crafts & knitting · new patterns

Bunny knitting patterns

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)135 Comments

They are ready!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been completely immersed in writing up these patterns, knitting test bits, scribbling and crossing out notes all of which my brain has found a bit taxing as it is out of practice in thinking in such detail! Now I feel a little like a mole who has just tunnelled through the last few inches of earth and emerged out into a bright sunny day and I’m feeling a bit disoriented. Still, a few weeks of gentle paced knitting and low brain activity should sort me out and then I should be ready to tackle another couple of patterns. Though I will also be writing some ‘knitting tips’ posts over the coming weeks as there were lots of tips for things like fairisle knitting that were too wordy to go into the patterns.

Anyway, the first two patterns (a boy bunny with a piebald patch and a bunny girl with a dotty dress) are done and ready to share. I’ve listed them on both Ravelry and Etsy as instant downloads which are available directly after payment – no hanging around waiting for me to email files.

Things have been a bit crazy here over the last week too. Building work started on the garden room and it’s been exciting to see it starting to take shape. We now have a floor and the start of walls, though it’s been all swathed in tarpaulin over the weekend against the wind and rain.

Toby has loved exploring and been crawling in through a wall space to sit inside. He is going to have such fun out there when it is done. I’ll tell you more about it all when it’s finished.

Well, I’m off to knit and rest my brain. Have a good week where you are and thanks for all of the encouragement and support for my pattern writing. I just hope that everyone enjoys using the patterns and is pleased with what they make from them. See you soon x

 

crafts & knitting

A little knitting news

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!

garden stuff · general stuff

hello again

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)53 Comments

Thanks for dropping in and thanks for the kind messages that I’ve had over the last couple of days asking if things are OK. They are, and I hadn’t meant to be away for so long. I had intended to pop my blogging head on again the day the children went back to school but when I looked I couldn’t find it! I suppose it’s a little to do with getting out of practice but there is also the fact that my head feels stuffed full of thoughts about so many different things right now. The Easter holidays were quite difficult and a couple of different things happened which were unsettling and upsetting. When things are complicated I try to seek out ways to simplify our life here and I’m making lists and jottings in an attempt to order my thoughts, hopefully that will help me feel normal again soon!

I did have a few laughs when I discovered a brilliant blog written by the dad of an autistic boy. He wrote a wonderfully funny piece for the BBC website about the dreaded school holidays which I completely identify with, it’s a good read if you have time. I also read a fair bit of his blog My Son’s not Rainman over the Easter break and it helped me hang on to my sense of humour which was in danger of becoming a bit threadbare.

It is good to be back in term time again and have a little time for peace and quiet. I am currently enjoying pondering plans for this basket of recently acquired malabrigo. I’m also busy making
hedgehogs for the next class I’m doing at the Creative Sanctuary in May. There are a couple of spaces left if anyone is interested in coming along,
booking details are here.

It’s nice to have some warmer weather at last too, happily Spring now seems to have properly arrived and over last weekend Toby was joyfully reacquainted with bubbly bouncing time on the trampoline! There are blackbirds nesting in the clematis outside the back door and the bluetits are checking out the bird box on the plum tree. Luckily neither of them seem disturbed by the work going ahead in the garden. H has worked like a horse over the Easter break carting barrowloads of our old patio away and taking down the shed. There is now a flat space ready for the garden room though first the herb wall needs to be finished and the fences replaced. It’s coming along though and Toby is coping surprisingly well with the changes. I think it helps that he loves his new swing chair and I feel better at the loss of the climbing frame when I see him spinning and rocking and squealing with delight!

Well, it’s nice to be here again and I’m looking forward to catching up with what everyone has been up to but for now I’m off to do some more thinking and list writing. Will be back soon, hopefully with a clearer head!