Little bunny, big roar

My lionhead bunny has been ruling my craft-room kingdom for nearly 6 months. In that time, Willow's "bark" has proven to be worse than her bite. Because she doesn't really bite — or scratch her human servants. But she wants you to believe she's a force to be reckoned with.

Knowing that my bun was 2 or 3 years old upon adoption, I figured she wouldn't grow any larger. She looked like a teeny thing at first. 

November 2010

But her girth has grown in step with her personality — in healthy servings. She has also been the most vocal bunny I've ever met. She delivers her decrees with squeaks and thumps on a daily basis. When she runs her Indy 500s, she starts each lap with a hind-foot stomp that echoes like a gunshot. She runs for a reason, too. She's got to make us work to catch her for a cuddle.

For the first few months, the fur did not fly like her sprints. But soon enough, it was time for her to shed like most bunnies do. The brush was just the warmup. I found that plucking actually was more bountiful and much preferred by both of us. I've started a nice collection of Willow fur that might someday become yarn.

     

February 2011

Her poofy coat has filled back in nicely since then. And sure enough, she started another shedding session this past week. I took advantage of a nice spring day and headed outside, where the fur can fly free. Here are a series of photos from Willow's day on the deck. She has grown to be quite a bunny!

 

Guard bunny, always alert

Time for a bath ...

Ahem! A little privacy, please?!

My pretty girl, always listening with at least one ear

With this last photo, Willow has made her debut on flickr's Explore, where photos with high "interestingness" show up. She has become quite a star in the past couple days as her admirers leave comments. I'm trying to not let it go to her fluffy head but she's never been the most humble queen of our suburban jungle. So I'll just feel humbled enough for the both of us.

Spin (In) cycle

The Wisconsin Spring Spin In sprung and it was a splash. But alas, we never saw the hotel's indoor water park.

We were there to rep and sell for Interlacements Yarns. This show was a nice change of pace from the mega Stitches experience in California. Tracey (the boss), Zoe (the designer) and I made lots of fiber friends and enjoyed steady sales. The days were still long and all we wanted at the end was food and bed. ... And maybe a felted soap lesson.

 

Felting wool over hotel soap for a little late-night project. It's like always having a sudsy washcloth! We got tips from Tracey and followed these directions.

Back to the booth! (photo by Zoe Moulton)

This show was extra special for me because the company launched my first loom-knit pattern. The Bunny Baby hat and its Cotton Candy yarn got their own little loom corner. I believe we sold 4 or 5 patterns, which was pretty awesome for a small show.

I showed off some board knitting with Mikado wool yarn, too.

During the downtimes, I picked up an Interlacements pattern for the Beaded Scarf and translated it to the loom. I showed this off and some other simple stitches to our customers. 

Some visitors wanted to buy a loom, too, which unfortunately we don't sell. But we might have a solution for future shows. One of our booth neighbors — Hillcreek Fiber Studio — goes to many of the same regional shows as Interlacements. They sell the hand-crafted Circular Sock Knitter by Spriggs Creations ... and a few other sizes, too.

Sock and hat looms

The worsted-gauge looms have nice smooth wooden base that I would compare to last year's Decor Accents looms. The pegs themselves are wooden and are a bit rougher. I won't be sure if this will be an issue until I start knitting with them. Soon enough, I will be designing some worsted socks for these babies and hopefully selling them at Interlacements! Then we can refer our customers to a local vendor for their loomy desires.

Some more snapshots from our show weekend ...

Zoe of Knits by Zoe tries her foot at spinning in the booth.

Interlacements hosts a Yarn & Fiber Tasting night.

Fiber bunny!

Hoppy new patterns!

Spring is budding around the corner and I've been knitting in the spirit of it. I have two new patterns to share with you. … and they are Willow-approved!

Yep, they are bunny-inspired. They are also the first two loom-knit patterns for Interlacements Yarns line. They are both knit with a fluffy light yarn called Cotton Candy. So they are perfect for those sunny but blustery days when you want to keep your little ones warm.

They will be officially introduced at this weekend's Wisconsin Spring Spin In. I'll be doing my best to lure in some new loom-knitters at this show!

First up is one for the babies … the Bunny Baby Hat.

His uber-cute hat features two long raggedy ears. And the eyes and nose are knit into the pattern so that's less assembly for you! It will fit a baby about 4 to 6 mos. old. Oh and don't forget the bunny tail …

You can knit the bunny ears with stockinette so that it curls in a bit OR garter stitch for a flat look.

If you're just starting to loom knit, there's a free bonus with this pattern. You also get a stitch reference guide that covers u-wrap knit, purl, increasing and decreasing. PLUS you also get the warmers pattern mentioned below!

Pattern PDF download: $6

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The Bunny Bobble Warmers is the pattern spinoff. You can take what you learn from the hat and make these up in a few hours with your leftover yarn. They will fit a toddler best but you can make them shorter for your baby, too.

You can make these without having the hat pattern, too, if you're familiar with basic loom-knit stitches. Bobble directions are included.

Pattern PDF download: $2

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I have an Interlacements-exclusive special for you, too. You can head over there to buy the full pattern set for $6 (plus a lil shipping) and you'll get it all mailed to you in a full-color printout. Plus you can pick up some Cotton Candy yarn, too. You can make a few hats and warmers with this skein!

It's a pima-cotton blend that is baby soft and all of her yarns are hand-dyed in mega hanks. It has a bit of stretch, which is perfect for loom-knitting. You can even choose the color you want from the colorways page.

I recently helped relaunch the Interlacements Yarns website so I'm pretty proud of it. So after you ponder these patterns, go check out her goodies!

The Friendly Scarf Project, Square 10/10

I have passed along the last square for the project — for my friends' scarves, that is.

The Granite Stitch is a simple textured pattern. Since it has some ribbing characteristics, it shouldn't roll too much but you might want to add a garter border just to play it safe.

Granite Stitch
Multiple of 2 sts, knit flat
Row 1: K all
Row 2: K all
Row 3: *(P1 K1), rep from *
Row 4: *(K1 P1), rep from *
Row 5: K all
Row 6: K all
Row 7: *(K1 P1), rep from *
Row 8: *(P1 K1), rep from *

On the loom

But I'm not done yet. My own scarf — with my friends' contributions — has been returned. I will be knitting one more square to finish it off so I will have one bonus pattern for you! And it's going to be a lacey one.