Little Cotton Rabbits

Anniversary give-away no. 1

 

 

Hello, I hope that your new year has got off to a good start. Toby has started back at college and so I'm just beginning to find my feet after the Christmas break. I am trying to ignore all of the household chores that have built up and instead have spent my morning photographing bears and mice - a much nicer use of time in my opinion.

As I mentioned in the previous post 2023 is a big anniversary year for the Little Cotton Rabbits and me, being 20 years since I started making them and 10 years since I wrote up the bunny patterns. To celebrate I am planning a series of give-aways across this year and this is the first of them.

Free Patterns giveaway...

This giveaway will be for 10 people to win free copies of all of the new 'Little Cotton Rabbit' patterns that I produce in 2023 (I'm hoping for at least 5 new patterns). As always I'll use a random number generator to pick the 10 winners, so to be in with a chance of winning one of these 10 prizes please just leave a comment below, you can simply write enter, or if you have time to spare tell me about something that you are looking forward to this year.

Important note: Only comments left on this post will be counted in the draw. I'm not able to add in comments sent by email, left on a blog reading service or on any location other than this post on my blog. Can I also please ask that you only post once in the draw in order to give everyone a fair and equal chance. Thanks for your kind understanding of these conditions of entry in this free prize draw.

I'll draw the 10 winners on Monday January 9th 2023 which will be just before the release of the 3 new patterns that I've been working on. I'll be back next week with full details of those.

Enjoy the tail end of your week and thanks as always for dropping in to visit with me, J x

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Edited to add: Comments are now closed, 17.08 Monday January 9th

Here are the winners (I've now emailed the patterns, so if you are one of the winners and have not received your first 3 patterns please let me know) J x.

57 Alice Smulders said...

You knitted animals are so delightful and they bring joy to all that see them. Thank you.❤️Alice

January 05, 2023 at 01:13 PM

 

169 Christine Lewis said…

I’m looking forward to being able to sit down and knit some more LCR animals now Christmas is over. Thank you again for such awesome patterns

January 05, 2023 at 01:36 PM

 

698 Jan said...

I love your patterns (and the company name!). Currently making a lot of mini bunnies for an Easter Garland for my Granddaughter. Can't believe it's been 20 years - well done and thank you for all the super designs.

January 05, 2023 at 04:47 PM

 

1025 Julie Paquet said...

Thank you for this nice giveaway. Happy anniversary!

January 05, 2023 at 06:38 PM

 

1048 Abby said...

Love your animals! I’m always hoping for a horse 😊

January 05, 2023 at 06:47 PM

 

1241 Christine Agnew said...

I am now officially obsessed with your little cotton rabbits! My 3 yr old granddaughter insisted on a pink bunny tail on her rabbit so I now ask her what other colours she wants in the dresses. Truly custom made rabbits (though the answer is mostly pink) I have 7 other grandchildren under 6 and they all want one so I am knitting at every opportunity!
Christine

January 05, 2023 at 08:08 PM

 

1248 Teresa said...

Love your cute patterns! I am looking forward to the 2023 new Creations.

January 05, 2023 at 08:11 PM

 

1623 Roxanne Vanslette said...

I’m so excited for your new patterns! I knitted my first Little Cotton Rabbits pattern last month and I have knitted 6 different animals since and I cannot stop!

January 06, 2023 at 01:55 AM

 

1892 Beatrice said...

Thank you so much for this beautiful blog, so inspiring, and you marvellous patterns.

I wish you a very happy new year, for you and all your family.

And I hope I will be one of the happy winners. Your patterns are so nice and clearly written.

January 06, 2023 at 04:31 PM

 

2025 Lisa said...

Love your patterns! Always look forward to seeing your new patterns!

January 07, 2023 at 01:48 PM

 

Happy New Year

 

Some of my memorable moments from 2022.

 

Just popping in very briefly to wish you all the very best for 2023, I hope that it's a good year for you and yours.

It's a big anniversary year here at Little Cotton Rabbits, ten years since I published the rabbit patterns and twenty (!!) years since I made the very first Little Cotton Rabbit for my three year old daughter. To celebrate these anniversaries I'm planning a series of giveaways across the year. I'll pop back later this week with the first of them :)

Until then, warmest best wishes to you, J x

 

seasons greetings xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although it's now melted away, the snow stayed for exactly a week - far longer than I can remember in previous years when it has started to melt within a day or two. Out in the woods it was magical, laying thickly underfoot and on the branches, bestowing a very Narnia-esque beauty to the trees. Toby adored stomping across the fields, squealing and laughing and running through the snow with obvious delight. I was so happy to be able to drive on the main roads (as the back roads were impassable) and to be able to park locally, because to have shared these snowy walks with him was joyful and they'll stay in my memory for a long time.

Back at home I'm in the final knit through of my new patterns (mice and bears ands cabled sweaters, all in the small sizes) so those will all be released in January. I'll keep you posted with further details as soon as they are ready. I'm just about to tidy all these bits and pieces away into the cupboard now, as I'm planning to have some gentle and quiet relaxation time over the Christmas weekend and not tax my brain too much. Not that I'm feeling very relaxed right now. How is it that the hours seem to run faster at this time of year? At the start of December I usually feel quite organised but by the middle of the month panic has started to settle in. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has written things I've already done on a to-do list just so that I can tick something off. Still, I know it will all get done and, if it doesn't, that my family will understand and forgive me. I hope you're doing well with any preparations you are making for festivities.

I'm going to have a few internet free days for this Christmas weekend, which will be a nice novelty, so I'm signing off for now but will be back to answering messages and emails from Tuesday.

I wish you all the very best for the holiday season and hope that you find a little peace and joy over the coming days, with love and many thanks for visiting me here, J xx

 

 

And Winter has arrived

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter is decidedly here. We've had a few days of sub-zero temperatures and the early morning frosts have been beautifully sharp and sparkly. Yesterday Toby and I bundled up and went for a long walk at Panshanger. The ice crystals adorning every blade of grass, twig and seedhead made for a very beautiful landscape and even the barbed wire fences were prettified by the decoration of frost.

And then this morning we've woken to around 15cms of snow!

I'm glad to have lots of cosy woolly jumpers, scarves and mittens and will be wearing my wrist-warmers constantly now until the weather warms. It looks like the rest of this week is continuing to be freezing, so there will be a little more knitting by the fire going on here. I'm now in the final stages of laying out the three new patterns and am lucky to have some lovely people helping me to error check them. Though it will still be a few weeks before they've been thoroughly checked, so I'm aiming to be able to share them in the new year.

Hope you have a good week doing a little of what you love, J x

Fungi in the woods part 2, and some small bears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn is in full swing here and the leaves are now falling thick and fast, covering the woodland paths and the verges of the back roads with a carpet of golds, oranges and reds. It has been a fairly mild and damp autumn so far, and many of the toadstools have lasted well. I've seen such a huge variety of them this year and these are just some of the more photogenic ones. I do so love this season, it's a magical time for walking out in the woods and with so much to see I've stayed until I'm tired and chilled, so coming back home into the warm to snuggle with my knitting has been especially welcome.

Pattern writing for the small bears, small mice and small sweaters is progressing and with all of the samples now made and I'm at the stage of taking the step by step photos. Then it will be photo editing, laying out the pages and finally checking everything through. It's a long old process but I'm getting there slowly. I'll keep you posted with news once they're ready.

Well, that's all of my news for this time, see you again soon x

 

October :: In the woods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was my intention to pop this post on the blog in the last week of October but unfortunately my blog provider Typepad had some major problems that week and this blog was down for much of that time. It was a bit nerve-wracking, as the thought of losing 16 years worth blogging was not a happy one. Apologies if you were trying to view anything during that week, especially if you were trying to follow one of my tutorials without any of the pictures showing up. Fingers crossed they now have everything permanently fixed, it certainly all seems to be working properly again, so all is calm and well again here.

Above are some of my pictures of the huge variety of fungi I've found out in the woods this year. I've been four times since the beginning of October and every time have found something new and rather marvellous. Autumn is such a wonderful time to be out in the woods and I'm deeply grateful that we have such rich and varied woodlands around us which are full of so many different types of wildlife at all times of the year. I even encountered a small herd of lovely, gentle Red Poll cattle, who are there as part of a conservation grazing project. They were lovely company and seemed quite interested in watching me take photos, gradually grazing their way over to me to give me a sniff.

Out in the woods many of the trees are still in green leaf but then the autumn so far has been mild and rather wet. Not happy nut hunting weather for squirrels and back at home our resident friendly squirrel has been quite soggy looking.

Inside at home there is knitting and pattern writing going on, though at a slower pace than I'd hoped for. The other day I worked out that I only get 22 hours of Toby-free time a week in which to be able to fully concentrate on anything, the rest of the time my brain is mostly mush as it tries to juggle between family and work life - which is probably why I keep knitting samples only to find that I've already knitted that piece. I am holding on to the thought that moving at a snail's pace is still actually moving, and that progress, however small it may seem, is being made.

Well, the weekend is beckoning, with lots of wood walks with Toby and hopefully some early morning tea, toast and knitting in bed for me whilst he sleeps in. I'll be back soon with some more amazing fungi finds and hopefully a little knitting news, 'til then keep well and happy x