway, with spring and Easter in mind I've finished off the egg cosy pattern.

It will be available in my etsy pattern shop before the end of the week but if you'd like to win a free copy of this pattern in advance then please leave a comment below and I'll draw 20 winners first thing on Thursday morning.

Sorry but comments are now closed, 9.25am,Thursday March 19th

A giveaway

Today I'm very pleased to be hosting a giveaway on behalf of Kerry at Pennydog. She creates beautiful and unique resin jewellery and has recently started making gorgeous handcrafted knitting needles with delicious names like Strawberry Jam, Contrary Mary and Shooting Star (see below).

All are UK size 3 (6.5mm / US 10.5) and are just over 7 inches long - perfect for knitting up a scarf and are created from translucent resin mixed with iridescent style glitter with buttons added on to prevent your knitting from slipping off. They come gift boxed so would make a lovely gift if you could bear to part with them!

The lucky winner will receive a bespoke pair made especially to their colour preference. To be in with a chance please just leave a comment on this post and we will randomly draw one winner next Wednesday.

Comments are now closed thanks, a winner will be announced shortly.

bring me sunshine...

I don't know about you but all this wet and wintry weather is really getting me down! So in an attempt to cheer myself up I am surrounding myself with a rainbow of yarn.

Getting all this sorted out and bagged up has helped me to get organised and I now have some animals ready to be added to etsy, hopefully starting tomorrow. I'm also hoping to write up a free Eastery pattern in the next few weeks. It definitely helps to look ahead to spring - let's hope it gets here very soon!