Little Cotton Rabbits

New pattern news

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again, I still have to edit photos and write a post about how beautiful the bluebells have been this year but today I have news of three new patterns. These have been keeping me very busy all year and I've been very indecisive about almost every aspect, which is why they've taken me much longer than expected, though cramming my concentration time into the few hours that Toby is at college hasn't helped with speedy pattern writing progress. Still, they are at last done and as always I'm deeply grateful to my wonderful team of eagle-eyed test knitters who have helped me error check and test these out.

As always there are 2 versions of the animal:

• There's a mole with knitted on tights/pantyhose and shoes, who has a removable dress. This pattern has 3 options for the dress, a colour-work design worked in stranded knitting technique with 2 colours and 2 options for a textured dress with a pattern made of small knitted knots.
• And a mole with a naked body and feet who has removable shorts and a sweater. The pattern has 2 options for the sweater, either a sweater knitted in stocking stitch with 3 bands of colour or a textured sweater with a pattern made of small knitted knots.

There's also a new pattern for clothing to fit any of my 9 inch (23cm) tall animals and this contains 3 basic cardigan/jacket/coat shapes, a short waist length cardigan/jacket, a short waist length V neck cardigan and a longer length A line coat. The short cardigan/jacket and the longer A line coat can both be made with either a round neckline, a little ribbed collar or a hood. The hood will fit over the head of the animals with smaller ears such as the mole, monkey, cat and bear and for the animals with taller ears it looks nice just folded at the back and I've designed it with a curved bottom edge when it's worn in this way.

As always the patterns are available on Ravelry and Etsy and I'll be adding them to Lovecrafts , my facebook shop (which links you back to Etsy) and my blog shop shortly. I think Lucylocketland will soon have some of her sweet kits that include yarn and a printed copy of the pattern and if your local yarn shop is signed up to the Ravelry local yarn shop service then you can buy a copy from them and ask them to print it off for you.

Please remember that the above listed places are the only legitimate places that you can obtain copies of my patterns. In the last year pattern piracy has become a lot more common and me and my fellow pattern designers are noticing the impact, please don't support theft and pattern piracy by either uploading or downloading copies of patterns to/from websites that offer them in exchange for tokens. Thank you so much for supporting independent designers and allowing us to make a small living from our own work  xxx

 

Moley progress

 

 

 

 

Did you know that the collective noun for a group of moles is a labour? Not that there's any reason why you should, because a group of moles is a rare thing as they are quite solitary little creatures who keep themselves to themselves.

Anyway, there is a labour of moles on my table today and that word is doubly relevant because I have definitely laboured over putting this pattern together. It's not a difficult pattern, it's just that I seem to have lost my decision making powers. I have dithered and procrastinated and gone back and forth over almost every aspect for months, fretting over the length of the nose, the size of the hands and exactly which brown, red or mustard colour would be right for the clothing. In the end I've had to give myself a stiff talking to. So decisions have now been made and the photos are mostly done, and now I'm just in the process of laying everything out and testing it through. It is coming together however and I'm looking forward to being able to share these new patterns for the moles and a little coat & cardigans pattern too.

Well that's it from me today, although I have some lovely bluebell pictures to share in my next post, Spring is in full swing here and it is glorious. I hope there's a little glory going on somewhere in your week too, see you soon, J x

 

Early April

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring is in full swing here and the days are lengthening and warming up nicely. The plum tree blossom is now just faded confetti on the ground, but for a few weeks it was a glorious sight, especially when illuminated by the ghostly light of the full moon or warmed to a rosy glow by the rising sun. Do you see the red kite gliding overhead? It was only a few years ago that these majestic birds returned to this area, but now we see at least one every day and sometimes as many as six circling high overhead, they are wonderful to watch.

Here we've been plodding on quietly and keeping to familiar and comforting routines. There have been lots of walks in the woods with Toby, some pottering in the garden and some knitting of course. I've been wanting to use this beautiful hand-dyed yarn for a while and have spent far too long browsing on Ravelry and pondering which would be the right pattern for it and I'm very happy with the one that I finally chose. The pattern is simple and relaxing to knit, just what is needed right now, and it's knitting up beautifully. The yarn is 'Honey is Cool' Falkland Merino 4ply hand-dyed by Ocean Rose and the shawl pattern is 'Hollows' by Melody Hoffmann.

Lastly, as you can see there is a new little friend emerging from my needles. He's a little shy at the moment, having not yet been knitted any clothes to wear, I've been really indecisive about what to dress him in but I hope to be able to finalise his outfit from a couple of ideas that I've been working on and share the patterns soon - I'll keep the blog up to date with developments.

Thanks for visiting here with me, I hadn't intended to be absent from the blog for so long but finding the time seems to have become a little more difficult and sometimes it doesn't feel like I have anything interesting or relevant to share. I do however plan to be here a little more often, so hopefully see you soon and until then I hope that life is treating you kindly, J x

 

Emerging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February is always the time when I feel like I'm emerging from hibernation. Not that I have slept all of January of course, though the temptation was certainly there. I have been busily knitting away and have put together the beginnings of a couple of new patterns. They still need editing, photographing, laying out and testing so it will be a while before they are ready but they will be coming soonish and when they're a little further along I might give a sneak peek. I've also been out and about with my camera a bit, enjoying the quiet of the winter countryside, though never venturing too far from the pull and comfort of home.

Winter this year has been mild, with only a few frosty January mornings. I do love how the frost transforms the dull coloured twigginess of the winter landscape, so couldn't resist heading out to take some pictures before scurrying back home to curl up with my knitting again.

In the last week there has been a sense of change in the air, especially at daybreak, which throughout December and January has been a silent affair. But now that February is here the dawn chorus is gaining new voices each day, with small birds singing out their territorial boundaries from first light. Spring is waiting in the wings, ready to burst forth with colour and fragrance and celebration of warming and lengthening days. I don't know about you, but I feel very ready for it.

 

quiet winter days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
― Edith Sitwell

This quote chimes well with my idea of a perfect January - quiet days, spent gently and slowly. Of course life often has other ideas and usually throws up unexpected things to get in the way of peace and relaxation, but there have been some calm and relaxing moments in my January so far...

• peaceful moments watching the skies at sunrise whilst sipping the first cup of tea of the day, January has the best sunrises,
• calm moments spent reading and planning for the year ahead, I'm finding these books really helpful - 'Do Pause' and 'Do Breathe' books from the Do Book Company
• some weekend morning gentle-paced knitting, accompanied by tea and toast and warm blankets and Volume 3 of Shetland Wool Adventures which is a lovely read,
• and lots of quiet walks in the countryside, which is currently resting quietly under a wintry sparkle of frost.

 

I hope the new year so far has been kind to you and that you're finding comfort and calm in some of your favourite things this month too, J x