Little Cotton Rabbits

Late May

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The days seem to be whizzing by at the moment and all of our schedules are up in the air here. Toby had his annual school play last week, which always throws our comfortable routines out of whack as he's off timetable and his school is open in the evening rather than the daytime for a couple of days. And this week is school half term break, so our days are continuing to have a slightly chaotic feel. Amy is deep in revision for her A levels and is on study leave. In 3 weeks time she'll have sat all of her exams and then she's done with her school years - it's almost incomprehensible how quickly those 14 years have passed, I still clearly remember her first day of school and it's got me feeling more nostalgic than usual.

Time has passed quickly for our robin family too. The chicks spent 3 weeks hanging around in our garden being fed mostly by their dad and now they've flown on and their mum is sitting on a new clutch of eggs in her nest in our garage. I did get a couple of pictures of them flitting about before they departed, they seem so unprepared for the world and I really hope that they do well and survive long enough to have chicks of their own.

As always, knitting is my constant and I've cast on too many new projects - most of them in blues. Do you find yourself drawn to certain colours at different times? It's definitely blue that is most appealing to me at the moment. These socks are coming along nicely and I'm hoping to keep my focus long enough to finish the pair and avoid the temptation to start something else new. The yarn is Eden cottage Hayton in 'Tarn' and Madeline Tosh twist light in 'paper' and the pattern is a free one - Fair Isle Flower sock by Candice DeWitt.

And I'm working these beautiful gradient mini skeins of Julie Asselin's Leizu 4ply into a shawl that reminds me of breaking waves, going as they do from deep sea blue to a foamy sea-spray light grey. This colourway set is called 'Oresund' and the shawl pattern is Pebble Beach by Helen Stewart.

There's also another blue yarned project that I'm working on at the moment but that needs some concentration, so I've had to put it on the back burner until after half term break when I'm able to call my time my own again. I look forward to showing you then :)

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Lastly, I'm sure you've been bombarded with emails about the new GDPR regulations brought into force by the EU on May 25th and so are aware that these govern how your information may be used and stored by others. In line with that I have written some new privacy policies that detail what information I collect, how I use it and what rights you have regarding that. I have not sent out an email to my mailing list as everyone on there is only there because they have requested to be and all of the emails that I do send (all 3 or 4 of them a year) have an easy way for you to manage your preferences and unsubscribe.

Any questions please get in touch.

 

 

Textured dresses pattern

 

 

 

 

We're deep in the school Easter break here, and it's a long 3 weeker as Toby and Amy's separate schools have different 2 week holidays which only overlap in the middle, so we're all out of kilter here.

Still, I have actually managed to get to a point I'm calling finished on a new pattern. I've been working on this for the best part of 2 years, slowly accruing a collection of different skirt designs, discarding some and testing out new ones to take their place. At a final count of 19 there are a few more than I'd originally planned but some are very simple so there are enough to suit all levels of knitting depending on whether you want something undemanding to knit while watching TV or something a bit more fiddly and involved for a little challenge. They are all based on textures, including raised purl work stitches, lace and cables and most are designed to be worked in a single colour, though you can jazz things up with a different coloured hem or bodice if you chose to. Also included in the pattern are 2 options for a full collar, one that is crochet and one that's knitted.

The pattern is available via Ravelry or Etsy and will be up on Loveknitting shortly.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all of the projects that people make from these so if you do give the pattern a go please come and add it to the Little Cotton Rabbits ravelry group so that we can all admire it.

Well, I'm off to keep Toby busy and out of mischief. See you soon x

 

Happy Easter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just popping in briefly to wish you all a happy Easter.

Thanks to LoveKnitting for the invitation to take over their Instagram account for the day last Friday, I had a great time chatting with everyone and sharing pictures from my day and it was lovely to see lots of familiar friends there and make some new ones too. The pictures above are from my takeover - in reverse order because I wanted the prettiest one at the top ;) 

This week I've not taken any new pictures-  I've been too busy knitting. But everything is starting to come together now so I'll be back in a more organised fashion after the Easter break. 'Til then wishing you a lovely relaxing Easter with a little chocolate and lots of good times with your favourite people

J x

blossoming time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so very much for all of the kind comments on the previous post, I am still processing the amazing win and happily my wrist seems to be completely back to normal now, so knitting is back on the menu.

After another cold snap bringing snow our way last week things have turned more spring-like here. Not much is flowering in the garden yet (the plans I had for autumn bulb planting remained as an un-ticked line on my to-do list) but the plum tree is, as usual, heralding a change in season. I know I do it every year but I can't resist taking photos of the blossoms. They are radiant in the morning sun and at night are illuminated by the light of the moon and their delicate beauty is so short-lived that I feel the need to capture their fleeting charm before they are gone for another year.

The birds have been answering the call of their seasonal instincts by jostling for territory, paring up and becoming more vocal. These last few mornings when I've gone out to let the chickens out I've been greeted by a tuneful robin. He has a twinkle in the black bead of his eye and when he cocks his head to watch me from the tree above it seems like he is asking for some breakfast - and I'm happy to oblige with a handful of dried mealworms and sunflower hearts.  I love it when the dawn is full of birdsong, it's an enchanting start to the day and it will build now until May, when it reaches it's most choral.

It is nice to be knitting again and although I'm behind a self-imposed schedule I am still working on a new pattern and full steaming ahead with a finished batch of bunnies - though they won't now be ready in time for Easter. I'll send out an email to my mailing list when they are ready but it will be a good few weeks yet.

Lastly, but not leastly, I'm very excited to be taking over the instagram feed of Love Knitting tomorrow. If you're on instagram pop over and say hello - I'm going to spend the day sewing together bunny bits and sharing photos as I go and it would be nice to have your company.

Thanks again for all of the congratulations and compliments on the previous post, I feel truly privileged to be on the receiving end of such kindness. 

 

 

 

Thank you

 

 

So, I've taken my time posting about this, mostly because I've been half expecting an email telling me sorry, it was all a big mistake. But that hasn't arrived so it has started to feel real, and I've just sent off some pictures to be used in an article, so it must be true. What, what, you may ask, well it seems that I am the winner of Knitting Blog of The Year in the *2018 British Craft Awards!

 

 

It feels rather odd and very wonderful just typing that! Writing this blog is a self indulgence for me. It is my happy place that I can fill with pictures of beautiful yarn, share things that I've made, reminisce over wonderful countryside walks, make friends and meet lovely like-minded people. It's a place to focus on the positives, to escape from bad days or sleepless nights and I love being here. Over the 11 years I've been posting here I've felt incredibly privileged to have so many of you visit me, a few of you for almost all of the time I've been here and I'm so grateful that you do take the time to pop in.

So I want to say a heartfelt Thank You. Thank you for voting for me and thank you for visiting this blog and for allowing me to continue being here without feeling lonely :)

It's been a very odd week here, made so by the complete absence of any knitting. Not something I've chosen you understand, but rather something forced on me after I slipped over in the slushy snow melt last Saturday evening and landed heavily. I was outside the chicken run so luckily wasn't completely covered in poo but I bruised my hip and elbow and sprained my wrist. It's been a little painful and did swell up quite badly but I think the most painful part of the whole thing is that I've not been able to knit all week. It's been very unsettling and I've felt distinctly strange, a bit like I've lost something but can't remember what. I think I should be OK to start gently again tomorrow and so that's my plan for Mother's day here - hopefully a cup of tea and some toast will be brought to me in bed and I'll have a lazy day re-uniting my fingers with some beautiful yarn and my beloved pointy sticks.

Wishing all mums out there a happy UK Mother's day tomorrow, may your day be relaxing and full of the things and people you love xxx

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*The British Craft Awards are run by Immediate Media, and the awards are voted for by readers of Immediate’s craft magazines, which include Simply Knitting, The Knitter, Mollie Makes, Love Patchwork & Quilting, Simply Crochet, and The World of Cross Stitching. There were five categories in Knitting sector and winners in the other categories were Woolly Wormhead for Designer of the year, Rowan Yarns for Brand of the year, Addi by Selter for Product of the year and Wool Warehouse for Retailer of the year

Little Cotton Rabbits won Knitting Blog of the Year, while in 2nd place was KnitBritish.net and in 3rd place was NeverNotKnitting.com

 

Where are you Spring?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When spring suddenly seems a distant dream, thanks to the arrival of bitterly cold winds and drifting snow, the best option is to snuggle and I'm doing just that. Knitting in more of these pretty spring colours helps too and I'm slowly working my way towards a little batch of spring dressed bunnies and lambs.

It has been really beautiful outside though. Unusually the snow has come in very localised showers and at times we've had bright sun light shining through the flurrying snow as it whispers it's way to the ground. Thanks to the sub-zero temperatures it's been that dry fluffy kind of snow rather than the slushy wet stuff that is more usual here and that's created the perfect canvas for stories to be written across - stories written by the fox that trotted up the driveway in the night on silent and slender paws, circling around the car and searching for some supper, and stories from the birds who are up at dawn to begin the busy task of breakfasting, leaving a delicate trace of their dartings here and there. Finding these tracks in the morning when I go out to let the chickens out of the coop is one of my favourite things about freshly fallen snow.

Well, hope you're keeping warm where you are and enjoying what the seasons are bringing your way. I'm off to do some more knitting and snuggling :)