Category: crafts & knitting

crafts & knitting

Happy Easter / Spring :)

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)29 Comments

 

 

Thank you so much for all of the kind comments and messages from the previous post. As a couple of you rightly said, the rough patch will pass and Toby will be a little more calm and settled once again – hopefully soon. Anyway, I do really appreciate all of the kindness that you sent my way, thank you again for that.

This little bunny was made as a thank you gift for someone who has been very kind and helpful to me, but she has had quite a long and drawn-out journey from the northern hemisphere to the southern (what on earth is going on with the postal services at the moment?). At last however she has arrived safely and happily just in time for this special time of year.

Whatever your plans, whether you’re celebrating a festival as part of your faith, delighting in the beauties of nature as the seasons change or simply enjoying a few extra days of free time to call your own, I hope you have a lovely weekend with plenty of peace and small pleasures. My plans include setting my alarm for 6am tomorrow and heading out with my breakfast in my rucksack for a quiet dawn walk on my own with my camera, hopefully to get some pictures of the blackthorn blossom which is decorating the hedgerows so beautifully at the moment, J x

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Just in case anyone wants to know:

The bunny is knitted in Camarose Snefnug yarn (one of my current fluffy favourites) with clothes in Krea Deluxe organic cotton. The lace dress is from my ‘textured dresses pattern‘, the colour-work dress is the one that comes with the lamb pattern, and the basket is from my toy bags pattern.

 

crafts & knitting · knitting tips

Winter mice and a free scarf tutorial

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)1 Comment

 

I had fun making the scarf for the mouse in a sweater and thought I’d share how I did so in case you’d like to make one too:

I used two 4mm DPNs (double pointed needles) and bulky yarn to knit a 4 stitch i-cord (i-cord tutorials are easily found on your tube) to a length of around 35cms / 14 inches (enough to fit around the neck of your animal with sufficient dangle left over). Then I made 2 small pom-poms using a fork – it’s handy as you can thread a strong cord through the tines to tightly tie the middle of the pom-pom before cutting the edges and freeing it from the fork. After cutting I trimmed them to make neat balls, then lightly steamed them over a pan of water to encourage them to full poufiness.

 

countryside · crafts & knitting · garden stuff · in the woods

More spring signals

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)14 Comments

 

Although the trees are currently still skeletal and bare-branched, there are a few more signs that spring is just around the corner. Last summer the old plum tree in our garden had to have a heavy pruning because some of the branches were creaking badly and cracking under the weight of the plum harvest, but even so it is currently delighting both me and the bumble bees that are emerging from hibernation with it’s blossom. It is such a beautiful herald of the change in seasons. There are catkins everywhere and daffodils too and I’m looking forward to going out with my camera next week in search of those, and hopefully the first of the blackthorn blossom.

Thanks for all of the comments on my winter mice giveaway post. I’ve notified the winners and the mice are both packaged up and currently travelling to their new homes, one in the North of England and the other a little further away in Tasmania! I will be having more giveaways later in the year so I better get on with making some more animals and also finishing off my horse pattern, can’t wait to share that with you in the spring 🙂

Hope you have a good weekend coming up. See you soon, J x