One of my daily visits in blogland is to Rebecca’s site. I admire her philosophy, her creativity and she also has fabulous photos of the beautiful countryside around her home. I discovered the concept of a ‘carbon footprint’ via her blog and her informative, unpatronizing writing makes me ponder more about the wastefulness and destructiveness of modern living and ways of living in better balance with the environment. Anyway, in tribute to her ecologically-friendly life style I’ve decided to work on a couple of partially* eco bunnies. I’ve found this gorgeous organic cotton yarn (from Angel Yarns) in natural shades – it is un-dyed and actually grows in these colours. On the label is says that the growing of cotton around the world accounts for 50% of world pesticide use(!!) so buying organic cotton helps to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and defoliants. It’s a small step, but it’s a start.
* can’t find an eco-friendly stuffing – anyone got any ideas??
On a non-knitting note, I have been tagged by Rachael at Tinkerblue to reveal 6 weird things about myself. I am as averagely normal as they come, but here goes:
1. I cannot stand to get pruney fingers. So whilst I love a long hot bath I need to keep my hands out of the water and once my fingertips start to wrinkle, that’s it, I’m out.
2. I learnt to ride a motorbike before I learnt to drive a car. In my pre-children days I used to love commuting into London and bombing around the countryside on my Honda 400 (now sadly sold – although I did ponder the merits of a side-car for the kids!). This is my helmet.
3. I can read novels over and over again. I’ve read some of my favourites more than 6 times – even though I know what’s going to happen.
4. I usually read the last page of a new novel first, to gauge whether it’s worth the investment of time! (apparently this is not that weird as both Monica from Quilt While You’re Ahead and Carolyn from Willow House do it too!)
5. I would happily live in pyjama bottoms – the most comfortable item of clothing ever invented. The first thing I do after I come into the house is go and change into my jammies. I have 15 pairs of brushed cotton jammy bottoms – not quite enough to rival Ali’s impressive knicker collection!
6. I have an occasional but undeniable craving for pickled eggs! Sorry!
There are rules that come with this tag but I’m going to throw caution to the wind and ignore them. Instead I throw the challenge open – give it a go and reveal your inner weirdo!
little cotton rabbits 
LOL you’re weird … nah just kidding.
Love the new yarn, now that the madness of Christmas is over I will have to put myself on your list to be advised when things are going in the shop …. please 🙂
Will you be doing any bunnies in the eco friendly cotton?????
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I’ve no idea what I’m talking about, but could you get organic cotton fleece stuffing? what about this stuff? http://www.nearseanaturals.com/item.php?id=2041
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Love the new cotton, weirdo. No, not really you sound pretty normal to me! :DDD
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I love the colours of the cotton yarn, there is a piece about fabric and how damaging to the enviroment that dying etc is, must dig it out.
I’ve been trying to use more natural undyed fibres, and it’s been great. A good experience 🙂 Hope yours is just as successful 🙂
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thanks for the link for the yarn…i think it’s wonderful how rebecca instills for us that calming way of living an “eco friendly” lifestyle.
as for organic stuffing…have you tried wool? i am fortunate to have organic farmers for friends and in their community, there is an ample supple of organic wool that i have started to use for stuffing (instead of the cotton)…maybe there is such a community where you live.
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Perfect….. we will be building an Eco house this year – i better have an Eco bunny to go in it!!!!!
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great that you got inspired to use eco yarn. the colours are wonderful. what about wool for stuffing? I bet there ar esome organic farmers that sell their wool. at least in germany you can get it. i always stuff my dolls with wool.
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I think using organic cotton for your bunnies is a brilliant idea, the planet needs all the help we can give it! Can’t wait to see what they look like, Cat
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Love the new wool!!! Cant wait to see the bunnies that result from this great new yarn! I love the idea of being more environmentaly friendly in our work. We also try and always combine recyled fabrics with new in our creations – it gives a great sense of satisfaction to reuse something and give it new life. I must have one of your bunnies! Need to be quicker when they go for sale next time.
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Love your creations! So cute and fun! To keep with lowering your carbon foot print…I thought you might be interested in using organic cotton printed fabric for your gift bags too (www.harmonyart.com). I apologize for the shameless self-promotion but I thought you might actually be interested. As far as weird goes: I talk to the trees….hey a lot of people talk to their plants…right?! Keep up the great work!
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oh please can I bags a bunny with this wool?? PLEASE? I like the middle one and the top one and I think my bunny would like to wear red or pink or both! and I would be VERY patient while I was wating for her to be made…. oh – I am excited! is this OK?
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Well it appears that we have more in common than reading the last pages of a book. I have also been known to read a book several times over and I love to wear my PJ’s around the house and garden. I usually wear the bottoms with a cardi in order to look a little dressed and I do get embarassed when people apologise for having got me up!
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Love the new cotton.
And I read my novels again and again and again. My hubby thinks I am weird for that alone.
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Oh, I love these kind of questions. Here I go:
1) I really love long noses…on people and animals.
2) I can drink chocolate milk that is made so strong and dark that it looks like coffee (I may get a stomache afterwards, though 🙂 ).
3) I have a quite a bit of dark hair on my fair-skinned arms but it doesn’t bother me.
4) I like to keep things that my cat, Lily, has “fanged” (nibbled/chewed on) because I think it’s just adorable.
5) I will occasionally spread buttermilk all over my face (like a wet mask) and let it cling and dry for about 20 minutes because, for some reason, it does wonderful things for my skin (believe it or not).
6) I once ate fishsticks and fudge for breakfast at my Grandma’s house when I was a kid.
7) (Bonus) I used to freak out over butterflies that were flapping their way in my direction…not because they weren’t pretty, but because they seem to navigate like kamikaze pilots…unpredictable….and I didn’t want a bug with wings hitting me. It freaked me out and sent me running and dodging. I finally got over this a few years ago. 🙂
8) (Unneccesary Bonus)
I hate cooked fruit. (This rules out most pies).
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I just found your blog from Irish Craftworker and already I feel compelled to comment. I too would happily live in pajama pants! I work from home so I can wear what I want. If I appear in actual pants my daughter immediately perks up and asks where we’re going. And then I’m a bit embarrassed – but not so embarrassed that I stop weraing them. 🙂
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I discovered your site from Sheri at the Loopy Ewe when you sent her Bunny Em. I think it is amazing what you create out of your hands. I do have a suggestion for a more eco stuffing — what about washed fleece? I use the 3 bags of Suffolk for my felted toys.
=:8
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