Author: Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)

knitter, peace-seeker, woods-lover, chicken-keeper, woolly-wearer, autism-mama and all round quiet time girl.
countryside · in the woods

Autumn walks

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

It’s that time of year again, when the autumn woods are calling me, and this year more than ever I’ve been craving the peace they hold beneath their branches. Throughout October I’ve wandered their pathways many times, ambling along at my own pace, scouting for interesting fungi, listening to the wind in the tops of the tall trees and the song of small birds hidden in the thickets and each time I can feel the accumulated tension seep from my body, down through my boot soles and away into the damp and springy earth below.

At other times of the year these walks would take me 45 minutes or so but in autumn, with so much to see, they can easily take me a couple of hours and inevitably end with me having wet muddy knees. As always I’m stumped by the names of many of these amazing fungi but then appreciating their magical beauty doesn’t require an understanding of their taxonomy. They’re each wonderfully unique and I’m always thrilled to discover and photograph each of them as I make my way through the wood. I hope you enjoy them too and that you’re finding your own small ways to navigate these anxious times that we find ourselves in xx

These pictures were taken across many walks in October 2020 at Broxbourne Common, Cowheath wood, Danemead, Brambles wood and Broad Riding wood.

 

crafts & knitting

Playing

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

Next week it’s the half term break here so Toby will be the centre of my attention, but this week I’ve been free to have fun playing with some of my knitted friends and making scenes to share. When I was small I loved little things and I still do – I seem to have acquired quite a collection of small props (mostly from Maileg) and it’s been lovely to get them out and take these pictures to show some of the newest patterns (the removable shoes, the sundress supplement/camisole top and the bags).

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I have enjoyed making them 🙂

 

crafts & knitting · new patterns

Removable shoes, new patterns

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

 

Regular sized to fit any of the 9 inch tall animals

(rabbits, bears, mice, foxes, monkeys, pigs, cats, elephants, sheep, deer and lions)

 

Small sized, to fit the 7 inch rabbits pattern

 

When my daughter was little she was quite good a loosing little bits of toys (sorry to tell tales on you Amy), and I spent lots of time hunting for lost things under sofas, down the back of seat cushions and poking through the contents of the vacuum cleaner cylinder. So when I designed the little cotton rabbits I chose to knit the shoes as part of the feet and so avoid having to spend time hunting down or re-knitting lost shoes. It’s become apparent though that some people who knit my animal patterns would like to have shoes that do come off and so can be changed to match an outfit, so over the last few months I’ve been working on these patterns for removable shoes.

There’s a pattern to fit the regular (9 inch sized animals) and one for the smaller 7 inch rabbits (please check you have the right one in your basket before you check out).

Both patterns contain 5 pairs of shoes: 3 pairs of Mary-Jane style with a functional buttoning strap; a pair of laced up trainers and a mules- style slipper. There are also options for knitting feet and legs with knitted on socks, either with a simple garter stitch cuff or a folded over ribbed cuff.

I’ve designed the shoes and trainers to be close fitting and to be shaped around the foot with some short-rows and decreases and the slippers, whilst easy to take on and off are held in place on the foot by a knitted on trim. Hopefully they’ll fit your animals foot well and you’ll not need to be knitting replacements for any lost shoes anytime soon 🙂

You can find the patterns in the usual places, either on Ravelry or on Etsy

If you give either pattern a go please come and share your projects over on Ravelry or on the facebook group, it gives me so much pleasure to see what you make from my patterns.

Happy knitting, J xx