Firstly, thank you so very much for all of the kind comments on the previous post. Things do get a bit wobbly here when routines are shaken up and it’s hard to concentrate on anything in the school breaks when Toby needs 24 hour care, so it’s easiest not to try – that way everyone stays calm and happy. During the recent half term break we had lots of wood walks and outdoor adventures but when we were at home and he was happily occupied I had a little time for some simple knitting – some nice undemanding projects that were easy to put down when he needed something. Knitting is the ultimate portable activity and I love that from a young age Toby has known that if he carries off my knitting bag I will follow. So in between keeping him safe and happy over half term, I was also following him around the house and nomadically finishing off some of my many W.I.P.s – mostly a case of weaving in the ends, which is something I seem to have a problem getting around to – most likely because it is the most boring bit of knitting something.

Finished projects:

The wristwarmers that I started in February. Just a simple ribbed tube with a little twisted cable detail (notes on them here), knitted in beautiful neppy Donegal yarn from Ocean Rose.

The socks that I had just started knitting in the previous post using ‘Wildflowers and honeycomb socks‘ pattern from Olivia at This Handmade Life. Yarn details are here.

A shawl that I started back in February, knitted from a lovely pattern by Tammy Gore called ‘Out of winter‘ in the most gorgeous hand-dyed yarn that I am slightly obsessed with and now want to buy more of – ‘Owl feather’ from Grenouille

I might have cast on a couple of new projects too, mostly of the socky kind, but now that Toby is back at school again I have returned to animal knitting and have been working on a new pattern, which actually isn’t new at all. I’ll be writing this up as a free supplement pattern with instructions on using my existing fox patterns to knit deer – I’ll explain in more detail soon 🙂

Hello and sorry to have been absent for so long.

The school break times are a little bit of a challenge in our household – as always Toby finds the change in routine very unsettling and having him around 24/7, though lovely, is demanding, so not much else gets done. For most of April Amy was back from uni too, so I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible and we went off for a couple of lovely country walks together, just like the old days 🙂

I’ve got lots of beautiful blossomy pictures from our walks, but I’ll show you those another time. Today I just wanted to pop in briefly, say hello, and post the pictures that I had planned to post a few weeks ago in order to wish you all a happy Easter. I had also planned to let you know that I’ve updated my free pattern for the Easter eggs to include an extra flower design and also to provide the pattern in a new pdf file. I know it’s now too late for this year, but if you fancy knitting some Easter eggs for next year then you can download the free pattern here.

Because I liked the new spring flower design so much I’ve also popped it on a free dress supplement. You can download a free copy here. Please note that you’ll need use it with one of my animal patterns that has a dress included or the seasonal dresses pattern, in order to have the instructions for the cast on and bodice (my entire range of patterns are here) – I like to share the free pattern supplements as a little thank you to those who are kind enough to support my work.

Well, I’m off to quietly knit a little this afternoon. I’m working on a batch of blue dressed animals (the first 3 of them are in the picture at the top of this post) which I hope to have ready to sell before the summer arrives properly. I’ll share some progress updates here as the rest of them start coming together.

Hope to pop back again more regularly now that the school break is over and I have time to call my own again, see you soon x