Category: crafts & knitting

crafts & knitting · general stuff · magazine features

In print

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)47 Comments

Thanks so much for all of the feedback on the pouch pattern. I've drawn the two winners and have posted the details at the end of the previous post. As promised I am planning another little giveaway (of a knitted animal) to celebrate the start of my 7th year of blogging but I've not quite finished the batch that I'm working on, so they're not quite ready for their close-ups yet.

 

Waiting

I'm really hoping to finish them next week, so I'll post about the giveaway then.

In the meantime I am sitting here feeling rather happy because I have the latest copy of Crafts Beautiful next to my cup of tea and it has a feature about my knitting in it (thanks to Natalie for the lovely write up). It's the Christmas special issue and it's full of great ideas and some fab freebies too, so I'm off to have a read in the last hour of peace before the start of a busy weekend.

 

Crafts beautiful

Hope you have a great weekend, see you next week with news of that giveaway.

 

crafts & knitting

a little pouch pattern (at last)

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)165 Comments

I was looking back at the post where I mentioned the little pattern for a phone case/seed pouch I was planning to write up. I'd breezily written "give me a few days" but I'd forgotten that as soon as you commit to something all manner of events come together to conspire against you actually making good on your rash promise! I had also forgotten how unappealing something can become as soon as it is something you 'ought' to be doing – self-imposed pressure is such a passion killer.

Anyway, it wasn't a few days or even a few weeks, in the end it was a few months but at last it's done and it feels good to be able to tick it off my list of things to do.

 

Gadget case

In the process of pattern tweaking and testing I've managed to knit up 7 pouches of varying sizes – some of them I've given to friends but I thought I'd give two of them away here. So, if you are interested in becoming the owner of one of these two pouches please feel free to leave a comment below and I'll draw a name at random next week.

 

 
Pouches

 

If you're a knitter and would like to make your own, then the pattern is now available as a pdf file either as an instant download on ravelry (no account required) or on Etsy where you may have to wait a little while for me to email it.

I'll be popping back next week with news of another giveaway to mark the start of my 7th year of blogging. Crikey – that makes me feel old, doesn't time go quickly when you're having fun?

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment or emailed with such a
warm welcome back. It's nice to be settling back into routines again.

…………………………………………………………………………..

 

Update September 14th:

I've just used the random number generator to pick two winners of the two pouches:

Pouchwinners

Who are:

Tina, The Quiet Homemaker & Marguerite Coan

Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment.

 

crafts & knitting · general stuff

quiet time again

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)84 Comments

 

Dress line

Here in my little corner of the world there are few things that I prize more highly than time that is completely and utterly my own. Over the 6 weeks of the school summer break such time has been in short supply, for although Toby has had 11 days of respite and 4 days of CHIPs summer club, I've spent most of those days either with Amy or doing householdy chores and necessities. The rest of the time I have been Toby's constant companion both day and night as I've fed, bathed, dressed and comforted him; fetched things he can't get for himself; fixed toys; loaded dvds and videos into their respective players; removed things from his mouth and generally kept him content and safe from the various harms he often seems intent of inflicting on himself.

 

Dresses

It's not that I begrudge any time spent with my children you understand, it's just that the absence of quiet time on my own makes me appreciate all the more what today has brought my way once again. Because today brings the return to school term-time routines for the children and for me it brings 7 hours and 15 minutes of time to mostly spend in any way that I choose. So while I do feel slightly guilty for looking forward to my children returning to school, it's mostly outweighed by the pleasure of the current peace that has settled on my home.

Right now the only sounds that I can hear are the ticking of the kitchen clock; a similar ticking noise from the kettle which is cooling down having just been boiled for tea; a chinking of pebbles from the chicken run as they are scraped aside in the hunt for unsuspecting worms and the twitterings of two small birds in the bush outside the window. There is however mostly stillness and quiet and at this moment I feel overwhelmingly content.

Once I've finished writing this, I plan to settle myself in the garden with a good strong cup of tea, my radio, a basket of bunny heads waiting to be given faces, a copy of the wonderful Four Hedges by Clare Leighton which I'm currently reading (thanks to Emma @ Silverpebble for the excellent recommendation) and a copy of the newly released Three Good Things by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall which contains the recipe for pasta with tomatoes and blue cheese that I'll be making for lunch today.

 

Today

 

Termtime

 

Thanks for coming to visit with me here despite the lack of anything new
from me for a few weeks. If you're around later in the week please pop
back again as I'll have news of that little pouch pattern and a giveaway
or two.