Little Cotton Rabbits

Harvest

Well, last weekend was kind to us weather-wise although autumn really feels like it's arrived and we've definitely lost the summer warmth in the sun. The garden has produced lots to eat this year...

with some more still to come. We've had an enormous crop of plums but it has taken it's toll on the tree - the weight of all that fruit along with the heavy rain and winds a few weeks back has snapped a main bough and after some heavy tree surgery the poor tree looks rather lopsided and sparse. I just hope that it survives as I love having it in our garden and the plums make fab jam...

Toby has continued to settle nicely into the term time routine and things are beginning to feel relaxed again although I'm not sure that feeling will last long as during the next month we have to choose a senior school for Amy. There will be lots of umming and ahhing and visiting potential schools - I just hope we can get it right for her.

Still, for now autumn feels peaceful and productive and we're enjoying making the most of being outside before the colder, wetter winter weather arrives.

mr Ro-bot

Thanks so much for the lovely welcome back. Things here are settling nicely back into a manageable routine and although Toby isn't yet calm and content he's definitely changed his mood for the better.

I've really enjoyed picking up the needles again and have finished off mr Ro-bot who has been delivered to the reception class teacher at school in time to meet this year's new children. I love the thought that he'll be a friendly helper in their learning.

At the moment I'm not going to write up a full pattern for him but I'll run you through how I made him. I used 5 different shades of Rico Creative Cotton and 3.5mm needles and I do have some of each shade left over so 5 balls is plenty. I used 2 decorator / car wash sponges which were approx 13 x 20cms and 5cms deep. I chopped one sponge in half and used 1 half for the head while the other half I cut in half again to make 2 feet. I trimmed the second sponge for his body. I have this sketch which shows how I constructed the blocks (these measurements were for the feet and the head and body were larger).

For the legs I cast on 28 stitches and worked 20 rows alternating between 4 rows of 2 separate colours. I sewed the back seam up to make a tube and then sewed this to the top of the foot before stuffing it firmly and then sewing it to the finished body. The arms were just my knitted christmas stocking pattern with more rows at the end to form the hand. I ran a length of thread through the back of the knitting at the wrist to gather it in and tied it off after stuffing the hand before finishing sewing up and stuffing the arm. The fingers were i-cords of 3 stitches and 8 rows.

The ‘ears’ are knitted in the round - starting off with 20 stitches and over several rows decreasing until 8 remained then gathering the remainder to make a sort of bobble and stuffing them before sewing them to the sides of the head. I did the same with the antennae but carried on until 3 stitches remained and then did a short i-cord. I didn't stuff the bobble but squashed it flat and sewed it in place. The eyes are knitted bobbles in white 4 ply yarn and the smile is a 6 cm i-cord in 4ply yarn and 2.5mm needles sewn on.

If you wanted to make a similar robot of your own I'd start by cutting your cubes of sponge up first. Then cast on as many stitches as you think you'll need and match your knitting to fit - that's what I did but I didn't keep decent notes. I do remember that I put a reverse stocking stitch to mark the corners as this gives the knitted fabric a natural right angle bend.

If I get the chance to make another one in future I'll keep better notes and try to write up a proper pattern to share.

return to routine

With the children back at school there is sweet relief in the air today, which is a quiet and peaceful day full of the promise of a little time for knitting. Toby has been quite impossible over the last few weeks with many, many raging tantrums, hurting both himself and us. They've been frighteningly intense and there's been no telling when he'll come out of each nor what has been causing such extreme frustration and rage. It's made us more uncertain of the future and wonder whether at some point we'll be left with no option but to seek residential care for him. But then I need to remind myself that no-one can know what the future holds for Toby and anyway, such dark thoughts are best pushed away on a day like today because the sun is shining here and after 7 weeks of not much time to myself I now have 6 hours that I can call my very own. I'd not have you think it's been all been doom and gloom either because there have been sweet moments of cuddles, tickles and giggles, fun at the park and peaceful walks in the woods with the children.

I am also thankful for Barbara Higbie's music (which I stumbled on by accident) as it has entranced Toby (he's watched this clip more than 20 times most days) and raised my spirits too (it's impossible to feel down when this is playing)

Amy and I also managed to squeeze our garden campout into the last week.

First we went on an unsuccessful hedgehog hunt (although there have been signs that hodgers are back in our garden again after an absence of a year or so), then we made hot chocolate with marshmallows and settled down to tell stories and read until midnight.

Amy was then awake at just after six am and played on her DS while I cooked breakfast on the camping stove (I think bacon and eggs always taste best eaten in the fresh air with the slight tang of methylated spirits from the stove!)

 

I do feel a little melancholy that summer is drawing to a close but I can't deny being relieved that school has resumed so that Toby can settle into a routine again. I'm happy too that I can pick up my knitting again. I'm putting the finishing touches to something I've been making especially for the reception class at Amy's school, hope to have a picture of him finished later in the week.

Once I've had the chance to get a little bunny knitting done I'll be having a giveaway to celebrate my blogging anniversary but for now it's nice to be back and I look forward to catching up with everyone.

a little sun and some strawberries

Thanks for the good wishes. Things are a little brighter on all fronts today. The weather has improved a little and Amy & I have dodged the intermittent showers to head off to the pick-your-own-farm.

We picked 4lbs of strawberries and then came back home for our annual jam making session. Unfortunately, I've got it into the jars a bit too soon and now it's cooling I can see it's not fully set so tomorrow it will have to go back in the pan for another 5 minutes of boiling - I find it really hard to judge when it's just right! Once we have it back in the jars again we're planning to make some bread to go with it.

In the meantime Toby has been a little happier after a good bout of swinging in the garden.

The weather is looking brighter for next week so hopefully we'll get the chance to squeeze in that overnight camp-out. Enjoy your weekend whatever the weather with you!

weeks 3 & 4...

...have come and gone and are really best forgotten about. The weather has been mostly wet and windy which has meant postponing many of the plans we had for outdoor activities. Toby has been extremely agitated with lots of aggressive, self harming tantrums and we're not really sure why. It could be the lack of routine or not being able to play in the sunshine or he might be feeling unwell - it's always a guessing game with him, although no-one in our household (and probably our neighbours too judging by the amount of screaming he's done) has been left in any doubt that he's a very unhappy boy right now. When he's like this he needs constant attention so there's not really been much time for knitting which has meant my little bag of lovely new yarn that I treated myself to a few weeks back is still waiting to be got stuck into. 

I'm hoping that the next 3 weeks bring a bit of dry sunniness so we can have some fun outside before school starts again. Amy is desperate to camp out over night and I'm sure that a garden day with a little paddling pool action will improve Toby's mood no end! I know that dipping into that bag for a little knitting in the sun would make me a happy bunny! Still, it does make me glad that we're not away on holiday at the moment as life would be much harder if we were dealing with Toby like this in unfamiliar surroundings. There is always something comforting about home, even when things aren't as relaxed as you'd like them to be.