Winter knits

December 16, 2020September 16, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)17 Comments

With the arrival of colder weather I’ve been cosying up with my knitting.

Last Sunday morning, as Toby enjoyed his long lie-in, I picked up a pair of mittens that I started last winter and resumed where I left off. I may even get them finished in time for January’s frosty days. They are the ‘Persephone’ mittens from Emily Foden’s ‘Knits About Winter’ and I’m knitting them in soft and lovely Ysolda’s Blend no. 1 that has sadly now been discontinued.

I’m also still playing around with ideas for patterns and exploring different textures and yarns, there are just so many possibilities. I’ve just uploaded the free pattern for a little selection of toy scarves that you can download if you’d like to.

And there’s good news on the badger patterns I’ve been promising, they’re all written up and have gone out for testing, I’ll keep you posted with news once they’ve been properly error checked.

Once the badgers are done I’m going to award myself a short break from pattern writing. I find it quite an intense process – writing notes, knitting them through, tweaking bits, knitting through again, knitting them through yet again to test out different yarns (you can tell how many times I’ve done this from all those heads there). It takes me a lot of time and concentration and I know that a lot of the enjoyment is quashed for me by getting far too anxious in striving for perfection. I’ve spent most of this year knitting for pattern writing purposes and have produced more patterns this year than any previous years and to be honest I am currently missing the simple joy of knitting just for the pure pleasure of it.

So for the rest of December and January I’m just going to go with my whims and knit a little of what I fancy. I have such a glorious collection of yarn calling me so I think I’ll dip into it and see where it takes me. There will definitely be more Little Cotton Rabbit patterns to come, but first I need to shake off this pattern writers fatigue that has crept up on me:)

I’ll be back soon with a badgery update, til then keep well xxx

December light

December 9, 2020September 16, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)30 Comments

Though we’re not yet at the Winter Solstice the days now feel very short here. When I wake at just after 7am the sun has not yet risen and by 4pm it’s almost dark. And though daylight might be in short supply, one of the things I love about this time of year is watching the sunrises and sunsets. We’ve had some beautiful skies at these times of day, sometimes all aflame and dramatic and sometimes beautifully subtle like the colours in a mother-of-pearl shell. Some days before I go to wake up sleepy Toby, I take my early morning cuppa and go out into the garden in my coat and PJs to watch the subtle shifts in the cloud colours as the sun comes up. Even at midday the sun only rises now to 16% above the horizon and on bright days this low light slants through the windows casting angled shadows across the surfaces. We’ve had a lot of foggy mornings and a few frosts, both leaving everything damp and dewy and the water droplets that collect on every surface (even a ladybird shell) are illuminated by this low light, so they sometimes appear like silvered glass. All small delightful things that are particular to this time of year.

Kit the fox is still a regular garden visitor and despite the fact that H removed the thick growth of cushiony ivy when he put up new fencing, she still uses the heavy duty netting on the top of the chicken run as a hammock for daytime naps. She has grown her thick winter coat now and curls herself up, tucking her nose under her tail like a duvet to keep out the cold wind.

Here inside I’ve been cosy with my knitting. I’ve been playing around with different textures for a small set of toy scarves. I’ve got the pattern written up but need to knit it through and check it, then will share it as a free pattern with the hope that you might still have a little time to use it for some of your Christmas animal makes. I am also hoping to get the last pictures for the badger pattern I’ve been working on done later today, much later than planned but I’ll be back with news of that soon (ish!).

I’m behind with almost everything on my to-do list but I’m sure I’m not alone in that, it’s been a tough year so we’re all a little frazzled I think, and maybe if some things we had planned to do don’t get done it doesn’t really matter, leastways that seems to be the best way to think at the moment.

I hope you’re getting most of what you need to do done at the moment and that you then get to have some calm and relaxing time coming up over the holiday period, J x

crafts & knitting

Autumn colours

November 14, 2020September 16, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)21 Comments

Spending time in the woods has really influenced my knitting this month. I’ve been drawn to all of the russets, rusts and reds that are the colours of autumn leaves. And the urge to knit small cosy cabled sweaters has been too strong to resist. As a result I’ve got quite a collection now, I just need to knit a few more bunnies to wear them!

Sweater colours are shades of Quince and Co Finch and Brooklyn Tweed Peerie , both 4ply American woollen yarns and both knit cables with beautiful definition.

The bunny is knitted in CamaRose Snefnug which makes wonderfully fluffy cuddly bunnies.

I’m off to knit him some friends – because curled up with knitting is a good place to be on this rainy November afternoon. Hope you’re cosy and comfy where you are x