A couple of weeks ago Shawn Mary tagged me and as usual it has taken me ages to take it up (sorry Shawn Mary). Anyway, here’s what she asked me and Molly at Molly’s knitted teddybears –

1)  How does your creative process begin?

I knit every day when the children are at school and I often ponder what I’m going to work on when I’m walking back home from dropping Amy at school. It’s pretty erratic really and completely on a whim – some days I want
to just knit clothes, others it’s rabbits, or cakes etc. and it often changes from day to day. Sometimes ideas pop into my head at strange times like the middle of the night when I’m up with Toby or I might be doing my weekly shop and see someone’s clothes which inspire a certain combination of colours. I jot notes on various bits of paper and keep them in a file with scraps of boden catalogues and magazine clippings.

2)
Do you start and finish one toy at a time, or do you tend to
start multiple pieces for multiple ones and end up with lots of "parts"?

I’m a really messy worker and very rarely work on a toy from start to finish without at least starting several other things. I have lots of bags of bits stashed away! I’m particularly impulsive when I get a new yarn and will immediately drop what I’m working on to start knitting up something in a yarn that’s new to me. It’s embarassing to admit but I get quite excited by new yarns and I end up stalking my favourite on-line yarn sites in the early spring and autumn watching for the new season’s colourways to become available (OK, I know I should get out more!)

3)  When it comes to clothes, do you knit these before you know who will wear them or does the finished face dictate what you will knit?

A bit of both. I often knit the clothes first and then make a toy to suit them but sometimes as the character of the toy emerges I get a picture of what kind of clothes I want to dress them in. Once the face is complete I usually know whether the toy is a girl or a boy and if I’m ever in doubt Amy always acts as my quality controller and makes the decision for me!

4)  Have you ever knitted one and after completion, just couldn’t bear (ha, ha) to part with it?

I do have my personal favourites but I’ve never decided to keep any of them although I do have ‘the one that came back‘ sitting right next to my computer as my lucky mascot!

She’s special as she travelled to America, failed to get delivered and 6 weeks later ended up back here and she inspired a very special story wonderfully written by Jill.

This week I’ve had a lot of fun making some teeny toys for the little cotton rabbits. So much so that I thought you might like to have a go too.

So I’ve written up a free pattern which you can find here. It’s a bit fiddly and is probably an evening’s work but they are fun to make and at our house they are proving very popular, as you can see…

Honey loves her little bunny – she’s named him Pip and she never goes anywhere without him!

Well, the most recent batch of toys have all hopped away to their new homes and yesterday I heard from Rachel who won the 200th post prize draw that her little rabbit had arrived. She requested a sailor dress and I really enjoyed experimenting with the collar on this one – I’ll definitely make some more nautically inspired toys.

Anyway, for a while I’ve been meaning to catch up with some of the toys who’ve settled happily into their new homes. So, here they are with a big thank you to everyone who has sent me pictures.

Finlay and Su-Lin are enjoying life with Kim

Soren has found a great place to snuggle at Pauline’s house

Axel had a festive time with friends on Susan’s christmas tree

Over at Martine’s house Crispin and Tallie are relaxing and watching the world go by

Nettie’s got milk at Carolyn’s place

There’s a little gang making themselves at home with Sheri

And cute little Sophia even has a beautiful hand-painted plaque with her bunny on.

Thanks again to everyone who sent me photos – it means a lot to know that my little toys are cherished and enjoyed.