Little Cotton Rabbits

pretty and sparkly

 

 

 

 

It was the school half term break here last week and it ended up being a longer one than it should have been when Toby came down with a virus and had to stay off school on the last day of term. Inevitably we all caught it in turn and spent most of last week feeling sorry for ourselves, staying huddled up in the warm, sniffling into tissues and drinking honey and lemon tea. When I'm feeling rough there's nothing like a little yarn therapy to lift my spirits so I dived into my growing collection of mini skeins. Such pretty colours and some with the added sparkle of silver lurex did the trick and helped me feel much better. 

These are a mixture of mini skeins from The Wool Barn and the sparkly ones are the new Nateby yarn from Eden Cottage. They're all rather good for knitting bunny cardigans from :)

The other thing that lifted everyone's spirits here was Amy getting an unconditional offer of a place at the university that is her top choice. We went for an applicant day visit on Saturday which confirmed how much she wants to go there and the first thing she did when we arrived back home was to log in and accept the offer. So come September she'll be off to uni! Eeeek!

With Toby now back at school I'm knuckling down and working on finishing off a batch of finished animals. I'll keep you updated with progress, til then have a good week x

 

revised boy and girl bunny patterns

 

 

Just a quick note to mention that on February 9th at 9.15am UK time I published an update to both my boy and girl bunny patterns (if you've purchased since then you will already have an updated copy).

The original patterns are still perfectly usable (there are no pattern errors) and in fact the majority of changes I have made are only cosmetic and to do with the layout and look of the pages rather than the actual pattern instructions.

However I have added two new designs to the head and tweaked the shaping at the back of the head (all row and stitch counts are exactly the same but I've changed it in line with the shaping on all of the other animal patterns). No other patterns have been updated. 

 

 

 

Hopefully if you've previously bought either of the bunny patterns from Ravelry or my website you will already have received an email with a link to download the new file/s from. If you previously purchased a copy of the pattern/s and have not received an email notice about the update but would like a new copy of the pattern please follow the instructions below.

Please note that I decided I'd like to do this update for free rather than at an additional cost for you. Updates are not normally included in the cost of my patterns but at entirely at my discretion, so please bear that in mind before you get antsy with me and email me in annoyance if you've not received an update :)

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If you have not already received an email about the update/s please follow these instructions carefully as I will not be able to search through all of my back-orders to find yours and if you do not supply me with the information that I need, then I'll be unable to send you an update. 

 

1. Ravelry Purchases (from a Ravelry account):

If you have bought through your Ravelry account it is very easy to check for updates. If you have added the purchased patterns to your library there will be an 'update available' sticker on the pattern picture and clicking on that will allow you to download the new file. If you are a Ravelry user then adding all patterns that you've purchased to your library is worth doing for this reason alone.

If you are a Ravelry user and don't use the fantastic library function then you can still download new/updated copies of patterns by going to your purchase history (see image below).

 

Here's an article detailing 5 ways of downloading a new/updated copy of a pattern you've bought via Ravelry.

There is a useful tutorial about the menu options of your notebook on Ravelry here

(please don't email me to ask how Ravelry works, I'm just a Ravelry user like you and they have all the info you'll need over on their site)

 

2. Purchases via Ravelry or my website (without a Ravelry account)

Please send me an email (link over in the column on the right - towards the top). I don't need to know the date that you purchased but I do need to know the email address that you used (this will be your paypal email address). If I cannot verify your purchase (because you've supplied an incorrect email address) I will not be able to forward you an updated pattern.

 

3. Purchases via Etsy

Unfortunately Etsy have no way for me to automatically give you access to any pattern updates (if you are a Ravelry user it is worth buying patterns via ravelry rather than Etsy so that you do automatically receive any future updates).

So if you'd like a copy of the update/s please

• log into your Etsy account,
• go to the little cotton rabbits shop page and
• click 'contact shop owner'

This will bring up a message window and you can type me a message letting me know that you'd like an updated copy of the pattern. Because you are messaging me from within your account I will then be able to see your previous purchases (from my shop only) and I can then verify and email you an update.

 

4. Purchases via Loveknitting

If you've bought on Loveknitting then they tell me that you should be able to download an update from your purchase history on your account there. If you have any difficulty you will need to contact them as I cannot assist with purchases that are not made direct from me.

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If you do contact me by any of the above methods to request an update please be patient with me as it may take me a day or two to process. As long as you've supplied the required information you will receive a reply from me. I am not able to enter into correspondence about the updates or give you any personal instructions other than what is written above.

I really hope that you enjoy the updated patterns. Happy knitting x

 

Choosing the yarns for little cotton rabbit patterns (part 1)

 

 

One of the challenges of writing a knitting pattern is that yarn manufacturers are constantly changing their collections - developing new yarns, discontinuing others and creating new colourways in existing yarns. It is impossible to keep up with these changes within the confines of a written pattern and so instead I've decided to write up some posts here on the blog with tips on choosing potential yarns for my little cotton rabbits patterns. The beauty of these notes being in a blog post here is that I can keep it updated as time goes on, so that if you check back in the future this post will reflect more accurately what yarns are available at that time.

For this post I'm going to focus on the yarns for the animals themselves rather than their outfits (a second post about the 4ply/fingering weight yarns that I use for the clothes will follow later). 

Below I've compiled a list of my current favourite yarns for knitting the animals in, along with descriptions of what in particular I like or dislike about them. For the most part I recommend worsted weight woollen blend yarns for the animals, although for the pig and the elephant I prefer smooth cotton DK yarns which give a more skin-like appearance (see below). 

 

So, why Worsted weight?

Worsted weight (also known as 10ply) is midway between DK and Aran weight. Technically speaking it is designated as 'medium 4' by the yarn standards from the Craft yarn council with 9 wraps per inch (meaning that if you wound it around say the handle of a wooden spoon so that there were no gaps between the strands there would be 9 wraps of yarn in an inch). In practice there is a great deal of variance between different yarns marketed as worsted weight and even different worsted weight yarns from the same manufacturer vary surprisingly in thickness and knitted tension, let alone those between different manufacturers. FYI Ravelry has a really useful table with yarn weight comparisons. I do find however that overall yarns that are designated as worsted weight are the best to knit my animal patterns in (DK usually being too thin and Aran weight often too thick), worsted weight is usually just right - it's my 'Goldilocks' yarn weight :)

 

Important note on gauge and ball band information:

It is important to note that the information you'll read about recommended needle size and gauge on the ball band of any yarn is written with knitted garments in mind. When knitting garments you want to create a fairly loose knitted fabric that has a nice quality of drape. But when you are knitting toys or other objects that are three-dimensional and are going to be stuffed, knitting at a gauge suitable for clothing would be much too loose and mean that the stuffing showed through the gaps between stitches. This is the reason that I knit the toys with worsted weight yarn on 3mm (US 2.5) needles to give a gauge of 6 stitches and 9 rows per square inch (which is much tighter than recommended on worsted yarn ball bands) as then the resulting knitted fabric is nice and dense and doesn't stretch enough to let the stuffing show between stitches.

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Favourite Worsted weight yarns for Little Cotton rabbit animal patterns:

Note, I've linked to the Ravelry pages for each of these yarns, as that way you'll be able to see projects made from the yarns, what others think of the yarns and also links to local stockists. At the bottom of each yarn I've also linked to the manufacturers own website.

 

Cascade 220 Worsted / Cascade 220 Worsted heathers

A good strong pure wool yarn which comes in a huge range of dependable range of colours (by that I mean that in my experience the colours only vary a little between dye lots). It's hard wearing so doesn't pill easily or shed much fibre and knits up very well. The price is reasonable for the quantity. Put simply, it's a perfect all-rounder yarn and great for knitting my animals.

Particular favourite shades are 2440 Vinci (a warm brown used for the bears and parts of the boy bunny above), 9600 Antique heather (used in the sheep and the boy bunny above), 8011 Aspen heather a lovely light grey good for bunnies or elephants, 9491 Greystone heather - a dark grey.

Cascade's own website.

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Malabrigo worsted

This is a single ply worsted yarn which is beautifully soft and comes in lovely tonal colours. In my experience there can be a large degree of variance between dye lots so sometimes the skein I receive is not the exact colour I'd expected from looking at the computer image. That's because it is kettle dyed in small batches but this also makes for such beautiful colours many of which have variation in tones throughout the skein which looks great on the knitted animals. Being a single ply yarn this is not a strong yarn so isn't great for seaming with. Either use a different yarn to sew up the seams with or give the strand you sew up with a lot of extra twist in order to strengthen it (see the post here about seaming).

Particular favourite shades are Pearl and Polar morn (pale rabbity greys); SFO Sky and Comfy Junkie which have a lot of variance and make for extra interest; Rhodesian and glazed carrot are good for the fox; Roanoke, Dark Earth and Applewood are great for the bears.

Malabrigo website

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Blue Sky Woolstok

This is a lovely soft and strong marled yarn which gives extra interest to the knitted fabric. It's comes in lots of greys, browns and natural shades that are perfect for knitting bunnies and bears in.

Bluesky website

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Quince and Co Lark is a lovely pure American wool yarn. It comes in a great range of colours, is really nice to knit with and has great stitch definition.

Quince and Co Owl

This is a lovely lofty rustic yarn which is soft and bouncy and has subtle variation of tone and texture throughout the strand. It's composed of 50% American wool and 50% New Zealand alpaca. It's a 2ply construction and is not particularly strong so may need extra twisting when seaming or sewing the seams with a stronger yarn. Because it's lofty the animals may come out a tiny bit larger than those knitted in some of the other suggested yarns. There's a great range of greys, browns and neutral colours perfect for knitting bears and bunnies in.

Quince and Co website

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Other noteworthy yarns...

De Rerum Natura Gilliat , a lovely heathered and rustic yarn that knits up beautifully and comes in a great range of browns, greys, creams, rusts perfect for knitting the animals in. Ethically produced and ecological. It is a little on the 'tender' side so can break if used for sewing the seams, so I substitute a similar shade of cascade or similarly strong yarn in order to sew the seams.

Drops Nepal, incredibly good value wool and alpaca mix yarn with a good colour range, a little on the thick side so watch your gauge

Uncommon Thread Lush Worsted, beautifully hand-dyed luxury with a touch of cashmere for larger budgets and very special projects

Madeline Tosh Vintage, beautiful tonal hand-dyed yarn, on the expensive side so great for special projects

Lettlopi, rustic and interestingly textured Icelandic wool in a great range of natural colours

Adriafil Lana Naturale Inca, great natural colours with tweed effects, alpaca wool blend yarn

Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted, good colour range, very similar in character to the Cascade 220 mentioned above

MillaMia naturally soft aran, soft (like it says on the label) and a little on the thick side so you get a little less yarn per ball than with some other brands

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Yarn combinations:

 

I've always enjoyed knitting with 2 different strands of yarn held together. This can give an interesting texture and you can create your own bespoke finish. Most often I enjoy marrying one thin strand of mohair with a DK weight tweedy yarn. Here are some suggestions

1 strand of Rowan Felted Tweed DK with 1 strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze

1 stand of Rowan Kid Classic with 1 strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze

1 strand of Willow and Lark Woodland with 1 strand of Willow and lark Plume

1 strand of Orkney angoras St Magnus with 1 strand of Rico Essentials Super kid mohair silk

1 strand of Jamieson's DK with 1 strand of Debbie Bliss Angel

 

Other very thin mohair mix yarns I've used (to be held double with another DK yarn):

Lana Grossa Silkhair

Austermann Kidsilk

ITO Sensai

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Favourite DK cotton blend yarns for the animals:

As mentioned above I prefer to knit the elephants and pigs in smooth cotton yarns that look a bit more like skin than fuzzy fur. With cotton yarns you'll need a DK not a worsted weight. This is because cotton yarns are much bulkier and rigid and so a worsted weight cotton yarn would be too thick to achieve the gauge needed for the animals at the recommended needle size.

Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK, a good range of colours and a nice soft strong cotton

King Cole Cottonsoft DK, very soft cotton but still strong, nice colour range

Katia Cotton 100%, a DK cotton with a wide colour range

Patons 100% Cotton DK, mercerised cotton so has a sheen, strong, slightly thin but a great colour range

Phildar Phil Ecocoton, 100% organic cotton, soft and strong

 

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This is not an exhaustive list and I'll be adding to this in future, so when I come across new yarns that I start using I'll update this post.

Another great source of yarn inspiration is the Ravelry group. You can look at the yarns that others are using and sometimes people also write up notes on what they thought of the yarn. You can see the yarn by looking up each individual project, for instance girl bunny.

Hope this helps, if you've found any yarns that you'd like to recommend please tell us all about them in the comments below.

(last updated on February 5th 2018)

Note: This is an un-sponsored post, I only mention yarns that I've bought with my own money and use in my own work.

 

snowdrop spotting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're very lucky where we live because although we're in the middle of suburbia, we have very easy access to beautiful countryside. This time of year is snowdrop spotting time and it's a delight to see carpets of them spread out beneath the bare-branched trees, the first cheerful herald of spring. One of the best places locally for them is around Westmill near Ware, which isn't even a village but just a small handful of houses clustered around an old mill. The little path that leads past the houses and up alongside a quarry has great drifts of flowers on either side. I got cold muddy knees yesterday afternoon but it was worth it to get right down amongst them, close enough to see the dew still sparkling on their stems and their little bells silently shivering in the cold breeze.

The old mill straddles the River Rib and parts of the building still standing are said to date back to Elizabethan times, though there has been a mill on the site for at least 1,000 years. It's a beautiful old building with wonderfully crumbly brick walls around the gardens and lovely views out over the water meadows. There's a coat of arms in the middle of the front wall which appears to be the lesser coat of arms for the city of London, odd considering that we're 20 miles from there and I wonder what the significance is but suspect that the facts have been lost to time. It is fascinating to live in a landscape that has so much visible history, Ware in particular as it is one of the longest continuously inhabited towns in Europe, so there's a lot to discover.

The flowering of the snowdrops signals that spring is on the way (although winter has yet to loosen her frosty grip), which is a nice thought on a cold, dark and rainy early February evening. At this time of year I can't help daydreaming of long-off summer afternoons with knitting in the garden and the snowdrops are a nice marker that we're on our way back to those.

Be back soon with some knitty news, see you then x