Little Cotton Rabbits

Autumn in Panshanger Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week was the school half term break so most of my time was taken up with keeping Toby out of mischief. I did have a free day on the Wednesday though (when he went for respite care) and by happy coincidence this was the best day of the week weather-wise, so I packed up my backpack.

There is no shortage of places to choose from within a 15 minute drive and I count myself very lucky to be able to transport myself with relative ease to the woods, the canal, the lakes or the hills as the mood takes me. This time I headed to Panshanger Park. From the 1700s this parkland formed the grounds of a grand stately home but after the death of the last member of the Cowper family in the 1950's the main house was demolished and the estate divided up and sold by auction. Today the park is owned by Tarmac who extract minerals at one end of it. As each mining site is exhausted they have been returning the land to nature, so at the Hertford end of the park there is now a wonderful 400 hectare nature reserve crisscrossed by paths from which you can regularly see many species of ducks, dragonflies and wild birds including the occasional kingfisher and even osprey at the right time of year.

I walked through the fields of grazing sheep (who seemed quite curious about me photographing them), down the track towards the lake cottage and along the Mimram river for a bit before heading uphill to the site where the house once stood. At the hilltop there's a bench with a wonderful view designed by Humphrey Repton so I sat to eat my snack. From there I headed into the woods until the eerie sight of crumbling stonework appeared through the gaps between trees. The Orangery is all that remains of the original house - though if you scrabble about in the woods you can see the remains of walls and terraces which are being slowly reclaimed by nature - it's a bit like being on the set of a Lord of The Rings film. Following the path past the Orangery leads to a ring of iron railings encircling a gigantic oak tree...

"The park contains the largest maiden (not pollarded) oak in the country, with a circumference of 7.6 metres. It is believed to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth I. Acorns from the tree have been used as seedlings for notable oaks in other parts of the country, such as the Prince Consort Oak in the Forest of Dean. Winston Churchill planted a sapling from the tree in the park and the tree can still be seen in the grounds." (source Wikipedia)

I'm not sure that the pictures quite convey how massive this ancient oak is without anything for scale in the foreground but it is quite awe inspiring. I sat there for a while, quietly. All around I could hear small birds twittering about their business in the undergrowth. The squirrels were busy too with their store-cupboarding. There is a feeling of magic there (though that might be just me channelling my childhood love of reading The Tree That Sat Down and The Faraway Tree) and I look forward to returning through the changing seasons and visiting the peacefully enduring old oak.

I walked the path back to the car beneath dramatic skies. I've realised recently that late afternoon and that last golden hour before sunset is my favourite time of day and it really soothes my soul and dissolves stresses to be wandering about then. Even the tedious traffic jams to get back through rush-hour Hertford couldn't dent my sense of well-being.

Although autumn is undeniably here with cooler, breezier days and an abundance of berries and hips in the hedgerows, the leaves of many trees have yet to reach their full autumn glory, so I'm hoping for another wood walk later this week before leaf fall is complete.

See you soon and thanks as always for visiting x

 

Oink, the pigs are here

 

 

There are now pigs in the Little Cotton Rabbits pattern range! It is such a relief to sign off on these patterns, it does feel like I've been working on them for a very long time.

 

 

The finished patterns themselves are very straightforward but when I'm pattern writing I do like to try out lots of different ways of doing the same thing with the hopeful aim that the final pattern will be easy to use and give a toy that someone is pleased to have made. Inevitably this means a lot of frogged samples and things in the bin but also leaves me with a lot of heads that now need bodies, so I'll be making lots of finished animals from now until Christmas!

One of the hardest things about writing up the pig patterns has been choosing the yarn to make them in, pink yarn has to be the hardest colour to choose from on-screen pictures. I ordered masses of different worsted, DK and Aran weight pink yarns and was constantly surprised when each batch arrived. I'd sift through 10 balls of what I'd hoped would be perfect piggy pinks only to find some were too salmon-coloured, some were dirty pinks, some too boiled lobster-ish. I finally decided upon Milliamia's Naturally soft Aran in Blush (229) as the main colour for the pigs in the patterns. It's a nice rosy pink (think creamy strawberry milkshake) and the yarn is soft and not too expensive. You can see below some of the other yarns that were on my shortlist - the runner up was definitely Quince and Co Lark in Petal which was probably my personal favourite but being a very pale shell pink didn't show up so well in the photos and maybe harder for people to get hold of.

 

 

 

I've had a lot of fun coming up with some different designs to represent different pig breeds too. I have a real soft spot for Tamworth pigs which have coarse ginger hair all over their bodies and so much character. So there are tips in the pattern for yarns to use to get a similar effect. There's also a pattern for a pig with a patch (a bit like a Gloucester Old Spot pig) and an alternative set of ears if you'd rather make a floppy eared pig. Both patterns include all options.

 

 

The boy pig pattern includes shorts and a sailor sweater (both removable). The shorts can be knitted with stripes all over or in a single colour. The girl pig has short socks and shoes (both attached) and a removable dress and within the pattern there are easier or more complex options for the socks.

The patterns are now available via Ravelry and my pattern shop (I'll be uploading them to Etsy shortly). For a limited time (until midnight on Friday) I am offering a special price on both of the pig patterns bought together (buy one of them, get the other for half price, so £6 for both instead of £4 each). To take advantage of the discount all you need to do is add both patterns to your basket before checking out and then a message and the discount should pop up at the bottom of the basket window and you can proceed to the payment once you're sure the discounted price is showing.

(Please note that the discount is only available on Ravelry and my pattern shop as Etsy doesn't have very sophisticated facilities for promotions)

As always, I'd love your feedback on these patterns and I'm eagerly awaiting the uploading of the first projects over on Ravelry. The Little Cotton Rabbits Ravelry group is full of lovely people who like sharing projects they've made, so if you do give any of the patterns a go please come and join in, we'd love to admire what you've made.

Happy knitting xxx

 

 

October ramblings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of last week I went walking in a local nature reserve at Broxbourne woods where I was delighted to come across a slow worm sunbathing on the path. Although he looks very snake-like and does have a forked tongue he is actually a legless lizard (apparently his ability to blink and shed his tail make him not a snake). He was so blissed out in the patch of sunlight that I had to step over him and even though I took lots of photos of him he didn't seem bothered by me. He'll probably be starting his winter hibernation in the next month so I expect he's extra bold on these last sunny, warm afternoons while he tops up his tan!

I also met a group of lovely ladies. These beautiful Red Poll cattle have been introduced to the pasture in a habitat conservation project involving legacy grazing. The Red Poll breed is native to the East of England and they certainly looked very at home and were completely relaxed about me walking through their field.

Whilst out and about I've been enjoying the cosy warmth of the void shawl (pattern and yarn details in link on my Ravelry project page). The yarn is really soft and comfortable to wear and the shawl is pretty flexible, looped twice or three times depending on how cold the breeze is. The pom-poms are still in place despite Toby's attentions and I'm hoping he'll be able to help me to make him some pom-poms of his own to play with as a distraction from playing with mine.

Back at home I've been finishing off patterns, starting new socks and getting winter woollies out of storage ready for wearing. I've also been enjoying the October issue 79 of Knit Now magazine which has an interview with me as part of the Knitter of the year awards that I won a prize in earlier in the year. The awards nominations for 2017 have just opened so if you'd like to nominate someone then head over to their page for more details.

Well, I'm off to continue with pattern writing, won't be long now I promise - hopefully I'll be back with news in the next post, til then keep well - there seem to be coughs and colds everywhere at the moment so fingers crossed you avoid them x

 

 

change afoot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's been a change in the air this week. Autumn is breezing in on the wind, loosening the leaves from the trees and whistling through any windows left open. I've changed the duvets from lightweight summer throws to cosier covers to snuggle under and whilst it's not yet been cool enough to warrant lighting the fire I've been stacking logs in the basket ready because the change is noticeably distinct. 

The cooler weather is the perfect excuse to carry on with warm-winter-woollie knitting and my void shawl is all finished. It's the perfect big snuggly wrap to keep out those autumn breezes. I had a tiny bit of yarn left over and couldn't resist making a few pom-poms for the ends, I'm really pleased I did as they are a sweet finishing touch, though I'm not sure how long they'll stay attached as Toby seems quite fascinated with them.

The book I mentioned in the previous post 'A modern way to eat'  by Anna Jones has been provding me with lots of lovely new recipes to try, but I'm finding I'm not a fan of them all. I tried really hard to like her recipe for the wonderful sounding Golden Tumeric milk which is made with almond milk, tumeric, cardamom and honey but I failed dismally. One sip was enough for me I'm afraid! It's a pretty concoction though with a lovely warm colour that goes well with the socks I'm working on at the moment. They're knitted from the pattern BFF socks by Cookie A in Madelinetosh Twist light yarn in 'harvest' with contrasting heels, toes and ribbing top in 'paper', my project notes are here.

On my walks I've been noticing lots of mushrooms and toadstools, it's their season and they are everywhere at the moment. I hope to go exploring and find more next week, family life has been busy and chaotic so I've not been out adventuring as much as I had hoped for but Autumn is still to reach her best here so there's time yet.

I hope to be back more frequently very soon and to have news on new patterns and the giveaway I'm planning. Til then keep well xx