Good morning, Lovelies, from sunny South Africa. Not in Cape Town though. It's rained for weeks!
I don't know about you but I have been struggling to catch up with August. When I looked up from my crochet it was already into mid-August! There was so much talk during Lockdown of having endless acres of free time to do "stuff " we never have time to do otherwise because, you know, no time, etc, etc. Yet, almost everyone I chat with says that time whizzed by! There was no "learning a new language" or " writing that novel" or " clearing out the cluttered drawers ". Anyhow, I just want to tell you all that I know why this happened. I know where the time whizzed by to. It was crochet, right? Everyone has crocheted like MAD! For the record though.....
Like a good little Virgo, I did declutter my stash though. There's a lovely lady who works at our local plant nursery. Her name is Angelina. I didn't know that she knits and crochets. She asked about my Beanie ( Beanie For Days pattern ) which I happened to be wearing at the time, and suddenly we became sisters-in-the-hook! I gifted her two huge bags of unused yarn ( neon colours I know I will never use unless I go blind, god forbid! ), which she absolutely loved and she's been making beanies and scarves for her Fam that will last them several lifetimes. There's always someone who will love what you've fallen out of love with, right?
Anyhow...enough idle chatter! I have a pattern for you today! I called it Moonflower. Actually based more on the Lavender Moonflower ( aka Lavender Moonvine, Morning Glory ). It's my interpretation of this pretty flower which is in fact not indigenous to South Africa ( but they are prolific in certain areas ). I know Morning Glories are quite invasive but I love them nonetheless.
This new design is a large cushion block size, 50cm x 50cm/ 20" x 20". I've used colours from my dwindling Stylecraft Special DK and Scheepjes Colour Crafter and my trusty 4mm Tulip hook. For those of you not on Facebook, Mr HooksnTales surprised me with an early B'day present. A gorgeous set of Tulip hooks! Finally, he knows what to gift me! And PINK! 💜
Also, I made sure to make the finishing round of the block 84st so that you can extend it using any of the four extensions I already have available: High Tea, Hibiscus Tea, Golden Tea or Green Tea! I'm still mulling over whether I should extend it but for now, I can't see it in my mind's eye. While we are on the subject of Pink... our six very, very old Almond trees are blossoming! Spring is creeping closer and to be honest, after this particularly damp, stormy, chilly, snowy Winter, I don't mind at all that the weather will be warming soon. I know that in a few months I'll be regretting this sentiment.
I digress, as usual! 😀Ten randomly chosen Lovelies will receive a free copy of the Moonflower pattern so do check your Ravelry before purchasing. I've struggled for DAYS to get a half-decent pic of the block, but sadly the skies remained grey and unyielding to my pleas. This was the best of 100!
There was a lot more I wanted to share but I'm sure no one wants to read a small book today. It is Friday after all!
Take care, Lovelies and I wish you all a wonderfully relaxing and peaceful weekend filled with squishy yarn and loads of free time!
💗 Jen xx
