a little army

November 15, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)82 Comments

Family life has been full on here over the last few weeks, with various appointments for Toby, plus the usual night-time shenanigans and a few day-time tests of my heart health, once when he got a pea stuck up his nose and then when he climbed over the banister on the upstairs landing. Amy is adapting to senior school life, has had her first unpleasant experiences of the power games of others from someone she thought of as a best friend and has crossed the threshold into womanhood. And I, well I have been being Mum and knitting because it helps keep me on an even keel! In fact along with a couple of scarves, a pair of mittens and my crochet one a day blanket I also seem to have a little army on the go!

I am off now to sew on tails and name those that are finished and then I'll be listing them for sale later this week, most of them lottery style and the rest on Etsy. I'll also pop some better pictures of each up on Flickr.

I'll keep facebook up to date with details of when they're ready and send out the usual emails to the mailing list. I also have a little batch of christmassy, nordic dressed ones which should be ready by early December and I'm also thinking that it's been a rather long time since I had a giveaway so I will sort one out shortly.

Kitchen poetry 3

November 1, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)32 Comments

Well despite the lack of chill in the air these past few weeks the leaves have started changing colour and the clocks have gone back, so it feels that autumn is well and truly here again. Its arrival has made me want to get ready for winter and I've been making lots of soup for the freezer. Soaking split peas for split pea and ham soup (from River Cottage Everyday)

and roasting butternut squash for Squash & Cumin soup (recipe from my mum)

To serve 6:

3 teaspoons of cumin seed

1 teaspoon of coriander seed

1 teaspoon of caraway seed

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

olive oil

1 medium squash (either butternut or onion) around 1kg in weight

2 large onions

3 garlic cloves

50gms butter

750ml stock (vegetable or chicken)

220ml creme fraiche

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 190 degrees / gas mark 5. Cut the squash in half and remove all of the seeds, place in a roasting dish, drizzle over the olive oil and bake in the oven for up to an hour until soft. Toast all of the spice seeds in a dry pan and grind to a powder.

Finely chop the onions and garlic and sweat in the butter until they are soft and translucent. Set aside until the squash is done. Scrape the roasted squash flesh from the skin and put in a deep pan with the onions, ground spices and stock. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the creme fraiche and blend to a thick, smooth soup. Good to eat with warm crusty olive bread.

Even my knitting has been touched by autumnal colours – I've been working on a very soft and very decadent new scarf in gorgeous pure cashmere (Jade Sapphire 8ply cashmere in Chamomile). I've gone for a very simple garter stitch because when the yarn is this special I don't think it needs fancy stitches.

These autumny pursuits have inspired Amy and I to write another bit of kitchen poetry…

When autumn comes a-knocking

Amy and I make soup,

We also kick through fallen leaves

and shop for yarn at Loop!

Poem by Amy & Julie

Making preparations for winter is something lots of people are doing at the moment and there's a wonderful project just started by Silverpebble and Thriftyhousehold called Making Winter which aims to celebrate all of the lovely things that winter brings. So if you fancy sharing some of your favourite wintery things pop over and join in x

crafts & knitting · general stuff

Treats

October 14, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)57 Comments

Toby had a good birthday on tuesday – unlimited Green & Blacks chocolate ice-cream softened in the microwave, lots of cuddles and tickles, a few cards and presents (which he's not so fussed about) and a dry afternoon for bouncing and bubbles after school – all the ingredients for happiness in Toby's book!

I'm feeling a little more positive too, thanks to a few indulgencies. When you're a little down there's nothing like treating yourself to something a little special. At least that's my thinking and my justification for buying some gorgeous new yarn for animal knitting.

It's Misti Alpaca's new and wonderfully soft 'best of nature' baby alpaca yarn hand-painted with natural dyes. I think it will make some beautiful bunnies and fabulous foxes (After I finish the batch that I'm still working on of course!)

I didn't stop there on the treats though! I've been admiring the beautiful and unique jewellery in Silverpebble's shop since she opened and when she listed her latest collection inspired by nature I fell in love with her viburnum berries necklace, so now it is mine!

I love that it's unique and naturally inspired but the thing that I love most is that it has 3 berries, because for me they'll symbolise the 3 people most precious to me; H, Amy and Toby.