Little Cotton Rabbits

The orchard in May

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favourite local nature reserves is a tiny hidden gem. It's not immediately apparent from the road, so you have to know it's there to know it's there,  and most of the times that I've visited I've found myself alone and in perfect and peaceful solitude. It's an old orchard, with twisted, ancient, lichen-encrusted trees from which the most beautifully delicate apple blossoms sprout, in every shade of soft, blushed pink. It's abuzz with bees and other pollinators and carpeted with drifts of forget-me-nots. Behind the trees there's a meadow and then a small patch of woodland, which in the springtime is pungent with the smell of the wild garlic growing abundantly under the greening trees and it is home to a large and complex badger sett.

Come and wander along the meandering green pathways with me, mind your head on the overhanging branches. We'll walk quietly, listening to the bird song and the drone of the bees and when we're hungry we'll stop for a picnic lunch at the little bench by the pond, where we'll watch the ducks squabble over pond weed and breathe deeply the softly fragrant breeze.

Tewin Orchard, early May 2023

 

Horses, Donkeys & Unicorns

 

 

Thanks so much for all of the kind words about the sneak preview of my latest pattern, it's so lovely to think that these patterns are going to be enjoyed, I truly hope they are anyway :)

They are now ready and I've uploaded the files to Ravelry and Etsy and hopefully in the next few days I'll also have them on Lovecrafts and on my blog pattern shop (which, by the way, uses Ravelry as a supply).

There are lots of options in the patterns. Firstly there are 2 main versions:

the first comes with knitted on tights/pantyhose and shoes and has two removable dresses included, one which is worked in two colours with a stranded loops and flowers design, and the other which is worked in a single colour and has a traditional Shetland lace pattern called Horseshoe lace (well, it did seem apt).

 

and the other comes with a bare body and legs and has removable shorts and a choice of two removable sweaters, one worked in a two-colour geometric design of triangles and the other is a single coloured sweater using a textured 'cob nut' design.

 

Both of these versions have the same multiple options to make a horse, a donkey and a unicorn

 

The horse also has multiple options with a design for a plain face with a different coloured nose, a blaze on the face and a forehead star.

 

You can really go to town with choosing the yarns for the manes (especially the unicorns) and there are lots of yarn suggestions within the pattern.

 

I'll be trying my best to give each of these heads a body, though it may take me a while! So many of them remind me of horses I have loved during my life, long gone now but hopefully galloping happily across meadows somewhere in horsey heaven, miss you Amazon, Trigger, Caspian, Danny, William, Katie, Rusty and Sweep xxx

 

Magical May

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here in the south of England May is the most magical month. Throughout April there are always days that feel like they've been reclaimed by winter, with sharp frosts, cold winds and even late snow flurries. But when May arrives it brings a dramatic change and suddenly the countryside, which seemed so bare, brown and twiggy just a week ago, is clothed in a bright green growth. 

If you visited these woods during winter you would think them rather dull, but they are at their breath-takingly beautiful best right now and to come and sit here with a coffee and a rather delicious slab of salted caramel brownie is such a privilege and delight. Sitting quietly on this log, surrounded by such beauty, smelling the delicate scent drifting up from the bluebells and listening to the bird song filtering down through the new leaves in the canopy is a joy and I'll be back out in the woods again next week, making the very most of this fleeting natural wonder.

"I enjoy the spring more than the autumn now. One does, I think, as one gets older."

Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room

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PS: Thanks for all of the kind comments on the horses pattern, it's almost done, will post again when all the final checks are finished, J x

 

Horsing around

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Hello, hope you are well. I didn't mean to be away for so long, but as you can see I have been keeping busy! I have wanted to do a horse pattern for such a long time, but every time that I have made a prototype there was something that I felt didn't work, and so back to the drawing board I went. Then at the end of last year I had an equine epiphany and things clicked into place for me, resulting in a flurry of knitting activity and the beginnings of a new pattern. I have been working on it solidly now for 5 months and at last I'm almost finished with the final pattern.

So far I've knitted 33 different heads, including different facial markings for the horses, along with unicorns and donkeys too. I have to tell you that those manes do take a bit of patience, adding a strand at a time, but overall I've had a lot of fun putting this pattern together and am pleased with how it's all looking in the layout. Just a few final pictures to take for the front covers and then I'll be ready to share it.

It's so exciting to almost have it ready. I have adored horses since I was quite little, always clamouring to stop and stroke their velvety noses when out on walks and delighting in donkey rides on beaches and at farms. From about the age of 8 until my mid teens I read about horses, drew horses and dreamt about horses almost constantly. I even tried to convince mum and dad that our very small suburban back garden would be perfectly fine for keeping a horse in, with pledges that I would ride it every day and tidy up after it. Needless to say my pleas did not result in a pet horse at home but they did get me riding lessons. I then started 'working' at the stable, I say 'working' because none of us were actually paid but we turned up on Saturdays or Sundays at 8.30 am ready for a day of mucking out, cleaning tack, lead-reining small children learning to ride and grooming our adored charges. My appointed horse was Sweep, a big gentle grey who was a little bit dim and kept my toenails constantly bruised by frequently standing on my feet when I was grooming him. I was also so lucky to have two week long pony trekking trips away in Wales, we rode every day in amazing countryside and I loved every minute, even the day three saddle sores!

It's been fun looking out my old books, though I'm missing a few - the silver brumby series, by Elyne Mitchell - those were my absolute favourites. And digging out these photos has made me all nostalgic, though I don't think I'm ready to dust off my jodhpurs any time soon!

Anyway, I'll be back with news as soon as the patterns are in finished form, though next time I'm here will be all about the bluebells which are glorifying the woods right now, see you soon, J x