Little Cotton Rabbits

laid low

This week saw both H and I laid low by the same virulent little lurgy that kept Amy off from school last week and as a consequence I feel as weak as a kitten today. Luckily for me I have lots of balls of wool to play with and cheer me up.

 

So I am sitting here stock-taking my stash and wistfully re-packing my precious but dwindling reserves of Rowan 4 ply cotton.

 

 

1. bloom, 2. cheeky, 3. boudoir, 4. orchid, 5. angel, 6. allure, 7. tutti frutti, 8. mandarine, 9. honeydew, 10. zest, 11. fresh, 12. cooking apple, 13. fennel, 14. monsoon, 15. sage, 16. ripple, 17. tear, 18. baby, 19. bluebell, 20. violet, 21. nightsky, 22. navy, 23. steel blue, 24. cobalt, 25. agean, 26. shale, 27. ardour, 28. aubergine, 29. violetta, 30. flirty, 31. provence, 32. bleached, 33. cream, 34. opaque

 

Luckily I've been able to track a little more of it down recently, thanks to some very nice people over on Ravelry, but in a few colours I'm down to my last precious ball and there are a few colours that I have never had the pleasure of getting my needles into!

It's such a shame that Rowan discontinued this lovely yarn. Hopefully one day they'll see the light and re-release it because in my opinion nothing comes close to it's pretty colours and soft handle and it is perfect for bunny clothing.

 

 

Talking of which, I'm off to cast on a little dress and knit myself better. Happy weekending all x

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PS: just to let you know, I've turned on a new comments thingy that lets me reply, which I will endeavour to do when time and Toby allow. So if you ask me a question, check back the next day and hopefully you'll see my answer.

smiling

I have a big smile on my face today. And what has prompted my big smile? Well, it's this lovely little package...

 

It's always a delight to get a package in the mail, especially one that is so prettily wrapped and one that contains something eagerly anticipated, but not yet seen. I pulled one end of the gingham ribbon and revealed...

 

 

 

...the beautiful block that I won in Annie's lovely giveaway to celebrate her year of blogging. It comes from the very talented Fee who has some wonderfully desirable items in her shop Chipper Nelly.

 

I will treasure this block with its pretty vintage button and perfect-for-me-colours and will keep it on the shelves next to the computer, where I can see it every day. Like all of my other gathered treasures, it will prompt thoughts about the very best bits of blogging: of fellowship with people you've not met for real; of sharing interests, ideas and passions and celebrating all forms of creativity.

Thanks Annie and thanks Fee

 ....................................... x ............................................

 

PS: thanks for all of the kind comments on the little video of Toby in the previous post. I'm so glad that you all saw what I saw - that unbridled joy. It does make you laugh out loud to see him like that and such carefree, all-consuming pleasure and delight is infectious. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

 ....................................... x ............................................

PPS: It's Mothers day here in the UK tomorrow, so best wishes to all you lovely mummies out there - hope you get breakfast in bed and a relaxing day!

blossom, birdsong and bunnies

It definitely feels like the start of spring here because now we have all the right ingredients. There is plum blossom...

 

birdsong...

 

and a big old bundle of bunnies!

 

I'm putting the finishing touches to them now so will email my mailing list and update my  facebook page as soon as they're ready.

I do like spring and the feelings of hope and anticipation that it brings along with it. I am hopefully anticipating long summer days with Toby tearing around the garden and exhausting himself so he can sleep all night. As Toby grows bigger our house seems to feel smaller and I think we have a touch of cabin fever after the winter!

 

germy half termy

Last weeks half term break turned into a rather germy affair for us when poor Toby came down with a mystery virus and reacted with his usual high temperature fever of 103^o - 104^o. He looked really awful and was groaning a lot and that together with the really high temperature had me on high alert. I always find these episodes rather scary as it is difficult to gauge how ill he really is because he simply can't tell anyone how he's feeling, and like all things Tobyish you have to rely on guess work and trust your instincts. After 2 days of lying flaked out in bed refusing all but the tiniest sips of water his temperature started coming down and when he started requesting chocolate ice-cream again we knew he was feeling better!  Having his big sister on hand for tickles and cuddles cheered him too.

Today they are both back at school and I'm enjoying some time to knit again. I have been working on lots of animals over the last 2 months but seem to be having difficulty with knuckling down to finishing them off. Recently I've been in a real knit phase and the thought of sewing up and stuffing is a chore, so for now I'm going with the knitting urge and as a result have this big old tangled basket of bits and pieces. I've been especially enjoying making clothes - mostly lots of dresses with flowers which are probably a result of my yearning for the arrival of spring!

 

Hopefully the desire to sew up and stuff will seize me soon and a few more finished animals will emerge from the mess!

me old china, finished

 

 

In some ways I'm a little sad to have fastened off the last stitch in the edging of this blanket.

 

It has been a pleasure to make; rhythmic, undemanding and soothing.

 

After a bit of a false start (when I had a crisis in confidence about the colour choice and unpicked 20 squares) I started again and I'm now very pleased that I did take out that yellowy colour.

 

 

The colours to me are rich and comforting and it has turned out just as I had hoped.

 

In fact I am ridiculously pleased with it.

 

So here it is, all finished (though it's not easy to photograph)

 

 

And here are some stats:

:: Started on August 31st 2011 and finished on January 27th 2012

:: Worked with a 3.5mm crochet hook in 10 colours of DK yarn:

5 balls of Rich 911 (red) Rowan wool cotton (including 2 for the outer edge),

3 balls each of Geranium 976 (dark pink), Tender 951 (pale pink), Antique 900 (cream),  all in Rowan wool cotton, Basil (green) in Rowan Belle Organic DK and Mirage (pale blue) in Rowan Classic cashsoft DK

2 balls each of Cypress 968 (aqua), Clear 941 (silver grey), Blue Wash (dark blue) all in Rowan wool cotton,

9 balls for the main background Celandon 979 (pale green/aqua) in Rowan wool cotton

:: There are 99 squares (9 x 11) and it measures 133cm x 163cm

:: Each square is a traditional granny square (there are lots of tutorials on the internet such as this one) and each square has 6 rounds of different colours. There's a sort of checkerboard pattern, alternating between squares with red near the centre and those with it near the edge but it's fairly random.

:: Each square is surrounded by a round of the background colour and I worked 3 rows of this around the 99 squares.

:: The edging is worked as follows: 1 row of single crochet, 1 row of double crochet, another row of single crochet and a row of picot edging.

 

I've got used to working on a little crochet in the evening so now I'll have to ponder what to make next as my one a day project, though I think I'm a little blanketed out.

Any ideas?

(part of the one a day project)