Friday 29 March 2019

Rosy Autumn!

Hello, Lovelies!🌹

I think Autumn has finally arrived. This is hands down my FAVOURITE of all seasons. The Season Of The Great Cool Relief is what I call it because Summer is The Great Hot Flush!πŸ˜„

It's been another week of Alfie and his snotty nose. Poor boy, back at the Vet today for another check up and a round of designer anti-biotics for his virulent nasal bacterial infection. I can't imagine ( or maybe I don't want to imagine ) what he'd been sniffing in his past life that caused such a horrible bacterial infestation! But we'll get to the bottom of this and hopefully soon Alfie will be breathing normally which I suspect is something he has not had the luxury of doing for a very long time. Mind you, you would never know that he's uncomfortable seeing as he's full of beans, and has the appetite of...well a Dog who has not eaten a good meal in his entire life! He didn't mind posing for this pic because the Vet managed to clean his nose! 😊



Cape Town is bracing itself for the coming Winter. In a good way. The rains will bring the green spectrum back into the parched rolling fields of the countryside, which look so dry you feel your gaze could set them alight like tinder under a magnifying glass.

This must be the complete opposite to all of you Northern Hemisphere Yarnies celebrating the much-anticipated arrival of Spring? You're packing away the woollens and dusting off the ol' bikini right? Digging out the flip flops from behind the boots? I am doing the exact same thing but in reverse! Can't wait to pull on lovely warm socks, slip my feet into a pair of ankle boots, squash a beanie on my head and venture out for puddly walks or long windy beach rambles with the dogs dashing madly into the surf while pearl grey clouds hang their water-pregnant bellies over the mountains like benevolent giant Mama's taking a rest.

While I wax lyrical about this gorgeous season... I grew a Rose! I am beyond excited about this. It's as if I performed a magic trick and voila, a ROSE. You probably think I'm bonkers but let me tell you...it's been almost 18 years since moving down to Cape Town, the soil here, especially closer to the beach where we live, is basically sea sand and I have had to re-learn a whole lot of new gardening skills.




There have been many tears shed trying to tease out green flowering things to thrive in the beds here but finally, I twigged that EVERYTHING will grow in a controlled environment...enter The Container Garden ( and Monty Don's Small Gardens Big Dreams series ) and also this very lucky find in a second-hand book store by Nancy Gardiner called A Celebration of Roses! It's such a beautifully put together book too. πŸ’—








Today my colour mood is definitely Autumny! I cannot lie, these are my colours all year round.😊

Some great news!  Just when you think they've done it all...Scheepjes has launched a brand new colour range called Metropolis!

I used some of the colours for today's colour mood but there are dozens more. πŸ’—


The latest update for the extension of High Tea, one word...PROGRESS! In spite of constant interruptions, I am getting there. Here's a teeny sneak peek just to prove I am working on it just in case you think I'm in the Bahamas sipping Pina Colada's, or something else I DO wish I was doing that requires minimal effort!  πŸ˜‹ I don't want to give too much away because it won't be a surprise then!



I hope your weekend rolls in gently and that you find space and time to do whatever makes you feel good. What does make you feel lovely? Reading a good book or crocheting/knitting/crafting uninterrupted? Meeting a dear friend for coffee or lunch? Doing a Spa/Hair day? Going for a long walk or digging in your garden? Let me know?


πŸ’—Jen





Friday 22 March 2019

Pretty In Pink!

Hello, Lovelies!🌹

Hope you are all well in your patch of Crochetland? I mean this sincerely...are you OK?

This past week has been, once again, very traumatic for our Planet, in so many sad and senseless ways. It makes me feel so helpless and all I can do is just stop and look up, at our awe-inspiring Galaxy twinkling away in the distance, and send forth a prayer of hope and love to those who have been so adversely impacted, and gratitude that we who miraculously remain physically untouched, live another day to enjoy our Earthly experience as best we possibly can.

In times of great communal heartache, living thousands of miles away, I try and assuage the helplessness I feel by reaching out in any way I can. Say hello to Alfie. I responded to an urgent call for a foster Mommy and without meeting this poor boy I applied and was accepted. Things moved very quickly from there and I am now the proud Mommy of yet another adopted furbaby. Who rescued who is the question, right? Alfie was found undernourished and matted with dirt, in a house occupied by addicts. His nasal passages are inflamed and damaged from inhaling Meth and Mandrax smoke. But, after a thorough wash, which he meekly submitted to, a visit to the Vet for sterilisation, vaccinations and antibiotics, a few square meals, and lots of fresh air, Alfie has blossomed very quickly into a sweet, playful and very loving boy. The cherry on the top? HE πŸ’— CATS!! But wait, there's more! Our next door neighbours were so taken with Alfie that they have applied to adopt two rescued furbabies... and so we widen the circle of compassion. Not by words but by example, right?




The reason I am telling you this is not for a pat on the back, by any means, but that every act of kindness and compassion helps balance out senseless acts of cruelty and malice perpetrated by those who violently inflict their warped beliefs on others, or by overwhelmingly forceful acts of Nature that leave entire countries devastated. The bottom line is...we are all in this together and no one is getting out alive. We can choose which side of the line we stand. Helpers? Or Hinderers?

But now..let's Colour Friday! πŸ’— Let's colour our World! πŸ’—

I loved the pretty pinks and soft violet greys in this beautiful image. Pink is a heart-centred colour...and we need A LOT more Pink in our world! πŸ’—

Yarn: Scheepjes Cahlista

πŸ‘ Charcoal 393
πŸ‘ Dark Olive 387
πŸ‘ Topaz 179
πŸ‘ Capri Blue 261
πŸ‘ Blue Bird 247
πŸ‘ Mercury 074
πŸ‘ Amethyst 240
πŸ‘ Garden Rose 251
πŸ‘ Fresia 219



 Here are a few examples of excellent colourways for High Tea  which may inspire you to reach for your crochet hook. Do visit the High Tea pattern page on Ravelry to see more examples. They are all absolutely gorgeous!

Maryke Etsebeth
Rebekkah Kingston
Maya Novelli
Amanda Dempsey

Very much like a Kaleidoscope, the design changes depending on how the colours are placed. This means you can make each piece uniquely yours. I just love that.

In Crocheland, I am moving ever closer to completing the High Tea Extension! Yippeeee! I hope to release this at the end of March. My mind is absolutely filled with ideas for the next square and extension and I can hardly wait to move on to the next crochet journey! Sloooooow and easy are the key words here. No rushing, no deadlines, no panic to catch up to anyone else. This is a journey and I hope with all my heart that you will enjoy every bit of it..even weaving in the tails! How lucky are we, hook in hand, yarn in basket, a coffee close by and perhaps one or a few of our dearest companion animals at our feet as we work colourful strands of yarn into something beautiful and useful.

Enjoy, dear Friends.
πŸ’— Jen




Friday 15 March 2019

Cabin Romance!

Happy Friday, Yarnarinnas! 😘

Oh, I do wish I'd had a Cabin Romance at some point in my life, but no, so far it has not happened!
Mind you, now that I'm all grown up I'm not sure my Cabin Romance would be what most people think it would be.

My Cabin Romance ( let's imagine a weekend? ) would look something like this:

πŸ’“ Wifi/ Netflix
πŸ’“ A well stocked 'fridge.
πŸ’“ ALL of my fur-kids!
πŸ’“ My new Phillips Espresso Coffee Machine and Bean There organic/fair trade coffee beans.
πŸ’“ LOTS of Scheepjes Catona in ALL the colours.

Let me know what YOUR favourite Cabin Romance would look like (real or imagined).
We will pick the five "best" ( they're ALL the best, right? ) that really grab us ( our lovely Admins Noelene Sampey and Sandra Salas ) and the 5 Best Picks will each get the High Tea Extension for FREE plus a FREE pattern of your choice from any Designer of your choosing.

Colour Friday colours are:

Scheepjes Catona 50g

πŸ‘ Shadow Purple 394
πŸ‘ Brick Red 504
πŸ‘ Antique Mauve 257
πŸ‘ Silver Blue 528
πŸ‘ Silver Greem 402
πŸ‘ Mercury 074
πŸ‘ Old Rose 408
πŸ‘ Petal Peach 263


Wishing you a lovely, relaxing weekend! 
You owe it to yourself to take care of YOU! 

πŸ’“ Jen


Friday 8 March 2019

Burning Berries!

Hello Yarnarinnas!🌹

No, I am not making Jam! 😊

The Colour Friday theme is centred around this lush, blush, burning bright berry bowl!
Why you might ask? I'll tell you why! On Sunday, a very silly person left her hat in the car, then went on a six-hour hike and consequently got so badly burned by the African Sun that she looked like a brightly coloured Berry. With legs. You've guessed correctly. That "very silly person" is, of course, moi!

To add insult to injury I also had more than a touch of sunstroke and was quite ill for three days! Well, that was a first ( and hopefully a last too ). Luckily I was fully stocked with the most amazing burn remedy product made by a company right here in sunshiney South Africa called Bee Natural. Honestly, this is not a plug for their product BUT THIS STUFF IS AMAAAAZINNNGGG! Besides the Burn Remedy, I also applied two full leaves of a large Aloe Vera growing in my front garden. You know how that works right? Just slice a "leaf" off at the base, trim off the prickles on each side. Then, "fillet" the leaf, scoop out the gel and pop it into the 'fridge for a bit.
That stuff works miracles on a bad sunburn.🐝 I'm back to my normal colour now, thanks to the Bees! πŸ’—


I'm sure many of you Lovelies who live elsewhere on our beautiful planet will probably have similar products ( I'd love to hear about them! ) or your own "sunburn remedies"? Please share!

In the meantime, I wish you a wonderfully relaxing and sunshiney weekend,  with lots of yarn and Netflix thrown in for good measure!

See you in Crochetland! ( if you click the link it will take you to our fab workshop group ).
Jen πŸ’‹

The Yarn: Scheepjes Colour Crafter 100% Premium Acrylic
Colours Are:

πŸ‘ Appledoorn 1435
πŸ‘ Drachten  1827
πŸ‘ Amstelveen 1277
πŸ‘ Emmen 1116
🐏 Charleroi 2016
πŸ‘ Helmond 1724
πŸ‘ Veenendaal 1064