The Floral Hook

 A little catch-up, so feet up, cuppa and a biscuit close by...it's been a while!😘

Lovely Yarnarinas,

After a long silence, I find myself here again.

Not because life neatly resolved itself while I was away...quite the opposite. The years since I last wrote have been full of loss, change, exhaustion, grief, healing, and small, unexpected moments of beauty stitched quietly in between. Somewhere along the way, I lost the rhythm of writing here, and perhaps even the sense of who I was when I first began this little corner of the internet.

But recently, I’ve felt the soft tug back toward making things with my hands. Back toward yarn, colour, stories, bread rising in the kitchen, winter light on mountains, muddy dogs returning from walks, mushrooms in the forest, and the comforting but challenging days of creating routine and ritual from almost nothing.

So this is not a grand relaunch.
It’s simply a return.

A small knock on the old wooden door.
A kettle on the stove.
A light switched back on.

And I’m very glad to be here again.

🌷 I don't know about you, Lovelies, but I've been shying away from social media platforms more than ever. And it's a funny thing, but I've noticed many other creatives are finding social media too performative these days as well. Gone are the days when it felt as if social media was a useful extension of one's creativity. A way to quietly, intentionally, share and connect with like-minded fellow creatives. This is the main reason why slipping back to Blogland feels like coming home and immediately sitting down to write an old-fashioned newsy letter to Friends far away. Old school, right?

🌷 The top newsy bit to share is that the final stitch for the FLORALAI Throw is off my hook. Done and dusted. Forever! Floralai was not just a crochet project. It became a companion object. A witness object. A continuity thread. I began it in one life...before the diagnosis of Mr FloralHook and finished it in another life entirely. Somewhere inside my body, the completion of it probably feels less like “I finished a blanket” and more like: That chapter is truly over. Not intellectually, but somatically, a real physical reaction of grief, relief, but also overwhelm, as the last stitch slipped off my hook. The hands that made the first stitches were living in a completely different world from the woman who made the last stitch yesterday. That space between bursting into tears or a celebratory dance...is awkward. I don't want to scare the dogs.

🌷 Living in an entirely new location, off-grid, amongst locals who don't speak my language in more ways than just, well, language, is the stuff of many more newsletters. But also trying to find my authentic inner voice again after great loss and change requires some honest excavation. I may as well start somewhere, and sharing FLORALAI, our dear sweet, patient Floralai, is probably as good a place to start as any. I'll spend the weekend typing out the pattern. But the videos are already done and dusted. So do keep your hooks warmed up! Any day now. Moving Floralai around the garden on a completely cloudy day to get a good image...not too successfully, I might add! I don't want to mow the grass until all the Clover blooms. For the Bees, you know.

 🌷 In between slogging through the last rounds of the Floralai border (why does it seem to be harder the closer one gets to the finish line!?) I've been creating a lot of what I call "pretty. useless. crafts"... making "pretty. useless. bowls", beads, bracelets, and doodly paintings. It's ridiculously comforting and nerve-soothing to make things with your hands, right? Especially for no reason at all but the sheer sweetness of a hot beverage close by, some paint, or self-drying clay, a lovely podcast on, or a BBC Radio Mystery, and the dogs softly snoring by the fireside (in our case, the gas heater). If you do this too, then you'll know that creativity flows regardless.

🌷 I've taken to making Irish Soda Farls. Mostly because it's almost impossible to get anything but commercial bread here. My experience with Irish Soda Bread is this: my dear, sweet departed Irish mother-in-law passing what closely resembled a dense and weighty brick over the wall, on the rare occasion she baked. It was impossible to slice. I'm sharing my recipe and honestly it's what I'd call "my daily bread" because it's absolutely delicious if you love "honest" bread.

🍀My Irish Soda Farls

Pre-heat a cast-iron pan or griddle (I keep mine on gas turned to low).

In a bowl, add:

2 cups whole grain, stoneground flour

1 level tsp Bicarbonate of Soda (baking soda)

1 level tsp salt (a no salt batch is just as delicious)

1 cup of buttermilk.

For a savoury version, add: 1tsp mixed herbs, 1 TBS parmesan cheese, and/or a pinch of chilli flakes, or 1 tsp garam masala, garlic powder or onion powder.

Mix all ingredients together, turn onto a lightly floured surface and quickly pat into a circle approximately an inch thick. Handle lightly. Cut into four "farls". Add farls to your preheated pan. Close the pan with a lid and allow to "bake" for about 6 minutes on each side. Enjoy warm with butter, cheese or onion marmalade. For a sweet version, add 1tsp sugar, 2 TBS raisins and 1 tsp ground cinnamon.

I should mention that even though this is a wheat-based bread, I have had no adverse reaction to this recipe. Which is really surprising, seeing as even sourdough bread doesn't sit well with me (or in me!). If you try it, please let me know how it went for you.

Okee Dokee, Lovelies! Here's wishing you all a soothing, creative and crafty weekend. Ooo...I almost forgot! As always, I've picked an absolutely adorable little pattern for ONE lucky Lovely who comments below. The pattern is by Fiona Wilkinson on Ravelry, and it's her adorable BEE motif! So, please don't forget to add your Ravelry name with your comment.

Big hugs, until next time!

💛 Jen xxx