Little Cotton Rabbits

Endings and beginnings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June brings early summer here in the south of England. Not that you'd know it from the recent weather though; chilly winds, frequent rain showers and a distinct lack of sunshine have meant it's been feeling much more like March and I've not yet put away the winter woollies. I'm not really complaining though, cooler temperatures are more conducive to knitting and to long country walks, and thanks to the unseasonable weather the countryside is still clothed in the bright, verdant green of spring. The early spring flowers have though given way to the summer ones; meadows of delicate grasses sprinkled with ox-eye daisies, verges of cow parsley and hedgerows of elderflowers, bramble flowers and dog roses, all so very pretty.

Back at home I've been slightly obsessed with knitting jeans for some reason, having switched my colour focus from greens to blues. This indigo dyed cotton yarn (Scheepjes Skies light) is perfect for knitted jeans and when it's washed the colour leaches out a little (though it's leaching during knitting too, as you can see from my hands) and you can give a little extra rubbing to the knees so they look a little worn in.

Since the start of the year I've been dreading the arrival of June. Over the last 18 years, whilst Toby has been at school and more recently at special needs college, we've built safe and comfortable routines that help him to manage the everyday things that everyone else does without a second thought. He's had somewhere to go that helps to fill his time with some meaningful activities, giving him experiences he wouldn't otherwise have had and providing us with much needed respite time in which to work, rest and recharge. Tomorrow is the very last day of 'full time education' for him and what comes next is as yet untested, unknown and uncertain, which is never a comfortable place to be when autism is a factor.

I began this blog in 2006, on the day before Toby started school aged four years old, and in some ways it would be fitting to finish writing here today on the day before he finishes college and we begin a new chapter in family life. It is something I've thought about, simply because life is about to get more complicated and free time will be more limited, but the truth is I'm not ready to go just yet. Putting together this blog encourages me to contemplate all that is positive in life, to go out and take pictures, to sit quietly and edit them and to write about my small and simple adventures and love of knitting. And when I have opened up about the struggles we sometimes face, you - my community of blog readers, have never failed to generously gift me words of kindness, compassion and wisdom, I would miss doing this and all of you terribly. So I'm staying for now, though service may be disrupted for a bit whilst we find our feet and forge new routines.

Well, I'm off to do a little quiet and calming knitting, I hope that the rest of June is kind to you, hopefully see you soon, J x

 

May days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May has been a beautiful month here, with just the right mix of sunshine and rain showers to provide perfect growing conditions. As a result the countryside is now abundantly green and lush with new growth. At the orchard I was a little late to see the apple blossom in all it's glory this year, by the first week of May most of it was just confetti on the grass, but the forget-me-not carpet under the trees was in full bloom and in the small wood the wild garlic was at it's pungent best.

Back at home we've had some new garden visitors. Most days we see a couple of red kites but on one day this month there were 20 or more of them circling directly overhead, it was quite a sight. We've had lots of small birds on the feeders, the robins busily feeding their family, along with blue and great tits, sparrows and goldfinches. This little blue tit fledgling was resting in the bush after the exertion of leaving the nest, hopefully he made it.

I've embarked on a 'befriend a crow' project and it's going well with this intelligent bird now recognising my signal for food and flying down to claim it once I'm back in the house. We've named him Edgar Allan Crow and I'm interested to see if he'll eventually trust me enough to fly down whilst I'm still outside.

And, most excitingly of all, we have 2 new foxes visiting daily. Though this is tinged with a little sadness, as it does mean that Kit is no longer around, either having been ousted from her territory again or having passed away, I would not like to say for certain which, seeing as I have already once written a eulogy for her only to have her reappear. These two new vixens are youngsters, their muzzles as yet unscarred by fighting and catching prey, (Kit and Kira both had quite scarred muzzles). They are either den mates or perhaps sisters, as they arrive together and mostly tolerate each other in the garden, though there is often some loud squabbling over food. The larger and most beautiful of the two is Kenzie who has a very sleek, glossy coat and light golden eyes. Katsue is the smaller vixen, with a sweet quizzical expression and a cheeky personality, though sadly she does seem to have a damaged leg which she cannot bear weight on but otherwise this does not seem to trouble or impede her. Obviously I have taken about a million pictures of them, so I will most likely write a blog post about them in more detail soon.

It's been half term week here this week and now there are only 3 weeks until Toby finishes his 'learning for living' college placement. We've still not managed to fully fill his week going forward, but we have found 2 fabulous outdoor settings specifically for adults with learning disabilities which have welcomed him with open arms, one on a community allotment and one on a small holding, plus there is one other setting which is prepared to offer him a 4 week trial period. I'm so grateful that we at least have these to help fill his time now that college is finishing.

See you soon with probably too many fox pictures :)

PS: I've updated the previous post with details of the winner of my lamb giveaway (number 213 which is Gretchen), I'm not able to concentrate well enough for pattern writing right now and instead I'm enjoying making finished animals so I do hope to have more giveaways this year, I'll keep you posted, J x

 

A little lamby giveaway

 

 

Hello there, I hope things are good with you. Everything here seems to be taking longer than anticipated and I'm counting any day a good day if I manage to tick one thing off my to-do list. Today however will be a good, good day, as posting this blog post means I've doubled my target and already ticked off 2 things, and it's only 8.30 in the morning :)

This little lamb has been in progress in my workbasket for months now, but at last she is finished. At the beginning of the year I had a quiet and secret plan, which I've not yet spoken of to anyone, and that was to give away one animal for each of the four seasons throughout this year. I'm still not sure if I'll manage to pull that off, but this is a lamb for Spring, so that's a start even though summer is almost upon us.

So, here's what you need to do if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning her and her little basket (which will arrive empty as the daisies have already wilted and I don't want her to arrive with her new owner with a basket of mushy compost). Simply leave a comment below, if you're in a rush just type enter or some such, but if you have a little time then please write a few words about something that has made you smile recently, it won't mean you have a better chance of winning as the draw will be a random one, but I do love reading a collection of happy comments.

Meanwhile I've got lots of pictures from our spring to edit here, so I'll pop back at the end of next week to confirm the winner and to share some of those. I hope the rest of your week is a good one, J x

..............................................................................................

To enter the draw , draw closed on Thursday May 30th:

As usual I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner, so to be in with a chance of winning this lamb please leave a comment on this post, you can simply write enter, or if you have time to spare tell me about something that is making you happy at the moment.

Important note:  I'm not able to add in comments sent by email, left on a blog reading service or on any location other than this blog post. Only comments left on this post will be counted in the draw. If you are reading this on a blog reader or an email then the actual post is here: https://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/my_weblog/2024/05/a-little-lamby-giveaway.html 

Can I also please ask that you only post once in the draw in order to give everyone a fair and equal chance. Thanks for your kind understanding of these conditions of entry in this free prize draw.

I'll draw the winner on Thursday 30th May 2024 and will update this post with the winning name.

Please also note I am reversing the flow of the comments whilst comments are open so that people can immediately see whether their comment has posted (new comments will be first) and so your comment number will be constantly changing as more new comments are added. Once the draw has closed on Thursday I will change the flow of comments so that they begin with the first one left on the post and end with the last one - this will be when your comment will be allocated the unique number for the draw.

..............................................................................................

The winner of the random draw is Gretchen, comment number 213

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to enter, I hope to have more giveaways later in the year, J x

 

New Patterns: Skirts, shorts, trousers & panties for the 9 inch and 7 inch sizes

 

Hello, I hope you're having a good week. It's been very spring-like here, with blue skies, sunshine and a warm and fragrant breeze to ruffle the new leaves on the trees. So far however I've been inside and having a productive week, as I've just put the finishing touches to some new clothing patterns for both the 9 inch and 7 inch animals. These are for skirts, trousers and shorts (baggier in style than the shorts included with the boy animal patterns) and I've been playing around with these for quite a while, as I've been asked about skirts and trousers many times over the years.

Both pattern sizes contain seven options for skirts, along with the shorts, trousers and panties and also contain instructions on adding a pretty knitted edging, which looks like a crochet edge, to dresses and the free camisole pattern. The panties and camisole together work as either underwear or nightwear.

Here are the 7 inch pattern pictures:

 

 

 

 

And here are the 9 inch pictures:

 

 

 

 

Both the 9 inch and 7 inch patterns are now up and live on Ravelry and Etsy  (Ravelry has a much better download system and adds less seller fees, just saying). Please make sure you choose the right size for the animals you are clothing, the 7 inch version has pink and yellow skirts on the cover and the 9 inch version has blue and green skirts. 

As always I hope they're fun to knit and that anyone who gives them a go enjoys working from the patterns.

Now that they're done I'm heading out to the orchard with my camera to see the apple blossom before it fades, see you soon, J x

 

 

Easter Break and a bit of a re-set

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly I wanted to say sorry for being so downbeat in my last post, usually I'm able to find a bit more balance and positivity. Thank you so much to everyone who took time out of their day to comment or send me a personal message. Your kindness, compassion and wisdom have warmed me so much, your own personal stories that you shared with me have given me courage, and I'm feeling enveloped in a collective hug. Thank you for your generosity of sprit, I am deeply grateful, J x

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At the beginning of April it was the two week Easter break from college and so we had Toby here full time, and do you know what - it's been a good time.

During this time I've not tried to do anything at all other than meet his needs and potter around without any aims whilst he's been busy watching his dvds or looking at his picture books. We walked every day, rain or shine, and those have been some of the best times, when he's been at his most relaxed and happy. And when he's happy, we're all happy, my wellbeing is definitely deeply intertwined with his.

These days of 'down-time' have made me rediscover something that I've lost hold of in recent years, and that is that meeting Toby's needs is not the problem. The difficulties actually arise from trying to fit in everything else.

I've realised that I've fallen into bad habits with work. The first thing I do each morning is check and respond to my emails and messages while my pot of tea is brewing. Checking and replying to emails is the last thing I do before bed too, and I'm often typing as quickly as I can when I hear the last strains of Richard Scary's 'best silly songs ever' dvd at 11pm, which is what Toby has watched for the last 20 years as his last dvd before bedtime (autism dictates a rigid and reliable routine). I don't usually have any set daily downtime, and as a result I'm often trying to concentrate on things that need my full attention whilst Toby is around. Inevitably I'm interrupted, loose my train of thought, and get grumpy and frustrated, and as a result nothing gets done as well as I would like.

When you work for yourself, especially if you work from your dining room table, the lines between work and home are blurred. It's hard to give yourself permission for time off and all too easy to keep the pressure up to keep doing more. I don't yet have a firm plan of how to tackle this, although to begin with I am going to try to put some 'office hours' in place to try and regain a little balance in my days, but I'm now certain that I do need to change the way that I'm currently doing things in order to stay well and be able to care for Toby long term. It's a long overdue realisation and I'm glad it has finally dawned on me, hopefully it will help going forward.

Since he returned to college last week I've been spending a lot of time thinking, some of it out in the bluebell woods, and it's been beautiful and peaceful out there. I've also been working on a little pattern writing and am getting closer to finishing off my spring lamb too, I hope to have her ready for a giveaway in the next few weeks.

I hope that there's some goodness in your days at the moment, and if things are a bit wobbly for you, I hope that you soon find the beginning of a path leading to better days ahead,

J x