Little Cotton Rabbits

Knitting tips: Fair Isle/stranded colourwork

During writing up the first of my animal patterns it's been hard to know just how much detail to go into. I didn't want the patterns to only cover the written knitting instructions with a few lines about assembling the toy almost as an afterthought. Instead I wanted them to include as much detail of the finishing process as possible because I think that is a hugely important part of making them. But there is a limit to what you can pack in to a pattern and so I thought I'd write up some extra notes here on the blog that can be referred to if needed. These extra posts will be categorised under 'knitting tips' and the first of these 'knitting tips' posts is about Fair Isle/stranded colourwork knitting.

Through chatting with knitting friends it seems that stranded knitting is generally thought to be quite difficult. It really isn't though. It is a little bit fiddly and takes a little patience and practice to get right but it is perfectly achievable for anyone who can already knit and purl.

There are tons of instructions, diagrams and videos out there on the internet and plenty of books published on the subject and I'm not intending to cover every conceivable aspect of Fair Isle. Instead I'd like to write up notes on the way that I work stranded / Fair Isle and some tips I've learnt along the way to iron out some of the difficulties that are commonly experienced.

It is worth pointing out that I knit English style, with both colours in my right hand, so my notes below are written for that way of working. If you knit continental style with a colour in either hand then check out this video or try a search on You Tube as there are lots of other good ones.

 

Colour dominance:

When you knit a design with two colours you are constantly switching between them and it is really important to be consistent with the order in which you use them. By this I mean which yarn is stranded over the top of the other at the back of the work when it is not the colour being knitted with at the time.

It is generally accepted that the yarn stranded beneath will be the more dominant colour in the design.

For example, the two samples below are knitted in the same colours and to the same pattern. The only difference is that in sample A the cream yarn is stranded below the red yarn and in sample B the red yarn is stranded below the cream.

 

 

Because of this difference I usually strand the accent colour below the main background colour (as in sample B above). You can choose either way but the most important thing is to be consistent if you want your finished piece to look neat and even.

There is a lovely post here about the perils of ignoring yarn dominance!

Catching up the yarn at the back of the work:

When there are gaps between sections of a pattern worked in the same colour the strands of un-worked yarn that travel across the back of the work are called floats.

 

It is generally suggested that floats should not strand across more than 7 stitches but my preference is for no more than 4 stitches. If I have to strand yarn across 5 or more stitches I always catch up my floats and usually in the centre of the span.

Lots of people only catch up their floats with a single wrap but I have found that my knitting looks much neater with a double catch up.

How to do double catch ups:

In this sample the darker pink is the main colour and the lighter pink is the accent colour.

Here I need to strand the accent yarn that I'm using for polka-dots across the back of 6 stitches of the main colour. Because it is the accent colour I am stranding it below the main colour (see above note on colour dominance).

To catch up a long float first bring the accent colour from underneath the main colour.

 

Then work the next stitch with the main colour, so catching the un-worked accent yarn up with the loop between the stitches worked in the main colour. Then take the accent colour over the top of the main colour before working the next stitch, so catching the un-worked accent yarn a second time in a downwards direction.

 

At this point it is good practice to gently tighten the main colour stitch you've just worked as it can become a little loose with the extra yarn caught through it. It is important not to tighten the accent colour strand as this will cause the work to pucker and become uneven. Keep the strands of accent colour caught up at the back loose enough to stretch with the work.

Here's how it looks from the back. You can see the floats of accent yarn are caught up each time by two loops of the main colour yarn.

This technique can be used on both a knit or purl row.

Other rules that I always apply to fair-isle/stranded colourwork

• Try not to catch up your floats in exactly the same place on consecutive rows as this can lead to banding on the front of the work.

• Always take the any strands of un-worked colours right to the end of each row and catch them up on the edge by twisting them with the yarn currently being used. If you don't do this you will end up with gaps in your knitting where the stranded yarn pulls at the fabric.

• If you are working sections of a pattern that don't include one of the colours, run this un-worked colour up the side of the work by twisting it with the main colour at the end of rows rather than cutting and re-attaching it each time it is needed.

• If you are mattress seaming your piece try to sew through the strands of both yarns when they are both present on the same row rather than just the main colour as this will give a much neater and more robust seam.

• You can mix different brands of yarn but stick to the same weight category and yarn composition - for instance don't use a 4ply cotton yarn with a 4ply wool yarn as they will have different stretching properties.

These notes are not intended as an exhaustive guide but just a mention of the techniques that I like to use. A search on google or You Tube will give you many more tips and techniques if you want to know more.

If you have an aspect of knitting that you'd like me to write about in more detail please let me know and I'll do my best to help.

Thanks x

A wild week!

Thank you all so very much for the hugely positive response to the release of my first animal patterns. The people closest to me know how nervous I was about putting them out there and worried that people might find them too fiddly or frustrating but it has been great to see projects start appearing on Ravelry and to read that people have been enjoying the patterns and are happy with what they have made. And I've had so many lovely messages and emails - thank you so much if yours was one of them and sorry I've not had the chance to reply to everyone yet. It really has been a wild week!

I was really touched when I read one message from a fellow Raveller who volunteered to set up a little cotton rabbit ravelry group. It's not something I would have had time to do myself but I will definitely be involved and I do hope you'll come along and join us. There will be knit-alongs, community knitting support, tips and general chat and I hope to share an occassional freebie and news of future patterns. We'd love to see you and your projects there!

 

Thanks again for making the release of my patterns such a pleasurable experience for me and for all of the kind and lovely messages. I'll be back next week with the promised post about fairisle knitting tips. Have a good weekend x

 

Bunny knitting patterns

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. I've linked to them from my pattern page too.

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

 

A little knitting news

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!

hello again

Thanks for dropping in and thanks for the kind messgages 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 suprisingly 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!

snow and stitching

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!

 

KABOOM!

That there is the sound of the metaphorical bomb that has gone off in our garden this last week.

I love our little garden. It's not big but it is a little haven of outdoor peace where I like to sit in the summer with my knitting; watch the children play, swing and bounce; have campouts; eat al fresco; tend my veggies and just enjoy this corner of the earth that smiles on me.

When we first put in our raised beds and started a vegetable garden in 2009 it used to look like this...

 

 

 

There was lots of lush, green growth

 

 

a pretty herb wall

 

a swing and climbing frame for the children

 

(these 2 pics are from 2007 when Amy was a lot shorter than me and Toby refused to wear trousers!)

 

and a little shed where I liked to do my planting and pottering

 

Today it looks a bit different. A bit like a bomb went off, hence the KABOOM!

 

The climbing frame and swings have gone because they are really no longer safe for Toby now he is so big and swings so high. The raised beds are being moved and the shed is being dismantled and recycled.

Lots of big changes and lots of hard work for H but hopefully it will be worth it because thanks to the generous donations and fundraising of family and friends who have raised a lot of money for us we will be putting in a garden respite room. This will give Amy a space for doing homework or seeing friends out of earshot of Toby's meltdowns; a quiet, almost outdoor space for Toby to come on rainy days; a place for H or I to take it in turns to have a night off from Toby duty and just a little place to escape from intense situations for a short time.

We've also got Toby a lovely new swing seat that gently sways instead of heartstopping mega swinging! I'm so looking forward to it all being done and hoping that it will make the big difference to family life that we think it might. But for now there is a lot of digging and hard work ahead and I'm so grateful that H is great with things like this.

By the way thanks so much for all of the comments on the previous post. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on being a homebody, or not being one as the case may be.

Oh and if anyone sees Spring please could they send it in this direction as H needs some warm dry weather to get the concrete to set!

Have a good week where you are and thanks for dropping in x

 

Sociability

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?

catching up

It was the half term school break here last week, so I had a week away from the computer and instead spent all of my time keeping Toby busy or driving Amy around the county. Overall it was a good week with lots of walks in the woods, a few visits to the park and plenty of bubble baths and tickle play. We even had a burst of sunshine at the beginning of the week that did me the power of good and the plum tree responded too with more blossoming. Now though we're back to cold, grey dull days and both the plum tree and I feel on hold again. I hope spring makes a proper appearance soon, I feel rather winter weary.

It always takes me a few days to begin adjusting to changes in routine so I'm not yet into my term-time mode but spending yesterday knitting did help enormously!

 

I have a big batch of animals that I'm working on and hopefully in the next week I'll be putting the finishing touches to them in time for Easter (I'll send emails out to the mailing list once they're all ready).

 

Along with knitting this week, there is a big backlog of emails waiting for me to answer and I have no idea what is going on with all of my favourite blogs but I look forward to catching up with everyone's news soon.

I'm also looking forward to reading all about the Red Nose Day Dolls project which is being mentioned in several magazines (including Handmade Living, issue 22, April 2013). There are loads of new things that have been finished for the dolls in the last week and you can read all about some of them on the Red Nose Day Dolls blog, including my post about the things that I've made for them.

Well, that's all of the news from my end for now, apart from the good news that on our wood walks last week Toby took to wearing one less hood and a lot more smiles.

 

Little things to help

This week I have been mostly knitting things that I really hope will bring some help to others.

 

This morning I finished off this little elephant, who is now a prize in a wonderful raffle set up by Donna Flower with the aim of helping Gretel Parker (who I mentioned in the post below). When Donna contacted me to see if I would like to contribute I thought a little elephant in a red dress would be appropriate as Gretel's Etsy shop is called Red Flannel Elephant. My little elephant doesn't actually have any flannel, instead she's made from very soft Rowan handknit cotton with a dress in 'nannyberry' Quince an Co. Sparrow yarn (100% organic linen).

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning her or any of the absolutely fantastic prizes also up for grabs then tickets are only £1 each (though you are welcome to buy as many as you'd like!).

The full raffle details are here: Funds for Gretel.

After lunch today I nipped down to the post office and posted off a package containing my contribution to the Red Nose Day dolls project. But I'll tell you about what was in the package next time, as right now I need to go and get ready for Amy's parents evening.

It makes me very happy though to think that things that I've so enjoyed making might do some good. And happiness, wherever and however you find it is a good thing. Here's wishing some comes your way this weekend, thanks for stopping by x

doll sized bears and a friend in need

We've had another snowfall here overnight, though this time it's the kind of snow which quickly turns mushy and wet, rather than the lovely powdery kind that squeaks underfoot as you tromp through it for the first time. I suspect that it will be mostly melted before the end of the day. It's nothing like as bad as the heavy snowfall experienced over the weekend in the north eastern USA and Canada - I hope all of you affected are keeping well and warm.

Not that I need the excuse of snow, but I am using it nonetheless to justify spending the day in my pyjamas, knitting by the fire. So far this morning I have finished the 4 little bears that I am sending off to be companions to the Red Nose Day Dolls.

 

 

And I'm about to get stuck into a big old batch of bunny finishing. I had hoped to have this batch ready by the end of January, then was aiming at Valentine's day but now I am looking realistically at the end of February. I'll post some pictures when I have made a bit more progress.

Now on to the subject of the friend in need...

 

If you follow crafting blogs or are a reader of Mollie Makes magazine you will no doubt have come across the awesome and enchanting work of Gretel Parker. Gretel original worked in 2 dimensions as an illustrator but then branched out into three dimensional needlefelted pieces. It is clear to anyone seeing her creations that her beautiful and unique style of working, amazing attention to detail and her mastery of needlefelting skills were just meant to come together and it's not surprising that her creations are much sought after and have been featured in publications around the world.

Gretel and her partner Andy lived for many years in the Cotswolds but a few months ago they moved to Shropshire and were just beginning to settle into the process of making a new home in what they called 'Bodge Cottage'. But on January 21st of this year, just a few short weeks ago, Gretel had to face the most heart breaking tragedy. I don't feel right in writing the details because it is not my story to share but Gretel has so bravely written about it here, please go and read her words and pop back here for details of how you can help if you wish to.

There are many people around the world who admire Gretel, not just for her creativity but also for her outlook on life and her appreciation of simple living and simple pleasures. Suzanne is one such person and she and Tara have set up a page in an attempt to raise funds to help support Gretel as she tries to come to terms with her grief and to try to help her keep her home in this awful time. Her long term friend Natasha has written a post here and I'm sure there are lots of others trying to spread the word as far and as wide as possible so that people can help if they would like to. If you feel able to spread the word on any social media then please do so.

Gretel herself would never be one to go cap in hand to anyone, she is a survivor of previous tragedy having lost both her parents as a child, but strength alone will not pay her bills. If you would like to help then you can do so here...

The Gretel Parker Project

Thanks for reading x

 

first signs of spring

 

Thanks so much for all the kind comments, emails and suggestions for helping Toby get through the rest of the winter. I am hopeful that things will improve once the warmer weather and longer days of spring arrive and seeing as the first blossoms have opened on our old plum tree in the last few days this now feels a little closer!

 

It's been a busy week here and I had a lovely day on tuesday at my first ever workshop 'teaching' session. I woke up really early in the morning and was feeling really nervous before we started, but I was lucky to have the nicest group of ladies turn up and we all chatted and knitted and made mini bunnies. Thanks so much to Susan, Jackie, Emma, Esther, Iolanda and Rose for coming along and making my nervousness evaporate!

To help take my mind off feeling nervous I had a play around with some yarn at the crack of dawn on tuesday and came up with a little teeny tiny dress pattern for the mini bunnies. If you'd like to make one the pattern is over here with the rest of my free patterns.

 

Thanks again for all of the kind messages about Toby. He'll move on from this rocky patch when he is ready to and in the meantime I'll just do my best to keep life calm and reduce stress for him. If there is one thing I've learned in the last 11 years it is to take each day one at a time and not assume the bad bits will last forever, so far that kind of thinking has worked anyway :)

Have a good weekend x