A little knitting news

April 30, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)209 Comments

Thanks so much for the nice welcome back. Getting so out of touch does feel strange to me when blogging has been such a part of my life for nearly seven years. The list writing is definitely helping me order my thoughts but lists are not the only thing I have been writing over the last week, I have also been pattern writing!

Over the years I have avoided writing up the patterns for the little cotton rabbits partly because it is such a lot of work to write something that someone else can follow, partly because I’d rather be actually knitting than anything else and partly because they are so very personal and it’s hard to put them out there for scrutiny. And then there is the Toby Factor. If you are one of the people who have written and asked me about availability of animal patterns you will have probably received my standard answer

“Thanks for asking about the patterns for the knitted animals that I make. As yet I’ve not written them up but I do hope to in the future when things get a little easier with my son and will keep the blog up to date with any developments”

Well, it has been slowly dawning on me that things may well not get any easier on the Toby front, in fact with his teenage years looming they may well get considerably harder for a while. His future is uncertain and therefore so is mine, tied together as they are and right now may be as good as things get. So I have been thinking long and hard and decided that if I am ever going to publish my patterns I may as well just get on with it and so that is exactly what I am doing right now. The first one is with pattern testers right now, though I think it will be a few weeks before it will be ready with all the charts, photos and formatting that I intend to include.

I just thought I’d give you a bit of advance notice and an explanation as to why I might not be popping in here so much for a wee while. I am working on them every spare minute I have.

I still plan to make knitted animals for sale, I cannot imagine life without making them now, it has become my main source of peace, tranquility and relaxation. But I’m also mindful of the fact that knitting for around 8 hours a day, almost every day may well be taking its toll on my fingers – they are not as supple as they once were and are a lot more prone to aches. Still there will be plenty more knitted animals from me for the forseeable future – in fact there are plenty waiting for finishing at the moment. Once I get pattern writing out of my system I will be turning my attention back to bunny knitting in earnest.

If you are one of those waiting on my patterns – thanks for being patient with me for all of these years, I hope you won’t have to wait much longer!

snow and stitching

March 25, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)46 Comments

Thanks for all the good wishes for our garden plans. Although there will be lots of changes going on many of the things that I love about the garden will still be there – the raised beds are being reconfigured and I’m looking forward to planning out the veg garden soon – hopefully in time for spring (if it ever arrives!). We’re also keeping the chicken run, half of the herb wall, the table and chairs under the grapevine where I like to sit and knit with my radio in summer and of course Toby’s beloved trampoline. I will miss my messy little shed with it’s bench and shelves strewn with gardening bits and bobs, though my potting bench will have a new home outdoors so I can still potter at it.

It’s the loss of the climbing frame that has had the most impact on the garden and on me, to tell the truth I cried when it came down. It has served our family so well for many years and brought so much pleasure to Amy and Toby. I can still vividly remember the delight and amazement on Amy’s face when she saw the first swing that we put up, and Toby’s utter joy at the climbing frame, he was up there before it had even been finished! I have fed him lots of petit filous yoghurts up on the platform – it was always his favourite place to eat them on a summer’s day.

I suppose that what I am actually sad about is the ending of a chapter in family life. Taking down the climbing frame has felt like closing the door on childhood and I will miss it because it was loved by the little people who used to play and squeal and laugh on it. But it has been a year or two since Amy has played on it and Toby is getting too big to be completely safe on it. It is the right time to make a change – a garden is best adapted to suit the needs of those who use it and I’m sure we will come to love our new garden room and I will wonder ‘how ever did we manage without it? I am certainly grateful for the kindness and generosity of family and friends that has made it possible.

Over the weekend the work outside had to be put on hold due to a late winter storm and yet more snow!

Snuggling inside with lots of wool was definitely the best thing to do and I started planning how to join the stack of squares for my tiled blanket.

There have been a few false starts…

To begin with I sewed the pieces together through the front-most loops of the edging round. I thought it was going well but when I laid it out I wasn’t happy – it looked scruffy and messy and I didn’t like the wonky squares

Then I tried sewing through the back loops on the edging round…

…but was still not a happy bunny. I think it was better than the first attempt but still a bit scruffy at the corner joins.

So finally I tried sewing through the little line of bumps at the back of the edging…

…and at last I think I’m happy. I plan to keep on joining the squares like this and once it’s a bit bigger I’ll take some more photos – hopefully at that point I’ll not change my mind again as I’m now heartily sick of unpicking stitches!

crafts & knitting · general stuff

Sociability

March 8, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)76 Comments

My friend Hazel calls me a hermit and it’s not an undeserved or unkind label because most of the time I am! I do spend most of my time at home and in truth I am perfectly happy pottering around doing a little cooking or gardening and of course a lot of knitting. Before having the children I had a busy work and social life in London but since they came along I have become a homebody.

It’s not that I’m unsociable but more that I often feel a bit tongue tied or lost for words in social situations these days. I don’t do a whole lot with my time other than look after the children and knit, so I don’t often feel that I have much to contribute to cosmopolitan conversation. I also frequently feel a bit worn out and my brain definitely doesn’t work as fast as it used to – it’s not uncommon for me to think of something to add to a conversation around 10 minutes after everyone else has moved on to a new topic!

Over the last week however I have been uncharacteristically sociable. It started on Saturday with a wonderful meet up of blogging friends: Ali Alice Emma Kristina Monica Nancy Penny Sue Tessa Tracy Val

There was a great deal of laughter, chatter, good food and handmade present exchanging.

I came away with this superb basket (made by the fair and skilled hands of Val at Dottycookie), these divine handmade socks (so beautifully and expertly made by Kristina), and also a full tummy, a big smile and warm heart.

On Tuesday I had my second workshop teaching session and like the first workshop I was amazed at how friendly, willing and wonderful everyone who came along was. The work was fiddly (we were mattress seaming and stitching egg cosy bunnies) but everyone was really cheerful and chatty and I had a great time, hopefully everyone else did too. Thanks to Elaine, Esther, Iolanda, Jane, Sue and Peggy for coming along.

Then on Wednesday I went to visit a community garden run for adults with special needs by a group of wonderfully dedicated and caring volunteers. Hopefully somewhere like this will feature in Toby’s future and it was heartwarming to see how sensitive and dedicated all of the volunteers were. It also gives me hope that Toby will still be occupied and having fun after he finishes school.

All in all it’s been a busy social whirl compared to my typical week and hopefully I held my own in conversation. I am happy though to be spending today quietly alone with my knitting and am thinking that a little of both is a good thing.

What about you, are you a happy homebody or a companionable conversationalist?