crafts & knitting · food and Drink · garden stuff

autumn days

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)

The last few weeks have been much busier than anticipated, mostly due to the complications of family life. In the meantime Autumn has arrived here, bringing wet and windy weather, falling leaves and cooler temperatures which happily has meant I've not been told off for lighting the fire (H must run hotter than me as I'm always chilly and like nothing better than snuggling up by the fire on a windy autumn day, whereas he's stripped off to a T-shirt and goes round opening windows). The biggest news is that I am now mum to two teenagers, with Toby turning 13 yesterday and Amy 15 last week! Doesn't life whizz by at an alarming rate?

The other stuff that has kept us busy is neither newsworthy nor of any interest to anyone else, so I'll not bore you with details but I am going to bore you with pictures of my homegrown red kuri squash, which I am rather proud of. I grew them as an experiment, fully expecting to have either no fruit at all or at best some the size of golfballs but in fact I managed to grow 3 whoppers – which leads me to the conclusion that they must be very easy to grow.

 

3squash
 

I've roasted them and made my usual spiced squash soup, which has such a lovely, warming autumny taste.

 

Roast squash2

 

Squash sou

 

Sqsoup

 

The colour of the soup has been featuring heavily in my autumny knitting too. In fact I've been just a bit obsessed with gorgeous mustardy-coloured yarn recently (as my friends who recently came yarn shopping with me might of heard me say once or twice).

Here, I'm using 2 skeins of MadelineTosh's new yarn home to make a really thick and cosy cowl. Pattern: Gaptastic Cowl, Yarn: MadelineTosh Home in 'candlewick', needles: 8mm

 

Scarf

 

I have made one change to the pattern – using double moss stitch instead of the single.

 

Double moss

 

and I might have a few other little mustardy projects on the go too…

 

Mustard stuff

 

Well, it's nice to be back here again and I'm looking forward to catching up with what everyone else has been blogging about recently – I feel horribly out of touch yet again. I plan to be back here later in the week with that giveaway that I promised weeks ago. And my work on the next patterns is going well – I'll give you a glimpse of what is coming up before the end of the month.

Thanks as always for stopping by, J x

 PS: here's the birthday boy enjoying his helium balloon and laughing at his own reflection!

 

Tobybirthday

 

73 thoughts on “autumn days”

  1. I’m hoping to get an allotment soon so fingers crossed this time next year I’ll be growing squash too. Happy Birthday to Toby , hope he had a great day . I also lean towards mustards and burnt oranges this time of year too and that Madeline Tosh is just totally beautiful . Take care xx

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  3. That soup looks amazing and I’m loving that cowl! I’ve saved the pattern and put it first in my Ravelry queue – I’ve been looking to knit something like that for quite a while!
    That yellow is so perfect for the autumn months as well 🙂

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  6. Happy Birthday Toby and Amy …… Oh Julie the mustard colours are truly Autumnal so warm and cosy looking… the soup looks yummy perfect for the cooler days…. so excited about the new toy and clothes patterns.. have a lovely week ahead love to all xx

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  7. Happy birthday to both Toby and Amy, I hope they both had lovely birthdays!
    Your squash look amazing, I tried to grow white pumpkins this year but they came to nothing but flowers, I was so disappointed!
    I love mustard too it’s a gorgeous colour, beautiful cowl and of course such a cute little man in the basket of yarn. 🙂
    V x

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  8. hope the birthdays went well, I love your knitting, but that colour really really doesn’t look good on me, I always look rather ill in it, which makes me rather sad………

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  10. Oh Julie, I just want to climb right in to this deliciously cosy Autumn post ! Your soup looks so good, perfect for these chillier evenings and the colour of your cowl is sublimely gorgeous, and as for the basket of autumn warmth with bunny there to top it all off, well, it actually makes my hear beat faster – I love it !
    Have a lovely week Julie, and Happy Birthday to your two teenagers – where do those years go ?
    Kate xx

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  13. birthdays abound….happy days to all!!!! (including mum who made it all possible!) I’ve been smitten with that same color…maybe not the best for me to wear, but it just makes me so happy!!!!

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  15. Lovely to hear from you as always Julie
    I don’t think I’ve ever knit with mustard yarn but that cowl will be a drop of sunshine on those cloudy winter days, it’s so pretty

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  16. love all things of a mustardy hue (or should that be shade??) as well Julie, your cowl will be a wonderful pop of colour or dreary grey winter days. The soup looks so warm & tasty/toasty as well. Hope life falls into an easy routine again for you soon. Fingers crossed Toby’s hormones aren’t burgeoning too much yet now he’s 13. Thinking of you all xxx

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  18. Great to have a catch up of life on the Julie front. The years do fly by! Toby looks so healthy with his rosey cheeks. Brilliant of you to get a reflective Mylar balloon…captivating. Love your bunnies little Shetland sweater too…maybe a future pattern?!?! Enjoy the crispness of autumn…winter will be blowing soon enough. Happy October!

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  19. Oh happy birthday to Toby and love the pictures of him with the balloon, a bit of fun for him ♥
    Mustard can be a lovely colour and your soup sounds very tasty indeed.

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  20. Happy Birthday Toby and Amy!!! Awwww, the teens. Gotta love em. I just realized the other day, next year when Levi turns 13, I’ll only have one native that isn’t a teen! Now, how did THAT happen I ask ya???
    Well done on your squash! I am not a lover of squash. It is, as you know, a veggie, and I am not a lover of veggies. I’m terrible. I know. Want to know how terrible?? When I was younger, down in the food cellar, my younger sister and I would play, store. All of my mum’s canned goods were on the shelves. We’d load up a ‘cart’ and go shopping among the shelves of food my mum canned. One fall, under a table were these huge squashes! Laws they were big! I knew what that meant! We’d have to eat those things!! Do you know what snotty me did??? I poked holes all over them so they’d rot quick! Sure enough, my mum went down to get some squash and they’d all gone bad! Hmmm, I wonder how that happened!! I didn’t say a word! Until I was an adult. 😀
    Happy Fall to you! The weather is much cooler here I am pulling out my sweaters, scarves, and fingerless knits! Yes, the one’s you made me. 😀 I get so many compliments!!!
    Much love to you!
    XXXXX
    P.S. Levi is obsessed with balloons. Every Christmas “Santa” brings him a helium tank so he can have balloons all year ’round’.

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  21. I love everything about this post. Seeing Toby so happy with his birthday balloon. Children, with all of our worries about them, bring us such joy. Mustard might be my new “favorite” color and the bunny boy is adorable. I love his sweater.
    Red Kuri squash is a favorite of mine. Yours are beautiful. I’m not sure which is prettier, the color of the ouside of the squash or your soup. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
    Happy Sunday.

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  33. Hello lovely Julie :o)
    What a lovely surprise to see your post pop up!
    Happy belated birthday to both of your teenagers ….. and yes time really does fly doesn’t it?!
    Your post is so very cosy and comforting today and Oh Oh Oh that little bunny …..
    Love the photos of Toby and his balloon
    Love Jooles x x x

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  34. Hi Julie. Lovely to hear from you as always . I don’t think I’ve ever knit with mustard yarn but that cowl looks so pretty.
    Happy birthday to your teens and I’m looking forward to your new pattarn.

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  35. Yes, I can confirm that there was a LOT of squishing, fondling and debating over anything mustard in that lovely yarn shop, but at least it’s being used! Fab photo of Toby, Happy Birthday to him and Amy. Gorgeous little rabbit (as usual). Xx

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  38. Happy Birthday to your two munchkins! My two both share their birthdays in October too. It is always such a hectic (but lovely)month.
    I love the mustard colours you are working with at the moment Julie. Very autumnal.
    Wow! Two teenagers. That sounds like fun!

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  40. It does seem to be a colour of the moment, two friends have new scarves in it. This very morning, I favourited a lovely sweater on Ravelry,Levenwick by Gudrun Johnson in Brooklyn Tweed shelter, colour Hayloft. However, I would prefer to use a British wool, so shall look for an alternative.
    The little rabbit is lovely, the colours look wonderful.

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  41. Hi Julie, happy birthday to both Toby and Amy, I love the cowl you are knitting its lovely, think I might have to try one of those! XxBrenda

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  43. I’m coveting your fall weather, fires & squash soup. It’s still in the 70’s & 80’s here, but the weather will break soon. I love the mustard cowl-your eye for color is extraordinary. Happy Birthday to your children! I know the days, at times, seem very long-in contrast to the years that fly by. “Young boys should never be sent to bed, for they wake a day older.” JM Barrie

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  44. Lovely as always to get a peep at your latest knitting – so cosy and autumnal, and that bunny sweater is just so cute, I love it! Thanks for cheering up a drab and drippy Monday morning! xxx

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  47. Ohmygosh — look at that adorable little bunny in the pile of yarn — too cute! And Happy Belated Birthday to Toby — I can’t believe he’s a teenager already. Time DOES fly by {sniff}{sniff}. XO

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  48. Oh it so lovely yo see your autumn post ! And I adore the gorgeous butter squash coloured fairsle jumper for your darling rabbit too ! Xxxxxxxx

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  50. Hi Julie, Lovely to see your post and Happy Birthday to Toby and Amy! Such a yummy blog of squash, yarn and bunny. I could eat them all up: )
    If ever there was an autumn color, I think you hit the nail on the head, so brilliant and bright. Love the pattern of the cowl, it will look great on. Enjoy your week, xoRobin

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  53. I am so delighted to hear about your activities on a more regular basis again. I’ve been a reader of your blog for quite some time and actually have one of your bunnies (Cooper) and cherish him. Keep sharing your lovely projects and life!

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  56. Happy belated birthday wishes for Amy and Toby…glad he enjoyed his Birthday Balloon…it’s the day of the year when a balloon is an absolute necessity…we leave ours floating more or less free in the porch until they finally get thin….don’t I wish that getting thin was as easy as that for me! Love the latest Bunny…and am a convert to mustard colours this year. Love to you
    Jenni xx

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  57. Great POST! My Sophia and your Toby are one day off in birthdays. She just turned 13 on the 12th of October. Happy Bitrhday to Toby!!!! I hope he got to bounce or swing or blow bubbles or play with his duplo blocks or whatever his heart desired that day.
    Congratulations on your harvest. The soup looks quite yummy. The days are cooler here, as well. That soup would hit the spot on one of our cool evenings.
    Interestingly enough, I just stated a pair of socks in String Theory’s Caper sock yarn in colorway Bee’s Knees. The color? Yellow. We must be on the same wavelength. :o)
    And lastly, I gasped when I scrolled down enough to reveal the bunny with the fairisle jumper. He’s adorable!
    Glad to see your post and look forward to more. Happy Autumn!

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  58. LOVE your site and always check for updates! I’ve also found this first half-term crazy – hardly a second of ‘me’ time.
    Happy Birthday to Toby and Amy – and good luck to you, I only have one teenager and 2 under-10s and that’s hard enough! (plus 2 real rabbits – far more destructive than your gorgeous knitted versions).
    Your squash photo cheered me up on such a grey rainy day. Must try to grow some of those next year – I had a big success with pumpkins and spicy pumpkin soup this year, but those look even more exciting.
    As an October baby (my Birthday was yesterday) I really appreciate those lovely colours!

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  59. Thanks so much for sharing the pictures of your squash; definitely going to try those next year in my garden. Lovely fall colors and the little rabbit is darling ! Happy birthday to Toby also !

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  61. …when the grass is jewelled, and the fuzz inside a chestnut shell. Jetplanes meeting in the air to be refuelled, oh these things I love so well – so I mustn’t forget! No, I mustn’t forget! To say a great big thank you, I mustn’t forget.
    Do children still sing this at school for Harvest Festival, or am I showing my age and no-one else is going around humming, having seen the title of this post?

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  66. This is only the second post I have made on your site (I think….going through the menopause so cannot guarantee that!).
    Thank you very much for the soup recipie.
    Congratulations to TOBY for becomming teenager. Bless him.

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  67. Your pictures of your knitting look every bit as delicious as the soup. The colours are simply gorgeous. I had a similar soup today – butternut squash. It’s nice that we get to eat these things now. I had never heard of squash until a few years ago but its so delicious. Thank you for your lovely blog, it is a very beautiful place to visit. I think your header is just wonderful.

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  69. I LOVE the bunny in this blog post. Can you please share what yarn that boy bunny is knit with? The cream with grey & gold is simply beautiful!

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  71. Belated shappy birthday’ to Toby and Amy … and yes, how the years fly by!
    Love the photo of your squash – such a gorgeous colour. x

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  72. Hello, I am a big fan and purchased several patterns. My rabbits came out great and such fun.
    I understand you do not like to knit in the round but…. I knit for micro preemie babies and you sock pattern is PERFECT!!!
    It has been my pleasure to distract parents from seeing a sick child to seeing a fun pair of socks wiggling about. It gives hope in a situation void of smiles and hope. It also helps the caregivers see a bright spot in their day.
    Even though these babies don’t walk, I would like to eliminate the seam but have not been able to find anyone willing to rewrite it in the round. I was able to rewrite a pattern in the round for newborn size but the heal was placed in the middle of the row and not half on each end.
    If you have it already written I should love to have it as I have already been collecting baby colored sock yarns. If not, would you consider helping me out as I have not the talent to do so as yet. Please let me know either way. Thank you.
    Sincerely,
    Deborah

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  73. your work is absolutely A W E S O M E I enjoy so much looking at your photos and reading your blog posts
    I never made it to win one of your cutest rabbit but will never stop to try.
    Mo
    CrochetObjet

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