Category: in the woods

crafts & knitting · general stuff · in the woods

November remembered

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)50 Comments

November days seem to have sped past me here, and although I’ve been busy with lots of different things I don’t seem to have much to show for them, though I have managed to snap a few pictures along the way. Autumn has peaked, with all it’s golden glory and the trees have seemed particularly spectacular this year. Our November highlights have included misty mornings; sudden storms; golden leaves and golden skies; wood walks; sock and mitten knitting; comfort food casseroles and the first fire lighting of the season.

Yesterday was the start of meteorological winter and it does feel like autumn is now over. Most of the leaves now lay strewn across the lawns, and the winds have turned chilly and persistent. It’s a good time for curling up in a cosy spot and knitting warm things and I have been mostly knitting socks and mittens. I was so taken with this ‘golden praline’ colour that I’m using it in two separate projects and knitting from either end of the skein at the same time, not something to be recommended as it does lead to lots of bad words being uttered at the terrible tangles that develop. The pattern for the socks is ‘Lucky me socks’ by Pia Kammeborn and the mitten pattern is ‘Alfredo gloves‘ by Suzanne Stallard. The yarns are all The Uncommon Thread tough sock, and I’ve paired the ‘golden praline’ with creamy ‘manuscript’ and dark, moody ‘cobble’.

My thoughts are now turning to celebrations of the winter solstice and Christmas and I’m looking forward to having our family all together again when Amy comes back in a couple of weeks. I’ve felt a little quiet and melancholy of late, so all of the sparkle, warmth and fun of late December and the New Year will be very welcome. I hope to be around here a little more over December days, so hope to see you again soon. Thanks as always for dropping in to visit with me.

 

countryside · in the woods · wildlife

A proper autumn walk

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)33 Comments

Well, yesterday looked like being the very best day of the week weather-wise, so I decided to go adventuring in the woods with my camera (and this time with my walking boots too). These woods are very local, being part of Goldingtons nature reserve, only a 5 minute drive away at Hertford Heath. There a network of paths criss-cross mixed wood and heathland and with the sun reaching through the trees to warm earth drenched by heavy rain from the day before, there was a rising mist that held the sunlight in magical golden shafts.

Wandering through the trees I found fungi, insects, butterflies and lots of busy squirrels and noisy jays, both hiding stashes of nuts ready for the colder months ahead. In a field bordering the wood I made friends with 3 sleepy ponies and a little further on a dog called Bella came bounding up to say hello and seemed to want to follow me instead of her owner. I skirted a pond decorated with a carpet of thick green algae and headed deeper into the woods along an ancient path flanked by raised banks from which twisted coppiced hornbeams stretch their tortured trunks. I even found trees with faces. Because of the earlier rain there was a wonderful damp earth, decaying leaf smell and the air was busy with the calls of many small birds. It was a full sensory experience, as all good wood walks should be. The only thing missing was a snack, but that was soon sorted once I was home again.

Today I am knuckling down to lots of seaming and tail attaching for that long overdue bunch of bunnies. I plan to pop back on Friday with news of a little giveaway, so please come and visit again then if you’d like to join in. ‘Til then enjoy your midweek days x

countryside · crafts & knitting · in the woods

cosying on a windy day

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)34 Comments

 

Our ‘new normal’ is beginning to feel familiar now, with returns to comfortable routines for the three of us here and Amy settling in well and having a great time away at Uni.

For most of the last week I’ve been sorting my tangled mess of knitting projects and tidying the house, but on Thursday I headed off for a peaceful autumn walk. The leaves have yet to fully change colour, so the woods are not yet at their most photogenic and I forgot to take my waking boots (yet another indication of my lack of concentration skills right now) so I didn’t end up walking as far as planned. I had hoped to find lots of fungi, but it’s been so dry that there was very little around and what I did find was shrivelled and sad looking.

Friday was really windy here, so although I had actually remembered to put my walking boots back in the car, I decided to stay home. Happily I was browsing Ravelry and saw Alicia Plummer’s newly released ParkTrail sock pattern, so I snuggled up, cast on and enjoyed a little quiet and cosy knitting time in the warm afternoon sunlight shimmering through the wind-whipped trees outside the window. The notes on the yarn I’m using etc. are on my Ravelry project page.

My list of things to do this coming week includes finally finishing off the batch of animals that I started earlier this year. I’ll pop back with some pictures in a few days or so and hopefully will have some news of when they’ll be available for those interested soon. Maybe we’ll have a little giveaway too – it was my 12th blogging anniversary at the beginning of September, so I think a giveaway would be in order.

Hope you’re enjoying the weekend where you are. I’m off to knit more rows of my socks – they’re going to make great walking socks for more autumn walks. See you soon, J x