Easter Bumper Issue!

Happy Friday, Yarnarinnas!🌹

🐇I hope you all had a very pleasant Easter Weekend?🐇

First of all, apologies for the delay in getting the High Tea Extension text pattern to you on the deadline date ( which was Good Friday!). I can't believe I completely forgot all about the Easter long weekend and that I'd promised long-suffering Mr HooksnTales that he could drag me away for a few days to our teeny off-grid cabin in the beautiful Riebeek Valley.

I packed my laptop with every good intention of "working" through the weekend but you know what they say about good intentions! I'm not going to lie, I had an absolutely FABULOUS ( if somewhat a tad dramatic ) weekend and it was exactly what I needed, for ever so long! It's funny how we continue to push ourselves, well beyond the point where we should take a break!

We always take the back roads out of Cape Town. This way it really feels like our mini-holiday begins immediately. There's a lovely ( albeit longer ) madly-meandering country road that runs over hills and dales and in some places, the potholes are as big as a baby bath! Mostly though it's not bad at all and the scenery is worth the extra time it takes to get to our destination.

We always stop along the way for breakfast and coffee at de Malle Meule ( The Mad Mill ), an old wheat Mill in a village called Philidelphia, that worked right up until the late 1970's. The building and the interior have been preserved and beautifully renovated and it's now a very popular restaurant.

We sat way over in the corner and as it was still early the Sun had just begun to peek its head through the windows.

Much of the old mill inner workings have been left in place and next time we visit we'll do a proper exploration because there's still so much to see of this beautiful old building. You can take a visit HERE!


What I love especially about these rare weekend breaks is that it's like going home. The housie is off-grid but we've set everything up with solar panels and gas so that we're completely self-sufficient and comfortable when we stay over. Mind you, we mostly eat out in the village and over the years the friends we've made there are always happy to see us and us them and over a cold beer ( Mr HooksnTales ) and coffee ( coffee junkie me of course! ) we are caught up on all the local news and village gossip!

We'd heard that the local Flora and Fauna department had decided to do a controlled burn on the Kasteelberg Mountain which is right behind our house but we didn't expect it still to be going when we arrived on Friday morning! We also didn't expect a fierce wind to blow in from nowhere at around 3pm and fan those flames so that we had to evacuate ourselves and the doggies to a safer distance until the Fire Department arrived!

I made a video and you can hear how the wind is huffing and puffing to fan those flames!

As you can see, everything is tinder dry after the long hot Summer. Luckily clouds started gathering shortly afterwards and it rained buckets through the night. Hooray! By the morning there was no trace of smoke and the fire had been well and truly dampened.

Nothing speaks of Africa quite like the silhouette of a Witdooring boom ( White Thorn Tree ) against a stormy sky.

The next morning, breakfast at Paneras...you can't go wrong with a start like this! Just another lovely "busy" Saturday morning on the Riebeek-Kasteel high street! And not a whisp of smoke from the mountain!

The rest of the weekend passed peacefully and uneventfully. On Easter Sunday I found an Easter egg in the garden under the black-pepper tree.😄

Although the Riebeek Valley is Olive ( and Wine ) country and the Olive Festival is on the weekend of 5 May, I was still surprised to see a few Olives on our Olive tree! I'm such an Urban Bumpkin!

Roxy and I hung about with the High Tea Throw.

Roxy diligently checked my stitch count.

Of course...I have NOT forgotten that we have some Winners to announce! I just LOVED reading through all your Cabin Romance stories! It made me want to jump in my car and head straight back to Riebeek-Kasteel!! I really had a hard time choosing only 5!

💗THE CABIN ROMANCE WINNERS ARE💗

Tara from CrassNCrafty

Karen Sladen

Rosy

Julie Clemens

Michelle le Roux

( Please email me with your Ravelry names and I will send you your High Tea Extension pattern + a pattern of your choice! )

Next up, the Winners for Natalia Kononova's lovely Climbing Rose Top pattern!

lotrlover6989

Designerhook

Missymumly

💗 CONGRATULATIONS 💗

This Friday our Giveaway is this beautiful shawl pattern ( swooooon ) 

by Ana D called " Falling Blossoms".

All you need to do to enter and stand a chance of winning this pattern is to leave a comment below about your favourite flower ( don't forget to add your Ravelry name as well ).

Good Luck!

Happy Weekend

💗 Jen

PS: I am skipping the Colour Friday Mood today but you can head on over to our Group where Noelene has done the honours today ( again ). 😊

PPS: On Monday (29 April ) The High Tea Extension Text Version will be added to the Video PDF which is already released ( hope you are all managing! ).

Mellow Morning, Mice and Mist.

Hello, Lovelies! Hope you are all well in Crochetland?

🌸🐭🌸

It's a misty morning here in the Cape of Storms ( sadly, no storms yet! ). Everything is blooming though, in anticipation of the coming Winter rains. Almost like an offering to the Rain Sprites, Proteas, Honeysuckle and Guara bushes display their jewel flowers against a backdrop of Table Mountain (shrouded in moody rain clouds) imploring the drops to fall. But so far, nothing.

I want to introduce you to Mary Walker, an absolutely amazing local photographer who lives in Riebeek-Kasteel ( where we often escape to our off-grid housey ). She's been very busy capturing the wildlife goings on at this time of the year and managed to snap this wee Mouse munching away on fresh Guara flowers ( aka Beeblossoms ). I have loads growing in my urban garden but I've yet to see a Guara munching Mousie!

From March in almost every Cape garden you'll find these adorable little birds, the Southern Double-Collared Sunbird! They arrive in large groups at the end of Summer and stay for at least 6-months. They flit among the Honeysuckle hedge right outside my studio window! I forget all about my crochet then!

Again, Mary Walker has captured a perfect image!

I know that in the Northern Hemisphere you are all waking from your Winter hibernation, while we down South begin the joyful task of settling into all things cosy. I love the soft daydreamy, natural tones of this image, the bed-linen, the cup of coffee...it all makes for a long, lazy, mellow morning, right? I've reached that age where it is all possible now. Or should I say my children have reached the age where it's possible for me to lie -in as long as I like. That is until I hear my yarn and hook calling!
This little fur-ball has no problem mellowing out, any time of the day, Miss Augusta. She is a Master Mellower!

For today's Colour Friday I've used Scheepjes Catona. It's 100% mercerised cotton. The recommended hook size is 3.50mm. You can find out about all the amazing colours HERE! There are 109 colours! The names are totally droolicious too. Internationally you can order from Woolwarehouse in the UK. In South Africa, you can order from Be Inspired 

The colours I used are:

🐑 Rose Wine 396

🐑 Old Rose 408

🐑 Sweet Mandarin 523

🐑 Petal Peach 263

🐑 Linen 505

🐑 Bridal White 105

🐑 Lime Juice 392

🐑 Sage Green 212

I hope these colours will put you in the perfect mellow weekend mood. 💗

Todays Pattern Giveaway is a gorgeous pattern from one of my favourite designers, the super-talented Natalia Kononova from Outstanding Crochet. It's a perfect Spring/Summer top and I love the climbing rose. Leave a comment (and your Ravelry name) and I will randomly ( out of a hat! ) choose 3 x Winners next Friday! Good luck! 

The Winners are, for last Friday's Giveaway which was the wonderful, whimsical doily pattern called "Barbara" by Grace Fearon....

🌹 Marie de Reuk🌹

🌹 Amina Khan🌹

🌹 Jenny5🌹

🏆CONGRATULATIONS🏆

Good news is that I have finally completed the extension for High Tea! Yipppeeeee! I can't wait to show you but for now, it's still a secret! 😉

I did a Poll last week to see which version you would all like, one pattern ( the block + extension = throw ) or two separate patterns to mix and match when the other 3 x Blocks and Extensions are complete. The majority voted for two separate patterns to mix and match. HOWEVER... I have decided to make the High Tea Throw available as ONE pattern on Love Crochet and Etsy! As soon as the text pattern is complete I will drop ALL the relevant links here ( in a blog post ). 

Wishing you all a wonderfully mellow weekend!

💗Jen

Skandi Spring!

Hello, Lovelies, from a gorgeous Autumn morning here in Cape Town, South Africa!

☕🍂🍁🍂☕

I've called our Friday Colour Mood, Skandi Spring, seeing as in my mind I imagine Scandinavian countries as violety-blue-ice wonderlands, even in Spring. I'm wrong, right? If you're from a Scandinavian country like Finland, Norway or Sweden I would love to hear what your Spring looks like from where you stand. Send me a pic HERE! and I will be sure to post them up in next Friday's blog post.
By the way, I am extraordinarily jealous of all of you who live in cooler climates. I have no idea why my ancestors decided to brave a long and very dangerous boat journey all the way to the bottom tip of Africa!? I guess they were ambitious, poor or desperate for loads of sunshine and heat?

The Yarn I'm showcasing today is the Scheepjes Linen Soft. I have this lovely yarn in my stash and I am saving it for a special project. It's beautiful!

My fingers are absolutely itching to get started on another crochet project and I am rushing to finish off the extension for High Tea! There have been so many interruptions since the beginning of the year... honestly what is going on? It seems everyone is running a race against time and deadlines! This is such a cliche but seriously...it's already April! Most days as I feel panic rising because I can hear another deadline whooooooshing past I just take a deep breath and whisper my daily mantra " all will be done".

Just a reminder before I forget, our competition is still running... Describe Your Perfect Cabin Romance... so do continue sending us ( Noelene and Sandra on the Group ) your stories! You can also click on the highlighted bit and it will take you to the blog post where you can add your story to the comments section. We will announce the Winners as soon as the High Tea Extension is released!

This, by the way, is a fascinating video on how Linen is made! I must be living under a rock because I never knew Linen was made from Flaxseeds ( I eat them every day! ).

ALFIE UPDATE: Alfie's health has improved so much since the Vet discovered the exact bacteria living in his nose. His new medication is working and he's no longer " back-sneezing " or snoring! We really hit the jackpot with this boy...he even grows his own tennis balls from the top of his head! 😉

A heads-up if you love Crochet books as much as I do... this one is definitely one to add to your collection. Crochet Masterclass features eighteen amazing designers who share their speciality crochet techniques like Overlay, Tunisian and Double-Ended crochet! Whether I will ever get the chance to actually get stuck into this book is another thing altogether! But they do all look so pretty and inspiring on the shelf! 😊

One last thing... a small thing really but it gives me ENORMOUS pleasure. I bought another rose.

On that floral note allow me to wish you a very lovely weekend, wherever you are in Crochetland.

Take Care

💗 Jen

Ps: Roxy is a little put out by Alfie, so she asked me to post a pic of her too! She is such a little poser.

PPS: This week's FREE pattern is Grace Fearons "Barbara" doily pattern.

I think it's exquisite! To enter, just leave a comment with your Ravelry Name. I will select 3 "Winners" randomly! GOOD LUCK! 💗

Designer: Grace Fearon