Little Cotton Rabbits

It's cold outside...

Well, it seems that winter has arrived with fog, drizzle and murky weather all around. But here inside all is cosy, warm and fluffy...

... there's some fantastically soft Lousia Harding Kimono Angora sent to me a little while ago by the lovely Michaela which is in the process of being turned into a scarf.

... and some beautiful new marled Alpaca Select that I've just received from wonderful wool shop First4yarns which is being transformed into new bunnies.

And to do all of this knitting I've been using my new set of ivore swallow needles (made from casein - a lovely light and flexible plastic) recently bought from Dragon Yarns.

So, bring on the rain!

Oh, and by the way if you need a little cheering up, pop over to Sewchristine as she's having a lovely give-away competition and you might just win yourself something to brighten up your week!

Christmas cards for charity

Thanks to everyone who visited my shop last night. The latest batch of toys will be winging their way to  their new homes shortly.

I wanted to make some postcards of this seasonal batch but once again time has got the better of me. But then I heard on the blog grapevine that those lovely people over at moo have come up with a wonderful idea. They are offering greetings cards that help raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières. A pack of 10 cards costs £9.99 ($1 goes to the charity) and you can easily personalise them so that your card says exactly what you want it to. You can either print the cards from your own images that you upload to flickr or choose from thousands on file at the people powered card store.

Or you could choose this one!

Just follow this link:

Make a MOO Greetings Card with this image and help raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières You'll be taken straight to a page on MOO with my image selected, ready for you to customise and buy. Find out more about MOO Greetings Cards

And if this has got you in a seasonal mood and you're a knitter then you should pop over for a visit with DottyCookie who has created the sweetest little christmas pudding patch to knit.
 

My new apron

As I've mentioned previously my son is severely autistic. He's not yet developed any speech at all and has never uttered a recognisable word although he merrily babbles with lots of consonant sounds. How then can he wander over to me and purposefully ask for some chocolate buttons and a maisy video?

Well it's all down to the magic of PECS (the picture exchange communication system). I have talked about it here before so I'm not going to repeat myself but I will say again that PECs has transformed life for our family and given my little boy a 'voice'. For some time now I have been meaning to put in some intensive time to try and develop Toby's use of PECs further. At the moment he uses it confidently to request food, toys, videos and favourite places like the park but I am hoping that one day he will be able to comment on things he sees, hears and thinks and that we may be able to have more of a 2 way conversation.

So you're probably thinking "what has all this got to do with aprons?" Well, let me introduce my new secret weapon...

Lovingly handcrafted from beautiful fabrics and made especially for me by the wonderful Carolyn at Laughing Duck it has 2 perfect pockets for storing PECs cards and strips. When I'm wearing this I have all of the symbols that I need readily available so I can show Toby the symbol for 'wait' while saying it, the symbol for 'plane' when he glances up to look at one passing overhead and generally begin expanding his vocabulary and teaching him by example that he can use symbols to communicate rather than just for requesting things.

It will take time and lots of work to get him there but, as we have no reason to believe that he will ever learn to speak, using PECs is the best way to equip him with the ability to communicate with others. He's been a real star to achieve what he has already with it so I've no doubt we'll get there in the end and Carolyn's gorgeous apron is going to make getting there a lot easier and more fun! Thanks Carolyn!

Davy for Rose

Just look at this wonderful little chap Davy and his oh-so-cute pet snail Slow who is being auctioned off at ManOmine to raise money for Rose Willcocks. He comes with snacks and a selection of hats and is just the sweetest little bear. He could be yours if you get a bid in there quickly and then you'd have one less christmas present to worry about (if you can bear to give him away and not keep him all to yourself! hee hee)

Holiday Softie awards

I'm really excited to hear that my christmas puds have been selected as finalists in the Holiday Softie Awards!

Voting ends tomorrow so if you've got a spare minute or two pop over to the voting page and see the other finalists.

You don't have to vote for me but I'll be your best friend if you do!

knitting away the worry!

Whenever I'm worried about something I find sinking my needles into a large ball of wool to be the best way of keeping my mind off the worrying thing. So this last week, what with Mum in hospital, there has been a lot of knitting going on!!

I'm finishing off some toys for Mahar Drygoods, a batch for my own shop and a the rose jumper is for a big bunny that I'm hoping to auction off to raise money for a special little girl who needs some specialised treatment in America - more of that by the end of the week.