Little Cotton Rabbits

"a bird in the hand...

...is worth two in the bush" as the saying goes. But I've already got 2 birds in my hands today because I've finished the mittens and I'm chuffed to bits with them.

Knitting the Madeline Tosh Vintage yarn on 2.5mm needles really makes them thick and warm and the gorgeous tonal range of the yarn really does Kate's beautiful pattern justice. I love the secret little bird on the inside of each thumb and the design seems fairytale like, so it seemed appropriate to take them into the woods for their first outing.

Though I did have to keep checking over my shoulder to make sure Mr Wolf wasn't sidling up behind me through the trees!

It's a really lovely pattern and I'd definitely recommend it. If you're put off by knitting in the round or by the estonian braids then take a look at my ravelry page for some cheats and tips.

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PS: I had an email from a dear friend with a request:

Kate and Gerry McCann are looking for people to sign a petition that they hope will result in an independent review of Madeleine's case - the text of Gerry's letter follows.  I was wondering if you'd be able to highlight this in your next blog and give a link to the petition so that your readers can sign up?  As you know, I struggle with physical pain most days but the pain of losing your child, wondering what has become of them, being vilified in the press - Julie, I think that would drive me mad.  Consequently I feel I should do anything I can to help them ... so I do hope you don't mind me turning to you once again. The link to the petition is:

 

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/madeleinemccann_case_review/signatures

If it's a cause that has resonance for you please take a moment to sign the petition - you can visit their website too which details the history of Madeleine's disappearance three and a half years ago. Thanks x

Tatty old shelf

At least that is what my husband is calling it, as according to him it is lined with a load of old tat! Of course he is completely and utterly wrong. For a start the shelf is brand new - hand built and installed by him during the school half term break last week. And secondly, my collection of bits and bobs is decidedly not tat! Granted it may be an odd collection of bought, gifted and thrifted stuff but each and every thing makes me smile.

 

And smiles have been in rather short supply here over the last week. With it being school half term break Toby has really struggled with the lack of his familiar and comforting routine and despite my best efforts to keep him occupied he's frequently become very frustrated and aggressive. He's a big lad now and almost as strong as me, so keeping everyone safe when he's in full on meltdown mode is quite a tricky business and I have a few bite marks, scratches and deep bruises up the backs of both arms where he digs in his fingers when I try to cuddle him. Eventually when he calms he's quickly back to his gentle, sweet self but these tantrums are like ferocious storms that blow in with no warning and sweep away leaving the sun shining for him but a trail of emotional carnage for the rest of the family.

Luckily Amy had a theatre workshop which kept her out of the house a lot and it wasn't all dark and dismal for the whole of the week. There were a few special moments that I'll replay in my mind many times more - like walking in the woods and seeing Toby skipping ahead of me down the woodland track and a sudden shaft of sunlight turning both his hair and the autumn leaves to bright gold and there have been lots of giggly, tickly playful times that I've shared with him. There are happy moments in most days and those are the best ones to commit to memory.

Anyway, the smiles are returning here along with the return to routines and my happy new shelf is helping in it's own simple way. What's making you happy today?

Autumny

Walks in the woods are definitely best at this time of year and Toby & I collected lots of different leaves on our walk last weekend. It got me thinking about hedgehogs and hibernation and made me want to come back home and get cracking on a little batch of autumny hedgehog pincushions with leaves on them.

I had lots of fun last year with shrinkle sheets and leaf shapes but couldn't find the sketches I made back then so I've made some new templates which you're welcome to use too.

Just trace them onto a shrinkle sheet (my favourite are the frosted ones - which make it easy to trace an image underneath), colour in with coloured pencils, punch a hole and bake them in the oven to shrink them into tiny little leaves. I use mine as pin toppers for the hedgehogs but they'd work as jewellery, keyrings or phone tags too.

Birthday celebrations all around

Thanks again for all of the kind comments on my anniversary giveaway post, I really appreciate them. The good old random number generator has been set in motion again and has turned up number 426

which is a comment from Peggy Sue:

How sweet of you to do a giveaway. I haven't a snowball's chance in July of winning, but do wish to be kept on the list for a chance to purchase in the future. Thank you!

Posted by: peggysue | October 02, 2010 at 03:23 AM

I'm waiting to hear back which animal she's chosen but when she's emailed and I've finished adding names to the mailing list I'll sort out a sale of those remaining.

We've had a busy week here with both of the children celebrating their birthdays. Amy had her 11th birthday party last weekend - a crazy affair with 4 friends coming for a disco, pizza, film and sleepover.

Luckily the boys went to stay elsewhere and so Amy and her friends could go really wild! Needless to say sleep did not feature very prominently as they eventually settled down at 2am and woke at 7.30, but a lot of fun was had.

Toby's birthday is coming up this weekend and we'll be having a quiet bouncy castle party with balloons, bubbles and lots of french fancies (Toby's favourite cake!) - much more my kind of party!

giveaway time

At the beginning of September I started my 5th year of blogging and so I thought I'd celebrate with a little giveaway. To take part all you need to do is leave a comment below and I'll draw one winner on Wednesday October 6th. The winner can then choose one of my latest batch of animals to have as their own.

I'll be putting the rest up for sale at the end of next week (some on the blog and some on Etsy - I'll email my advance list with details so please let me know if you'd like to be added to the mailing list).

Thanks to everyone who visits here, especially to those of you who take the time to comment. I started blogging because I wanted to share a love of knitting with others and to be a part of a crafty minded community and I'm very lucky to have made some wonderful friends and have discovered lots of creative people. I'm hugely grateful too that I've met lots of wonderful people with personal experience of autism, it's been such a help to read of other people's experiences and to share some of ours.

Thanks for dropping by to my little corner of the internet, J x

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Thanks so very much for all of the lovely comments, I've closed the draw now and will post later with a winner

many miles to go

I don't often write about my husband here but we are really proud of him right now, so we're dragging him into the limelight for a moment.

He's been in training for months and is now in the last week of build up, as next Saturday he embarks on a mammoth 75 mile bike ride from London to Brighton to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.

There are 750 people taking part so he'll not be alone and hopefully the day will raise a lot of money for a wonderful cause. If you have a pound or two to spare he'd really appreciate any extra sponsorship - his fundraising page is here.

Hopefully he'll be able to get another couple of hundred miles of training in this week and we're keeping our fingers crossed for Saturday to be a dry, mild day with a light breeze so all of the riders can make it to the finish and a well deserved hug from family and friends!