I hope you are all well and happy?
Life right? It scuttles every well-laid plan and just when you look the other way, BAM...there it is, right in your face saying " Do you want a piece of this or how about this? Because you're getting it whether you want it or not!". In case you're wondering what I'm babbling on about let me make a little list of this week alone.
MONDAY: got stung on my left pinky finger by a Bee which then developed into half a swollen hand, to the point which found me at 2am on Tuesday morning scratching about in my little toolbox desperately looking for a wire cutter while my ring finger turned purple. Bye-Bye 17-year-old wedding band!
TUESDAY: found a rust hole on the roof of my car, tucked away under the beading #liveingbytheoceanproblems. This was serious enough to have me phoning around for quotes on " rust repair " and subsequently I have not had my car back since ( hopefully today because cadging lifts from the kiddos is not good for my Mom moral and besides it means they have something over me now...teehee! ).
WEDNESDAY: discovered to my horror that my favourite Yarn is being discontinued from my favourite yarn shop. The hunt was on for a replacement. On the plus side, I found Coffee Cotton. It literally contains 15% of coffee extract. YUM! I can order it locally and it arrives within two days. Whoohoo! It's also pretty well priced.
THURSDAY: over a relaxing cup of coffee and a scroll through Facebook Land, a pic from one of our local Rescue orgs leapt out at me; a Mommy dog with her litter of five newborns, tossed into an old shopping basket and abandoned in a field next to a primary school! Yep, I am now a Foster Mommy. As if I have the time but if not me, then who?
FRIDAY: * watch this space * 😏
I've called the Mommy, Freya ( Friday is derived from Freya ).
In between all the excitement of PUPPIEEEES and a very sweet and affectionate little Mommy, I am finishing off Part 2 of the Golden Tea Extension. The pattern will be available on Monday. I know many of you asked for more time to finish off all those little granny squares and I'm happy to oblige. Here's a little peek of what's in store.
Speaking of which; on our Workshop Group, our Admin-In-Chief ( aka our darling Noelene ) posted a challenge to see if you could beat my time of 45-minutes crocheting up the little squares ( from start to working in ends). Ok, fine so you all beat me! 😄 I've often thought of adding approximate time frames to each round but to date have not got around to it. I keep forgetting to watch the clock.
Also * interruptions galore *.
But guess what!? The clever people over at LOVECRAFTS have introduced a fabulously useful little gadget HERE called " how long will it take me to crochet this" which calculates the time it will take you to crochet a pattern. I think that's a brilliantly innovative tool for planning your projects, don't you? Especially for those of us who love to crochet gifts for the upcoming Silly Season. We always think we have enough time but we never do, right? Just yesterday I was looking for washing liquid at a new supermarket and stumbled upon the Xmas decoration aisle....OH. MY. WORD! I'm not shy to admit.... a thrill of anticipation shot through my body! I LOVE XMAS and usually keep our Tree up until Valentine's day. Now, get crafting, it's only 75 days to Xmas! 🌲
PS: I've added this handy tool to my Blog Sidebar for easy access.
For those of you who are already planning your colourways for the upcoming CAL " Green Tea " thank you for the inspiration. I've also decided to buckle down and choose my colours timeously so today's Colour Mood is all about that! The colours are Root Beer, Topaz, Camel, English Tea, Willow and Lime in Scheepjes Catona.
I'll probably add an Ivory or Walnut to these as well. I won't be using Scheepjes Catona seeing as it's super expensive here in South Africa but I think my stash of Coffee Cotton by Kartopu Yarns will work perfectly.
This Friday our GIVEAWAY is another pattern by the amazing Toni Lipsey...I am such a huge fan of her work. She's my inspiration to branch out into crochet wear ( one day ). This is such a gorgeously wearable cardigan, so tadaaaa... The French Press Cardigan! To stand a chance of winning this lovely pattern just comment on the comments section below... and don't forget to leave your Ravelry name.
For the three lucky Lovelies who entered last Friday's GIVEAWAY, you'll find your copy of the Elemental Dragon in your Ravelry Library! Congratulations!
I hope you all have a very happy and fun weekend. We could all do with a lot more fun in our lives for sure!
For me, it will be all about ( you probably already guessed ), Puppies!
💗 Jen
O wow, I just love the glimpse of the extension.Yipee, so glad we only have to wait for Monday.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that we're looking at colourways for Green Tea, and wow, such gorgeous colours. Can't wait to see sneak peak of that one.
As always, I just love, love, love your designs, even those darling little grannies😘😘
René (Goffel on Ravelry)
Hi Rene...but nevermind all that...THE PUPPPPIIIIESSSS! :D
DeleteLife doesn’t get much better than puppies!! Your week instantly became amazing 😉 Hope you enjoy them (and your new yarn...although the two may not be compatible 😂)
ReplyDeleteMy Ravelry name is PaulinaSmith
Hi Paulina! I know...every cloud and those silver linings, right? Oh, the puppies are SO CUTE and Freya is such a conciencious Mommy. It's lovely to have babies in the house again. :D
ReplyDeleteOh Jen, my hero, you took her in with the babies. She looks so bashful..and those naughty little ones, you going to have your hands full!She looks partly Dash hound. One of the reasons I take older cats in, nobody wants them. So come here, get a good life for a couple of years with lots of love, and warm laps to sit in. Love the Golden Tea extension, bobbles! By far not ready, my squares are the slowest ;>p
ReplyDeleteReally, Tineke, slower than my snail 45 minutes!? :D We also always take older dogs and cats for the same reasons you do. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but it's amazing how quickly older dogs and cats DO learn new tricks! It's really nice though to have some youngsters...it's been such a long time since there were babies in the house. :D Happy weekend, Tineke, hope the weather is still nice your side? xx
DeleteIt's strange weather, rainy stormy autumn weather with 19 degrees Celsius. My cats love it as they still can go outside in the enclosed garden.I do remember those babies! Half my house was chewed XD And yes, much longer then 45 minutes I suppose. Shall time it. Oh, I think with a lot of love everything is possible with animals.
DeleteYou are so right, Tineke... it sounds mushy but love is the cure for so many things. Your weather sounds like good crochet weather. It's suddenly got very hot here. Urgh, SUMMER. :D xx
DeleteAfrican summers eh. Hot and dusty. Only have been there one time in summer loooong ago so not a real expert on the African weather XD Love is never mushy, it's bold and dangerous. Timed my square and I am really surprised, so surprised I made an other one. Even with the tiny little flowers and all the ends woven in but not attached to the GT it took me 40 minutes. I do represent team sloth with Noelene, Jen XD
DeleteMost of South Africa has a hot and wet Summer. High humidity. Cape Town has more of a mediterranean climate. Wet winters , dry summers. It makes for an interesting country. :D Wow. 40 minutes...then I am indeed the one who is the slowest of all! Lol! xx
DeletePUPPIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Jen, you are a saint! Samcats4 aka your #1fan
ReplyDeleteI'm never going to meet my crochet dealines...I hope everyone knows that. :D Hope your weekend is awesome, Sam! Kisses to Gizmo. xx
DeleteLove the puppies and mama! Your colors on your sneak peek are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteTrish (ravelry name: therbers)
Thanks, Trish! :D XX
DeleteAnd thanks for the pattern! What a surprise to win!!
DeletePuppies!!! You are so wonderful to foster them all. I hope to foster senior dogs some day when I have fewer dogs in my home (I currently have 3!). Looking forward to the extension ... I hope to make a bunch of your patterns next year. I own all of them, I think, but haven't finished a single pattern yet! LOL!
ReplyDeleteRavelry: kjprice
Oh, Kris... wait until next year. I am reworking the smaller patterns and adding videos. You can start with those and work up to my biggest project yet, the Karoo Vintage balnket...that was a magnus opus...meaning LARGE rather than great. :D This is the first time I'm properly fostering. We will adopt the Mommy but the Pups will be re-homed. I'm not looking forward to letting them go in 4 months time.
DeleteI only just stumbled upon you and your work this week. Happily! There's a lot to take in here. Can't wait to get started.
ReplyDeleteNext time you get a bee sting, try honey on it right away.
Hello and Welcome then, good to have you here. I did that! My husband laughed when I told him the first thing I did was gobble down two tablespoons of Honey and then rub some on the sting. You know, hair of the dog and all that. :D I actually tried a few things but what really worked well was a combination of Lavender and T-Tree oil. Still, it did swell quite a bit and it's taken the week to subside. Shame, but the poor little Bee....
Delete