little rabbit (finally) knitted

little rabbit knitted, a photo by the little spindle on Flickr.

I finally finished the knitted rabbit for my friend HURRAH!
A baby was due and she needed some woolly gifts for the new arrival and his big sister (just in case she felt slightly left out).

I decided to use the beautiful patterns I bought from Mary Jane's TEAROOM (http://www.maryjanestearoom.com/). I am really happy with how she turned out as this was the biggest project I've undertaken so far. I just wish that after all the hard work that has gone into making her (I call her a 'her'...she's called Isabelle) I wish I could keep her [Isabelle] for myself.

Isabelle took me a couple of months from start to finish; every night after work sitting on the sofa ignoring my other half while I counted each stitch/row. I just hope the little girl appreciates this little (big) creation as much as I do. I think that the next time I decide to make anything like this it will have to be for myself because it was a bit of a wrench having to give her up!

Isabelle in her light purple and pastel green dress

I decided to go for quite light colours as it was for a little girl. And although it took me forever (I am not the quickest of knitters) I did find the pattern pretty easy to follow. I did wander slightly from the design, but only in the fact that I decided to give her little shoes instead of dancing slippers (which were taken from another of Mary-Jane's rabbit designs - *DAISY*) and I decided to leave off the frills on the ends of her sleeves and the tops of her socks - although if I'm being honest this was more to do with the fact that I was up against the clock, it didn't look to bad without these details and if I'm being even more honest, I didn't quite know what I was doing when it came to these little extras! I think this will be a case for my mum - to do a bit of teaching. I'm fine with the basics, but the extra little details and I get a bit confused and my knitting doesn't look quite right.

Isabelle and Walter lounging on the sofa

As you will notice, she has a friend (couldn't leave her by herself) - this is her younger brother Walter. I found him quite easy to knit, he must have taken at least a quarter of the time. (You can find this pattern for free on Ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/rabbit-and-bear). I accidentally did his ears wrong, but I think he worked out alright in the end.

Like I've already said - I'm so happy with the outcome and hopefully the new arrival and his big sister will be very happy with their new wooly friends.

July

Well...July...what a month; it started off with torrential rain hammering down and flash flooding across the country, almost as if Noah was going to be needed yet again for his boat making services…and now we have glorious sunshine and I have stinging sunburn to prove that summer has finally arrived! (This is typical me though; I finally get the chance to get out and about to enjoy the unexpected sunshine and I get sun burnt! Ouch!) I was stupidly lulled in to a false sense of security as I hid behind the washing, hanging up to dry on the line. Yep the sun still found me.!!!

One thing I did find out over this weekend though, was that I quite enjoy knitting outdoors (this was while I was hiding behind the washing) – I’ve never tried it before (blimey I sound as if I’m trying something almost death defying)…but it was nice feeling the cool breeze on your skin whilst knitting and purling away (even if I did get burnt whilst doing it). I did have to prepare my area though because just as I sat down to get started, my knitting pattern went flying across the garden and I ended up with cut grass sticking to my ball of wool and a fly or 2 in my pear cider! Anyway, apart from the added nutrition in my drink, it was a nice experience – and I will know for next time to be better prepared.

Birthday fun…

It’s also been a bit of a birthday bonanza of late: we went out for a family meal for a joint birthday celebration (for both of my sisters) at a place that let’s say rhymes with Barvister(!) which was really nice – then I suffered with an iffy tummy later on due to some dodgy grub (which wasn’t quite so much fun). The waiter made a hat for my younger sister to wear which was a really nice touch and we all had a good laugh at her expense. 

We’ve had birthdays galore at work this past week so we’ve also had a non-stop procession of cakes and other goodies being escorted into the building (out goes the diet).

So apart from eating my weight in birthday goodies, I’ve been trying to finish off my last (for now) knitted rabbit. I’ve so far completed 2 legs with socks and little pretty pink shoes, one floppy ear and a nice fat tummy. So my aim for this week is to try and finish off the main body parts – it’s most disconcerting having a headless bunny sitting on the sofa next to you while you watch the Tour de France (well done Wiggins!!!)

So here’s to another fun packed week, I predict more sunshine (with less sun burn), more knitting, and more cake eating (we have another birthday this week) and most probably more pounds showing when I dare get on those scales!