Bunny!

Let me introduce you to Mr Rabbit!

This was made for jo_mama in the Craftster June Birthday Swap.  The pattern is Henry's Rabbit by Sara Elizabeth Kellner.  I used some aran wool in my stash, and it only took a couple of days to make.  Along with the knitted rabbit I printed on a tote bag, using a freezer paper stencil.

And off it went bunny hopping over the Atlantic!

Eggcellent!

With the ten-stitch blanket still being worked on, I was looking for smaller, more portable projects. I picked a variety of toppers for Easter eggs and started to knit.  Firstly, Eggheads by Emily Ivey.

These are very cute, and very quick to knit.  There are three different hats to knit, and they look great topped with a tiny pompom.  These fit a Cadbury cream egg, or a medium hens egg.  Next I knitted a rabbit egg cozy by Linda Dawkins.  The ears are adorable.  The finished cozy is slightly bigger that the Eggheads pattern, and will fit a large hens egg or a Kinder egg.

They will also fit a guinea pig.  Here is Jeremy auditioning for a role as the Easter Bunny.

Finally, I knitted fuzzy Easter bunny egg warmers from Drops. These are knitted using two strands, scrap acrylic and a mohair-look yarn.

I then added felt eyes and nose.  They are very sweet!  These toppers with cover an egg completely, and they will stand up by themselves.

Are you knitting anything for Easter?

The rabbit and the hair...

Mr Rabbit was worried when he saw this fluffy object arrive in the flat, "not another guinea pig please" he muttered.
Fear not Mr Rabbit, this ball of hair - is exactly that. A hair ball from some very pretty creatures at the Campsie show.
The highland cows had their hair brushed immediately before going to the judges, although I'm not sure they kept the style for long!
I was thinking that this hair may come in handy for felting or spinning. Although I think it might need a wash first, as it has that unmistakable aroma of cowpat! Also at the show was a stall from Fairly Beloved Rabbit Care. They are doing some great work promoting rabbit welfare and helping unwanted rabbits to find homes. If you live in the Glasgow area and are thinking of having a bunny, I'm sure they would love to hear from you.

Bunny Power (plus a little guinea pig power too!)

The amazingly talented Carla Sonhiem has a 5 second tutorial on her blog to create Easy Tombo Bunnies! I just had to have a go. Using watercolour paper, a black felt pen & a brush...
I like how the different colours come from the black pen; blues, greys, purple. Now my bunnies may not be anatomically correct, but I think they look happy enough! Though maybe I should add whiskers?
Of course, I couldn't have rabbits without guinea pigs, so here is a cavy...
And yes, I realise he doesn't have any legs, but most of the time guinea pigs look like furry potatoes anyhow! Check out Carla's tutorial and share your bunnies!

Wax Wave & Rabbit

A lovely non-work Wednesday! I attended a Frances Hider workshop on 'Beautiful Batik on Silk' organised by the Guild of Silk Painters - Glasgow & West of Scotland branch. I've only ever tried batik a couple of times previously, and never on silk, so jumped at the chance to have a go. I should point out that my photos here are not of the finished pieces! The work has gone off to be steam-fixed; to set the dye and remove the wax. It will be interesting to see how the removal of the wax changes the image. The first piece is inspired by a photo of a wave. Layers of wax and dye were built up using tjantings, brushes, splattering and dabbing.
The second piece was inspired by a photo of a rabbit in silhouette. Using a paintbrush with its bristles coagulated in wax takes some getting used to, as it doesn't quite flow as you would expect! Layers of progressively darker dye were built up to create the image. By the end of the workshop I had noticed that on the wet surface the dye colours had shifted a little... Here's hoping that when my piece is returned my bunny's ear hasn't fallen off!