Elephant Hat- only $8.80 Both Asian and African Elephants are at risk of extinction.

It’s Endangered Species day on May 17th and we would like to honour these animals by offering 20% off our koala, tiger, lion, elephant, panda, giraffe and zebra products.
It’s important to remember these majestic beasts- some cuddly, some frightening – and our way of doing this is to spread the word with our fierce sweaters. Shopping never felt so good!

Did you know that Grevy’s Zebras are endangered?

And also the Rothschild Giraffe? We are lucky to live near a breeding centre for these gorgeous animals.

What are things YOU can (besides shopping our fabulous sale)? Have a look here or just follow these easy suggestions:

1) Learn about endangered species in your area
Teach your friends and family about the wonderful wildlife, birds, fish and plants that live near you. The first step to protecting endangered species is learning about how interesting and important they are. Our natural world provides us with many indispensable services including clean air and water, food and medicinal sources,  commercial, aesthetic and recreational benefits.

2) Visit a national wildlife refuge, park or other open space
These protected lands provide habitat to many native wildlife, birds, fish and plants. Scientists tell us the best way to protect endangered species is to protect the places where they live.  Get involved by volunteering at your local nature center or wildlife refuge.

3) Make your home wildlife friendly
Secure garbage in shelters or cans with locking lids, feed pets indoors and lock pet doors at night to avoid attracting wild animals into your home.
Reduce your use of water in your home and garden so that animals that live in or near water can have a better chance of survival.
Disinfect bird baths often to avoid disease transmission.
Place decals on windows to deter bird collisions. Millions of birds die every year because of collisions with windows.

4) Provide habitat for wildlife by planting native vegetation in your yard
Native plants provide food and shelter for native wildlife. Attracting native insects like bees and butterflies can help pollinate your plants. The spread of non-native species has greatly impacted native populations around the world. Invasive species compete with native species for resources and habitat.

Koalas need your protection and love! And you probably need a Koala Sweater!

5) Minimize use of herbicides and pesticides
Herbicides and pesticides may keep yards looking nice but they are in fact hazardous pollutants that affect wildlife at many levels. Many herbicides and pesticides take a long time to degrade and build up in the soils or throughout the food chain. Predators such as hawks, owls and coyotes can be harmed if they eat poisoned animals.

6) Slow down when driving
Many animals live in developed areas and this means they must navigate a landscape full of human hazards. One of the biggest obstacles to wildlife living in developed areas is roads. Roads divide habitat and present a constant hazard to any animal attempting to cross from one side to the other. So when you’re out and about, slow down and keep an eye out for wildlife.

7) Recycle and buy sustainable products
Buy recycled paper, sustainable products like bamboo and Forest Stewardship Council wood products to protect forest species. Never buy furniture made from wood from rainforests.
Recycle your cell phones, because a mineral used in cell phones and other electronics is mined in gorilla habitat.
Minimize your use of palm oil because forests where tigers live are being cut down to plant palm plantations.

Shop Toto Knits! Sustainable and they look cute too!

The normally elusive tiger can be a regular sighting for only $32.

8) Never purchase products made from threatened or endangered species
Overseas trips can be exciting and fun, and everyone wants a souvenir. But sometimes the souvenirs are made from species nearing extinction. Avoid supporting the market in illegal wildlife including: tortoise-shell, ivory, coral. Also, be careful of products including fur from tigers, polar bears, sea otters and other endangered wildlife, crocodile skin, live monkeys or apes, most live birds including parrots, macaws, cockatoos and finches, some live snakes, turtles and lizards, some orchids, cacti and cycads, medicinal products made from rhinos, tiger or Asiatic black bear.

9) Report any harassment or shooting of threatened and endangered species
Harassing wildlife is cruel and illegal. Shooting, trapping, or forcing a threatened or endangered animal into captivity is also illegal and can lead to their extinction.

10) Protect wildlife habitat
Perhaps the greatest threat that faces many species is the widespread destruction of habitat. Scientists tell us the best way to protect endangered species is to protect the special places where they live. Wildlife must have places to find food, shelter and raise their young. Logging, oil and gas drilling, over-grazing and development all result habitat destruction. Endangered species habitat should be protected and these impacts minimized.

We’re happy to do our part to protect these beloved species.

The writing has been erased not but that’s not to say the rumours weren’t true!

Thanks to Nell from Whole Parenting blog for her lovely interview on us. Have you read her site? It is, in Nell’s words:

Whole Parenting Family is a blog about our journey of familyhood, two lawyers married and have two little ones in the great city of Saint Paul, Minnesota.  I share about natural parenting, organic food, urban farming, local shops, childbirth education, and the wildness of two children under three years old!  I also hand craft for an etsy shop called WholeParentingGoods with organic mama & baby sewn gifts.  Find us on the web: wholeparentingfamily.com, on Facebook: @WholeParenting, on Twitter: #WholeParenting, and on Pinterest: ℗WholeParenting.

And thanks for the great shots of her kids in our cow sweaters!

Little girl cow available here- http://totoknitsshop.com/?p=3152

Take a look at Nell’s site- and you might- just might!- find a discount code for 15% off anything in our shop!

Boy cow

While it gets warmer in the Northern hemisphere, we are doing our best to keep warm – and dry- here! Lots of tea and biscuits seem to do the trick and the warmth of Lilian’s smile can be seen here in our Karinde workshop. In the background you can see the map- the knitters love seeing where their work is going and where some of our animals come from.

Outside- the wool is drying. People often ask if we can do our sweaters in wool- but as you can see, it’s quite bulky wool and sadly not soft enough for babies and children. This is in the courtyard outside the workshop- which happens to be next to Mary Wambui’s house.

But it does make for lovely carpets and the ladies love weaving. This is ever-laughing Lucy. We are working on some cozy bedside carpets to complement one of my husband’s new projects (see here for his new web site up and ready!)

James, Mary Wambui’s youngest son, is home on school holiday. Helping his mum dry the maize they’ve grown. They’ll take it to the grinder’s to make maize meal- a staple of the Kenyan diet.  I’ve known James now for 11 years and have loved watching him grow into such a charming young man- and always keen to help his mum around the house.

It’s grey and cold in the mornings but clears up by midday and the knitters are happy to be busy with some new projects- more beading coming up soon, and of course lots of knitting!

Hope you are staying warm!

We sent her little boy Parker some lovely harem pants and we love what he’s done (ok, maybe it was his mom’s idea) – pairing them with oh-so-cute Tom’s shoes!

Head on over to Bridget’s site and see how you can win$75 worth of Toto Knits!

It’s official! Our latest collaboration with g.nancy- the fab line of kids sleepwear and more!

Wait- who is g.nancy you ask?

Check out the new collection of knit dressing gowns- made with love by our knitters here in Kenya- designed by g.nancy in New Zealand! These warm and cozy dressing gowns complement their funky, 100% cotton jammies- whether you’re more of a stripey kinda person or if you prefer our animal styled pieces- they go together great!

Here’s the koala dressing gown- sporting some red stripey jim jams.

An elephant and her stripey pal wearing lots of stripes on their soft cotton pyjamas.

All these pieces are available from g.nancy direct at http://gnancy.co.nz/. Like us, they believe in ethically made, hand crafted and 100% cotton. They ship to Australia, US and UK. Have a look!

April! Whoe knew it was National Frog Month? Now you do! And we do too. So we’ve decided to have a sale on Frog Sweaters! They are only $30 each! And our knit leggings too (only $15!) as they go so well together…

Have a look and be inspired- the lovely leaf green is a great unisex colour and our organic cotton is perfect for all weather!

Time to Hop and Shop! Offer valid till 25 April only!

Wow! More from the talents of Kallen Forster- fashion student in New Orleans- combining her vision with the knitting and beading prowess of our lovely ladies here in Kenya.

Thanks Kalli for these fab photos of your/our stuff at your latest Fashion Show. We are so honoured to have been a part of it. And we LOVE what you’ve done!

Thanks again Kalli- we love seeing our work in action!

And this is how we know. A baboon spider found in our house. Apparently they come out in the rain. Or in as the case may be. A few weeks ago, Tor was given a set of large plastic bugs which he hid around the house to scare the house girls. So when they saw this guy, they figured it was another one of his toys.  He’s pretty poisonous so it’s good they decided to try sweeping it first… Talk about the boy who cried ‘baboon spider.’

The rains are just on time- farmers have planted their crops in anticipation and luckily this year they were bang on schedule for a muddy Easter. People love talking about how much it’s rained- as it varies greatly in just Nairobi alone.

Our rain gauge. Note- it is full.

We don’t need a fancy measuring device or even to go outside to see how much it’s rained. When Jan built the house, he didn’t want to cut down any trees so he built the house around existing ones.

Our bathroom. Note the tree branches/water inlets coming through the wall.

So we just need to go into our bathroom where the rain flows freely- right in through the branches. I’d guess we got a good two inches last night judging by the bathroom floor!

You’d never guess this little lady just gave birth to 11 babies, would you? Talk about bouncing back into shape! This is one bikini ready chameleon.

Tor found her the other day- looking like she’d just finished an epic Thanksgiving feast. We guessed- with my incredible naturalist skills- that she was pregnant. We put her in the terrarium outside my office and checked on her incessantly. But doubt started to grow as the days went by and she just hung out all calm and fat.

Until yesterday when all of a sudden, I became a great grandmother to at least 11 (it’s really hard to count chameleons on a good day- REALLY hard to count new born baby chameleons on any day!) wee chameleons!

They are TINY! And like human new-borns their heads are too big for their bodies. Not many reptiles give live birth (I don’t think, I am not really a good naturalist) so this was particularly exciting! The little critters are up and at-em from the word go- all on their own with no help from mum.

Do you think the knitters could make tiny hats for these guys?