Little Cotton Rabbits

autumn knitting

The last couple of days have been the perfect autumn kind -  misty mornings with dew festooned cobwebs...

 

 

...dissolving into warm days of sunshine that sparkles through the rich colours of the leaves.

 

I'm so glad to live somewhere that has four distinct seasons, each one bringing changes in what we eat, what we wear and what we do. Autumn always makes me feel like baking; tidying the garden; airing the winter weight duvets, blankets and winceyette sheets and unearthing the the jumpers, scarves, gloves and snuggly socks from the backs of cupboards and drawers. I've been baking lots of biscuits and quite a few apple cakes (this has been such a good year for apples and we've had bags and bags from our neighbours tree). Our current favourite cake though is a lovely lemon and thyme cake from a Nigel Slater recipe. It's really delicious, very moist and lemony and good with a dollop of cream. It's a tad messy in the making, although that may just be me - I am useless at zesting lemons.

 

 

Autumn is also a time to be knitting things that are toasty and warm, ready for the colder months to come. I've finished off my mittens and am really pleased with this Purl Bee pattern, I'll use it again in future as I really like the rounded mitten top and the placement of the thumbs.

 

I've made myself a slouchy beret too. I messed up though by increasing too many stitches and didn't notice until after the border. I couldn't face unpicking so pressed on and the finished hat is probably a bit too baggy, though very comfy to wear.

Pattern: Ethel Beret by Andi Satterlund

 

I'll use the pattern again as it's very sweet (though next time I will concentrate better when I work the increase row). I love the little knitting needles on the border and had lots of fun making the pompom, I even got Toby to help a little with winding the wool for it.

 

Well, that's my news. It's half term break here next week so I'll be busy keeping Toby occupied. Luckily he is still enjoying some of the presents from his birthday, especially his duplo (and the box which doubled as a hat) and the huge helium balloon which is still buoyant and providing much delight two weeks on.

 

Thanks for dropping in and visiting with me. Til next time, keep well and happy

J x

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PS: I knew there was something else I'd planned to say, I am such a scatterbrain at the moment.

We are having another photo contest on the little cotton rabbits ravelry group. It starts this coming Monday (October 28th) and will run until November 10th. The theme is autumnal animals and it's open to anyone. All you need to do to enter is to take a fitting picture of an animal you've made from one of my patterns. We'd love to have you join in, all of the details are here.

Tausigma has also started a photography club which will be a great place to share tips on taking better pictures, ask questions and share ideas.

in my knitting bag

I don't know where the days have gone recently. It seems such a short while since the children went back to school and yet here we are in October already.  All of those long and wonderfully warm sunny days are gone for this year and though autumn is always a favourite time for me I do feel rather melancholy at the moment.

Still there have been plenty of cheery things in the last month and October brings two special birthdays - Amy has turned 14 and Toby's 12th birthday is this friday. And I've of course have been knitting, which always brings pleasure and peace. I was also really pleased to be asked about the contents of my knitting bag by Jennifer at Let's get Crafting magazine. I do love collecting knitting bits and trying out new yarns so I had plenty of things for a show and tell. The article is just out in the October issue (no 55). I did have to tidy up my knitting bag first though because as you can see in the picture below it is not usually terribly tidy. I even found some notes and drawings from Amy in the pockets which must date back at least 5 years!

 

 

Here is the shot for the magazine, when it looked tidier.

The Little Grey Sheep Stein Fine yarn snuggled in the corner of the bag there is my current favourite. It is beautiful in every way from the label to the multi-tonal hand-dyeing. It's worth popping over to their website for a visit to see all of the wonderful colourways and reading about how the yarn comes into being. I love that it is a completely homegrown British yarn, shorn by Susie from the sheep living on Well Manor Farm in Hampshire, washed in Yorkshire, spun in the West Country and then hand-dyed back on the farm by Emma. It is proper wool.

 

Inspired by my friends Elaine and Esther I've started on a shawl (South Bay Shawlette) with the bluest colourway at the top which is called 'Cresswell Quay' and I really like the way it is working up. I expect I'll work in the other colourways too as I would like quite a big snuggly shawl.

 

There is always a little bunny knitting going on here too but in truth I need a little break from pattern writing so I'm enjoying playing around with other woolly things for a while. I'm still working on the projects in the previous post and almost have the mittens finished. This week they were featured on the lovely Knitted Bliss blog's Modification Monday post, thanks so much to Julie for the lovely write up.

Well, I'm off to make some oat cookies because another recent happy thing is that Toby has started loving my home baking instead of those hugely sugary custard creams. Though he is loving the oat cookies a little too much and getting quite portly so I will be hiding most of this batch before he gets home and rationing them!

Thanks as always for popping in, J x

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PS: This is not a sponsored post, I don't do those. I just write about the things that I like :)

snippets of summer: knitting

I started writing this post back in August but the school summer hols got the better of me and it didn't get finished so I thought I'd show you now some of the things I started knitting over the summer. As is usual for me in the hottest time of the year I started some winter weight projects in the form of gloves, wristies and scarves...

 

"Fake Thrummed mittens"

Pattern: from the Purl Bee's lovely simple free pattern with tweaks (see my ravelry project page for details). I love the look of thrummed mittens and thought I could capture a similar feel by stranding a thicker multi-coloured yarn. I'm pleased with how they're turning out and the stranding on the inside makes them lovely and warm.

Yarns: Cascade heathers 220 in Aspen Heather 8011, with accents of Misti Alpacas hand paint chunky in Gemstones

 

"warmer wrists"

Pattern: wristwarmers with tweaks for the thicker yarn

Yarns: Madeline Tosh Vintage in Chambray and Ivy

"frothy scarf"

Pattern: Alpine Frost scarf by Amy O'Neil Houck

Yarns: Malabrigo yarn lace in Pearl

I'm also making slow and steady progress on the crochet blanket that I started earlier in the year, but more of that another time.

The seasons are definitely turning and colder weather is arriving so I'll be pressing on with these and wearing them all too soon. I'm also feeling in a baking mood, I think I'll be making an apple cake this week with the apples our heighbours have just given us from their tree

Can you feel the seasons shifting and are you all set for a change?

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PS: Thanks so much to Let's Knit for inviting me to guest post on their blog

knitting and catching up

Thanks so very much for all of the comments on my giveaway post. I've really enjoyed reading all of the different ways in which we each take pleasure in our free time. I've left the choice of winners to the random number generator (see bottom of post) which has come up with...

359 Farm From Harm Farm

178 Thistle

Sorry that the chance of winning was a slim one, I'd have liked to give something to everyone who regularly visits here and hopefully the knitters amongst you can make use of the cupcake dress design - I do hope to write up some more free supplements for the animal clothing in future too.

Last week I did manage to finish off the fox patterns which are available now.

 

I've updated my pattern page to make it easier to see all of my current patterns. All purchases are completed through Ravelry's checkout though an account is not needed if you want to purchase. The patterns are also on Etsy for anyone who prefers to purchase that way.

Generally though I'm not very well organised on the knitting front at the moment (or on any other front for that matter) and I can't seem to decide whether to knit and finish more animals or press on with more pattern writing.

I have been enjoying playing around with designs and comparing stranded knitting with Swiss darning / duplicate stitch. I definitely prefer duplicate stitch when working in 5 colours for these dresses.

 

And I have a lot of animals on the go, mostly heads though as I'm flitting between working on the elephant, monkey and mouse patterns and still have a lot of bodiless fox and bunny heads, poor things!

These are just the stuffed heads I have knitted, I have a lot more empty ones - a bit like my head at the moment!

Anyway, the result of my indecision is that both pattern writing and animal making are getting done but neither one very quickly. Hopefully I shall settle into a more structured way of working once we are fully back in our term time routines. Toby has started back at school in a new class (he's now in the senior part of the school rather than juniors) and though he seems to be coping OK on the whole he is more unsettled than usual which is putting us all a little on edge. Things will calm down once the new becomes the familiar :)

Thanks again for taking the time to leave comments on my giveaway, I really appreciate you stopping by x

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Competition random numbers:

7 years

Hello again. It's nice to be back now that the children are at school again. It's been longer than I planned since I popped in here and I had intended to write another couple of blog posts over the school summer hols but circumstances conspired to keep me away from the computer. I will write up a post soon about my summer knitting exploits but today is a special day as it is my blog anniversary - it was exactly seven years ago today that I first dipped my toe into bloggy waters.

At the time I didn't have any long term plans for the blog. All I wanted was a distraction from worrying about Toby (who was having his very first day of school), a way of connecting with other people who like to make things (because it appears that none of them live very near me) and maybe a way of selling a few knitted things so that I had an excuse to keep making them. I count myself extremely lucky to have had all 3 of those wishes come true and so much more besides. I've made real life friends through this little blog, built a small business which does indeed allow me to justify buying lots of yarn and knitting each and every day and I have a lovely place to come to escape from some of the worries about Toby's future.

But all this would not have been possible without you - all you lovely visitors who pop in and say Hi, offer encouragement, support and generally just make me feel happy and part of a like-minded community.

As a small thank you I am giving away the two bunnies above (called Candy and Coco). To be in with a chance of winning one of them just leave me a comment below and tell me something you like to do with your free-time. I'll pick 2 winners using a random number generator a week today (Tuesday 10th September)

I'm also giving away a free supplement to my bunny girl/seasonal dresses knitting patterns. This is for the dress design on the bunnies above and includes charted and written instructions (please note that you will need one of my patterns as the supplement is just the design notes rather than the full instructions for the dress construction). If you'd like a copy you can download it for free here.

Thanks again for continuing to visit with me and for all of your lovely comments over the last 7 years, I hope you'll stick around for a while longer x

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As always after the long summer holidays I am woefully behind with replying to emails. I hope to catch up over the next week, sorry if you are waiting to hear back from me.

 

summer days

Summer has arrived here in this little corner of England. The last few days have been wonderful weather-wise and over the weekend our whole family has been outside  - the sunshine even coaxed Amy out of the teenage stereotype of preferring bedroom living :)

I've been sitting in the shade at the end of the garden and working on some end of term presents for Toby's teachers. I plan to pair each strawberry bookmark with a pretty note book and pencil and wrap them up nicely.

 

Free pattern from Pezdiva (with a few adaptations).

 

Toby has of course been enjoying bouncing, swinging and paddling

 

even the chicken has been enjoying the hot weather with a paddle in her own pool

 

Poor H has been the only one not relaxing or keeping cool - he's still been hard at work building paths and paving around the garden room.

 

I am also working on a little batch of knitted animals. It's been a while since I offered any for sale so I hope to have them finished soon, I'll post some pictures when they're ready.

Talking of knitting, thanks so much to Love Knitting for featuring little cotton rabbits as their blog of the week last week.

Thanks too to all of the people who sent me emails and messages about the book of the week on radio 4. 'The reason I jump' is written by Naoki Higashida an autistic boy living in Japan and takes the form of questions put to him and his answers. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the world seen from an autistic perspective. My copy arrived yesterday and I'm already halfway through (and scribbling notes to myself as I go). The introduction by David Mitchell is brilliant and any parent of an autistic child will be nodding in agreement and probably like me welling up with tears at reading things that so often go unsaid.

 

The book itself is revelatory and has again made me tearful many times, both in recognition of the huge implications it could have in the way that others perceive those with autism and because current state schooling often deeply underestimates and mis-interprets many autistic children. My head is literally buzzing and I'm trying to think where we go from here in order to give Toby a way of communicating all that is in his head (rather than just his basic wants), because there is a lot more going on in there than most people give him credit for. I'd urge anyone involved with any aspect of caring for autistic people to read this book, it is an eye-opener and has the potential to change lives.

Thanks as always for popping in to visit. See you again soon