Something a Little Different - meet the Rabbits
Two new members of the team.
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Dear knitting people,
This is the visual story of how the first two rabbits came into being. (I’m going to try to a post on all of these animals. I am aware I’m quite a way behind too. Oops, sorry.)
I have been using patterns by Claire Garland (@Dot Pebbles Knit) for most of these little animals. She has a fab Instagram account.
I decided on a white rabbit for this first rabbit and made her on smaller needles to see how small she could be made. I reckon it’s possible to go a little smaller but not much with the yarn I have.
The first photo shows white rabbit 1 (as yet no name) merely as a head. She already shows some character and once her body was completed she certainly expressed this character when asked to pose for a photo sans clothing - photo 2. So I got to making them a skirt, adding leather straps and wee little buttons. As someone with an extensive craft cupboard I have a whole bag full of leather scraps left over from sofa making - not me making the sofas I hasten to add! I think I need a few leather tools to really tighten up on the perfection, a scrapper to thin the leather and a bevel thing to smooth the edges, and a very fine punch maybe for hole making - but the needle from my book making kit or a needle felting needle might be sharp enough. At the moment I’m using a sewing needle and brut force which is bound to eventually end in disaster. So pic 3 shows rabbit looking out of the window longing for the open air and pic 4 begrudgingly modelling her skirt. Then I had a shipment of shoes arrive (I may yet learn to make these myself but let’s concentrate on one skill at a time first) so in pic 5 she is modelling a pair of pale blue shoes and in pic 6 she is standing with Froggy.
Next was Rabbit 2. I decided to up the needle size slightly and choose a light beige colour. I’m avoiding black at the moment 😂 after mole and badger.
The first photo shows brown rabbit 1 (as yet no name) merely as a head. I had some difficulties with the safety eyes accidentally pushing one in too hard and being unable to alter it (showing safety eyes work, no amount of pulling with tools will shift it). It’s probably only 0.25 of a mm out of whack but even so. I’m still experimenting with different wires for armature so this rabbit has a much stronger body armature but I actually now think it wasn’t necessary. I changed the way the arms were made as I felt they could be a) easier to do and b) a little longer. I may need to make the forearms one row shorter though on reflection, but the easier bit definitely worked. Picture 2 shows him? all completed sans clothing again, and I think you can see where the forearms were a little long. I say ¿him? as it seems automatic to say that just because it’s a taller model, but I haven’t actually decided yet. Next were bright red trousers with braces, again leather, and brown shoes - pic 3. All set I decided the rabbits needed to meet - pics 4 and 5. It seemed to go well and they went off in the garden for an adventure (to be written about later)
And that’s the next two members of the tribe.
I hope you have enjoyed this photo story of the making of Rabbit 1 and Rabbit 2 - yet to have proper names. So that’s me signing off for now, till next time. If you have any suggestions for photo opportunities for the tribe, or any ideas for other animals you’d like to see let me know below. I do post updates on Notes more regularly if you want more regular updates.
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Oh, those EARS, Tam! Your rabbits are adorable! 🥰