Happy Weekend-Eve, lovely Yarnarinas!

🌼 This week has whizzed by, oh my goodness! How is it almost July!? My days definitely feel whizzier than ever, and I suspect it's doing everything as a solo person. I feel a bit guilty missing my husband's involvement in some of the household chores. But honestly, someone else doing a few dishes here and there, cooking an occasional meal, taking the dogs for a walk, or stopping at the shops on their way home from work makes a huge difference! I was listening to a podcast a few days ago where the host suggested taking a short pause between tasks to mitigate burnout, anxiety and/or stress. I LOLLED!!! I've 100% earned the cap, bumper sticker, t-shirt and lifelong achievement award for juggling several tasks simultaneously. Day in and day out.

🌼 However, in between what sometimes feels like soft chaos rolling the days along, there are our gentle morning walks. The dogs and I are all-weather walkers. Lately, we've been exploring higher up the slopes of Kasteelberg, following narrow pathways made by either small animals or infrequent woodsmen looking for dry wood. We've deliberately become happily "lost" exploring these little pathways, but our trusty Leader Laia has a nose on her that always leads us safely back downhill. 

🌼 Along the way, we met a towering, grandfather Bluegum tree with the most beautifully wrinkled skin and sturdy arms raised happily to meet the sunbeams (told you this weather makes me a little woo-woo!!).

🌼 This past week, we've been anointed with pure winter sunshine! It does feel like a mystical experience; it's so delicious! Taking advantage of this free resource, my little twin tub washing machine, nestled at one end of the studio porch, industriously pummels the dogs' blankets. Clean laundry is pegged on the washing line strung between two very old Almond trees. The grass in this area is cut only once the clover has bloomed (for the Bees, you know...), and today, the sun shines while a gentle breeze ruffles through. Gotta love free stuff, right?

🌼 So, the last time we chatted, I mentioned a new cushion-sized block pattern in the pipeline. Tadaa, see below the official sneak peek!! As always, I've had loads of creative fun with richly textured florals. As far as my own colourway goes, I think I'm sort of trailing in Floralai's wake! Or maybe these are just my favourite colours right now? We could call it a Winter palette? Speaking of our dear Floralai...carefully washed and stored away only for darling Noella to mournfully start looking for her blanket! I was mortified, having completely forgotten that she'd grown up snuggled in Floralai! It now occupies a permanent space on my worktable. For Noella.

🌼 In a few days, I'll release the Prelude for this pattern, which I've named EMBERWOOD. As many of you Lovelies already know, the Prelude is usually released two weeks before the official pattern release. This will give you a little time to plan your colourway and gather your favourite yarn! But...it's time for me to leave you in peace now before this becomes a novella! 😁

Thank you so much for your lovely comments, and one lucky Yarnarina has received her sweet gift (you know who you are). I've chosen our next gift from Tatsiana's collection, the BLOMMA SQUARE. So please do remember to add your Ravelry name with your comment. 

As always, Fridays carry a little weight of sadness. It used to feel like an unbearable weight, but time really does seem to lighten the load. On 29 July, it will be two years, Lovelies. The furry-bums and I have settled. Not rooted, mind you. Rooting is a whole other thing. But the ground beneath our feet feels less shaky, and our footsteps are a teeny bit surer as we lean into our daily routines. More than anything, establishing a routine (of sorts) has been the glue keeping body and soul together. To anyone else it might look like a boring life, but to us, our boring little life is beginning to feel like everything we will ever need or want. We are so grateful.💖

Take care of your precious selves, Lovelies; stay safe, stay calm, stay creative and crochet on!

💛Jen xxx

 

Happy Friday, Lovelies!

Winter has settled into the valley. Properly.

🌷 The mountains have been wearing their morning clouds; the fynbos is looking beautiful after the rain, and the dogs are enjoying the cooler weather far more than I am. Finally, their furry coats make sense!

Between walks, cups of coffee, and LOTS of time in the studio, I've managed to put together a little tutorial for the bowls that so many of you asked about after my last post. In comparison to making crochet tutorials, this was so easy peasy! As mentioned, YouTube has a gazillion tutorials covering air-dried clay projects. I'm a complete novice. As usual, I just jump into crafts and muddle my way through. Clearly I'm of the Learn From Mistakes club.

🌷 One of our Lovelies in the last comments section was asking about whether these Farls are baked in an oven or on the stovetop. The little video will explain it all. I think a cast-iron skillet, a heavy griddle or a heavy-bottomed pan works perfectly. You'll need a matching lid. The Farls "bake" best in a Dutch Oven situation...if that makes sense.😁

🌷 In other news, I am absolutely bursting with delight that I'm finally finding a happy work-life balance. These days I'm treating my studio as a proper "workspace". We (the doggies, kitties and I) open up each day, and lock up at 5pm. Weekends...are weekends. Time to rest, recharge (or catch up on laundry). I can't tell you how much this has helped bring a great deal of steadiness into the chaos that clouded the past few years. Also, I'm working on a brand new design! My forte...a cushion-sized block. Many of you Lovelies already know that it's my favourite size: 50 cm x 50 cm. If all goes according to plan, the pattern should be live in two weeks! I'm in love with my studio space and although it may look "messy" to others...I know where everything is! That's the most important thing, right? Below is one corner of the "divine" mess, but in the opposite corner there is a top-secret project in progress. But...I'm happy to share the colourway: Elle Yarn-Charity DK: Neptune, Ocean, Guava, Oxide, Wheat, Cider, Musk, Moss, also Beige and another colour with no name.😁

🌷 It's taken me a while to see clearly through the tangled mist of tears, loss, grief, relocation, fear and anxiety, but yesterday as I sat on the porch of my studio with the furries (my lunch break), I gazed at my tiny house through eyes of deep gratitude. I have a 53sqm, off-grid BLUE house! Oh my goodness! Mind you, it seemed impossibly tiny when I first moved in. But lately, it's revealed itself as just the right size for my little furry family and me. It's not fancy at all... but it suits us to a T!

🌷 I love that my BLUE house is set against the backdrop of the Kasteel Mountain, whose slopes have given us abundant natural healing through our long meandering walks. This mountain, this village and its people have made me feel more settled and enfolded into a place than I ever felt before. And that is no small thing.💙

There really is a mountain hiding behind the mist. We've had days, and days...and days of intense mist! Who knew it could be so misty in the Klein Karoo!

The only blooms so far are on the wild Rosemary, which is absolutely abundant on the slopes of the Kasteelberg! I wish you could smell the air, laden with the fragrance of wild Rosemary. Below the slopes, the little hamlet of Riebeek West, the Ceres and Cedarberg mountain ranges in the distance.

🌷 And last but not least...thank you so very much for all your lovely comments on the last post. Honestly, it felt like a very welcoming homecoming! I've gifted the adorable Bee Motif Pattern to one of our Lovelies (you know who you are), but I've dived right back into the same designer's offerings because her motifs are so sweet! Fiona's gorgeous Floral Butterfly Motif will be winging its way to one of you Lovelies, so please don't forget to add your Ravelry name to the comment section.

Until next time, lovely Yarnarinas, take care of your precious selves. Protect your peace like you protect your yarn!😁

Keep those hooks warmed up!

💛 Jen xxx

 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

Happy Thursday, Yarnarinas!

 

Good morning, lovely Yarnarinas!

🐬🌿🌸🌞🌳🍂🌳🌞🌸🌿🐬

🌸 I'm chained to my desk at the moment (help, come save me!😂🙈) completing the text pattern for CERES (our Panel 1 of the BLOMMEVELD VINTAGE THROW). THANK YOU SO MUCH for the ❤️ !!! I'm worried you guys are going to send me into another tax bracket!!😆 So saying, don't forget that this pattern is 50% discounted until 1 APRIL 2024.

Ravelry coupon code: BLOM18

🌸 Because I'm quite high on the ADHD spectrum sitting still for longer than 10 minutes is torture! On days like this, I want to bin my hooks and yarn and escape into nature with the dogs. Like, forever. HOWEVER...then something drop-dead gorgeous pops up on our amazing Group and I'm reminded that living in the mountains with the dogs might sound like fun, but the real joy in my life is seeing all of you do your thing with my little patterns. I am humbled, and I mean that sincerely, Thank YOU!! 🙏💖 You all make me WANT to create patterns (even as I suffer for my art😂).

🌸 LOOK at this vibrant SPRINGY colourway for the CHRYSALIS THROW, made by Taina Kauppinen! 💙❤️🧡💚 As always, I'll 🐸 50% off for 24hrs. I do this because, like anyone else I hate it when something beautiful is dangled in front of my face but costs all the pennies in my biscuit tin. This is a Throw sized pattern but you can stop at any point. The corners are also optional. And yes, there are round-for-round videos so you can crochet along with me (and snoring Tweeny🐾). I've included two pics of the full throw so that you can see the optional corners made by Lyndsay Wright and Maria Simonetta)❤️

RAVELRY COUPON CODE: CHRYSALIS21

👇

https://www.ravelry.com/redeem/the-floral-hook

Hope your day is filled with all the sweetness of life!

💛 Jen

Hello again dear Yarnarinas!

 Good morning and Happy New Week from my little studio in Cape Town, South Africa!

Lovelies...it's been a while since I last visited this space. Many of you Lovelies have been keeping in touch on the 'socials' so you know then that 2023, rather than starting with a bushy-tailed bang, began with tears, shock and fear. In short DRAMA! You'll know then too that Mr Floral Hook after visiting our local GP received a diagnosis not of a simple viral infection but Stage 4 Small Cell Lung Cancer. It's been quite the journey since then, as you can imagine. I won't go into details but suffice it to say, he's still alive and kicking. These Sagitarian men!! NOTHING keeps them down for long. 

Anyhoo...allow me to fast forward through 2023 Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer, to Autumn 2024 and tadaaa...the release of  'our' 2024 Mystery Slow Crochet Along! I had every intention of NOT tackling a huge project this year, everything going on considered but that darn hook of mine. I'm sure I could hear it rattling in my hook jug, agitated to make happy twirling loops with colourful balls of squishy yarn again. It is like that, you know. I don't really have a choice.

I can hardly believe I'm embarking on another mystery make- along with all of you, again! So without further bla bla...meet the BLOMMEVELD VINTAGE THROW. As with the KAROO VINTAGE THROW, I'll be meandering through several adorable villages and hamlets nestled between the mountains and rivers of my beloved Cape Province. We'll be visiting Ceres, Citrusdal, Prince Albert and Tulbagh this time. And I can't wait for the journey to begin!

CERES is the first panel of four. The pattern includes two smaller stand-alone squares as well as a border option. It sounds very simple here when I write it out but there is A LOT going on that I explain in all the videos for Ceres (and also in the PRELUDE). The Prelude is about as much information as I have at the moment but I will make sure to add more as we go along. There are so many 'joining' options for these Panels thus each Throw will look very different depending on how you arrange your panels + squares at the end. That's the FUN part!

I've chosen my own colourway which you are welcome to copy. I'll be using the same nine colours for the next three Panels, in different order. These yarn amounts are my starting amounts but I have ordered two of each colour (18). The first seven colours are Stylecrafts Special DK.

 

1 x BUTTERMILK 1835

1 x GOLD 1709

1 x COPPER 1029

1 x LINCOLN 1834

1 x MEADOW 1065

1 x SAGE 1725

1 X PARCHMENT 1218

1 x DENIM (CHARITY ELLE YARNS)

1 x CHARCOAL (CHARITY ELLE YARNS)

 

As you can see, you are going to have an absolutely glorious time choosing your own colourway. My advice is to choose your colours and stick to them. Use them in a different order (or not) for each Panel. That way, in the end, you will have a beautiful colour-coordinated Throw.

(Image Credit: https://www.ceres-info.co.za/town/info )

Lovelies, as always, please connect with us over at The Floral Hook Workshop Group. We are always so excited to see your colourway choices and work in progress. Should you have ANY questions or concerns we are there to help you sort it out. 

See you there!

Love,

Jen xx

 Happy Friday and happy Weekend, Lovelies, how are you all? 

All very well in your patch of Crochetland I hope, in spite of January feeling as if it's six months long? Hopefully, it's not been a Januworry for you? 

One of my 2023 resolutions was that I'd blog on a regular basis...but LIFE keeps coming at me! Ok, it's actually DOGS and CATS coming at me (coff, coff). Our little foster senior, Miss Betty, passed over the rainbow bridge just before Christmas. Poor little thing was on her last leggies when she came to us and even though she'd forgotten by then how to 'go toilet' outside, we didn't mind the mess and made her last days as loving and comfortable as possible. Caring for a senior anything (inanimate or living) takes hours out of a day. Of course, we had to fill the gap left by Miss Betty, so we sprang Madame Carla-Walla-Bing-Bong from the SPCA  just before Christmas. She's nine ( so sixty-three in human years ) quite deaf, half-blind, possibly has a hare-lip, and is missing most of her teeth but she has a massive personality to compensate for her, erm, shortcomings (she's even tinier than George Tweeny)...in a nutshell... ADOooRABLE! As always, there is a period of adjustment...and that too, takes hours out of a day, right? Four active Dogs and two fussy Cats are the equivalents of six three-year-old humans...except they never grow up (the fur babies that is). My hands are full (of dog hair and such).

However, in between the business of being a Dog and Cat Mom, I've been keeping a little secret under my belly (nooo, I'm NOT pregnant, sheesh! lol!) but it is a baby of sorts. Tadaaaaa, it's a brand new throw pattern! I've called this 'baby' The Marigold Desert Throw. And much like falling pregnant when you least expect it, the inspiration literally flashed into my brain completely by surprise and unannounced. Inadvertently, the throw inspiration had something to do with my DNA profile, which is ...that I share 0.75% of it with the Khoisan. Anyway, one thing led to another; googled Khoisan ( read more about the first humans, the Khoisan HERE and HERE  ) which led me to Namibia and Botswana, both countries that are largely made up of the Kalahari Desert. Have you ever seen images of this vast space? It is an otherworldly beauty. Within these coppery desert sands, I saw (with my mind's eye, of course) a multitude of Marigolds in all their goldy, sunny, brassy, honey, lemony hues. With this vision of sorts, floated images in my head of succulents and other greeny things that survive in this arid terrain. Thus, with all of this rich imagery swirling about in my brain, it was no effort to pick the colourway and immediately put hook to yarn. I would love to visit the Kalahari Desert, but for three minor inconveniences; it's hot as Hell up there; I live faaar away on a tiny south-western peninsula that looks like a willy dangling over the Atlantic ocean; my furry tribe will insist on coming along. Which sounds exhausting. I'll stay home and crochet instead. Which in itself is an adventurous journey, right?

The Prelude, released today on Ravelry (HERE) includes some useful information to help get you started. You'll have three weeks to decide on your own colourway (or you can follow mine) and gather, or order your yarn. The Marigold Desert Throw is not Hook or Yarn specific. You can make it bigger or smaller by changing your hook size and yarn weight. Pictured is the Marigold Desert Block. As this is an informal MAL (Meander-Along) as before, with some of my Throws, the Extension will follow later. Take note that the Prelude is on a 50% less special at the moment. This once-off purchase of the Prelude INCLUDES the entire upcoming pattern for the Throw. As always, we'll be hosting this MAL at our wonderful, friendly, fun, and helpful Pattern Workshop Group on FB

                                                           (image credit: Thomas Noitz)

If you're wondering what that strange nesty thingy is to the left, it's a Socialable Weaver's Nest. These tough little birds build a community nest for optimal survival in a harsh landscape. You can read more about these clever cuties HERE

                                                                (image credit: Wikipedia)

Rifling about in Marigold Land I discovered that, yes indeed...there is an African Marigold (find out how to grow this beauty HERE). Suffice it to say I've always loved these firey-coloured little flowers (aka Calendula) and have a great appreciation for their usefulness in ancient traditions, gardening culture, and for their medicinal value (HERE is a handy list of the many ways Marigolds are beneficial in healing, and in the kitchen). And did you know (I didn't) that the name Marigold is derived from Mary's Gold, an association with the Virgin Mary? I'm not religious, at all, but I am somewhat of a Magpie when it comes to collecting religious imagery. Specifically, Mary, whose image I always find comforting in a motherly sort of way. These beautifully rendered 'Mary's Gold' cards do make my heart beat a little faster. Pinterest, oh lawdy, the Marigold embroidery! Don't even get me started.

                                              (image credit: ALYSAgraphique on Etsy )

                                                          (image credit: Tina Horn/Pinterest)

To THANK YOU for popping by, I'm giving away copies of the new design to 10 random Lovelies from the comments section. Don't forget to add your Ravelry name!

                                                    (African Marigold - tagetes erecta)

Take care, lovely Yarnarinas. It's crazy out there these days, oh my goodness.

See you soon on another Floral Hook adventure!

Hugs and much love as always,

Jen

PS: click HERE for a free Marigold embroidery pattern.

Tadaaa...I'm back, Lovelies! Happy, healthy, and prosperous 2023 to you!

 Last year, is so...last year, right? It whizzed by incredibly quickly. Even two young friends who live on our road remarked, "bro, what's with this year just flying by, like, yoh!". We must have all, in unison, laced up our running shoes at the beginning of 2022, on our marks, ready to GO as soon as that clock struck 12. Were we trying to catch up, or maybe forget what we'd collectively experienced by cramming as much 'living life' into each day after so many dreary, scary and confusing lockdowns? Not to mention recuperating from the bug? In 2022 many have shared stories of a grueling year. "Emotionally, mentally, physically and financially exhausting" is what I have heard over and over. It's no surprise considering what the planets were/are doing. Those/these darn Retrogrades! We've also sadly waved goodbye to some stellar human beings, some personal connections, and many others in the wider world: The Queen (the one and only), Angela Lansbury, Dame Vivienne Westwood, and Jean-Luc Godard. And Julie Powell, who inspired an entire generation to blog about absolutely anything in the hopes their story would become a famous movie, was sadly among many other notables to reluctantly wiggle free from their mortal baggage. I've watched Julie-Julia so many times the CD disk eventually gave up the ghost. Furiously frustrating though, those creating havoc, misery, and suffering and who continue to fuel hatred, division, and chaos ...are still with us. Ce la vie.

 Anywhooo, the reason I have turned to blogging again is that I seem to have dropped a very useful and mentally healthy habit, which was journaling (the pen-to-paper kind). Not because I didn't have anything to write about but because my journals turned into scrapbooks (bits of bark, pressed flowers, fabric scraps, paint colour swatches, you name it!). Not intentionally, mind you. You'll know if you're already a scrapbook journalist exactly what I mean. It pulls you in, it's incredibly time-consuming and it's tres addictive!  The crochet life took a sulky second place. I had to cold turkey or else start a scrapbook journaling channel on Youtube, change my name and emigrate to Iceland...or something. Which felt like an awful lot of work and upheaval. 

 I'm a 'lists' person, I mean literally genetically (I cannot BUT make lists) not only shopping lists (those too) but rather thinky thought lists about colours, seasons, fabrics, design, kitchenalia, birds, flowers, crochet, fashion trends, interesting people, quotes, poems, books, buildings, cultures, travel, homes, paint, upcycle or repurpose ideas...ideas, ideas, ideas...and ideas (and sometimes OPINIONS) about those ideas. Well, in short, I'm gonna dump them ALL here, 'kay? I thought it would be fun (probably only to me) to do this 'dump' on a monthly basis (possibly with some bits between one month and the next). This gives you an entire month to avoid this blog and read someone else's less lengthy and more flashy posts. OR...you'd have an entire month to wade through my lists and perhaps pick up a useful takeaway? Heads up... in an article recently, I read about how people very seldom read text these days. Especially on social media. Commonly, we lazily consume bite-sized information through short Instagram or TikTok reels, memes, and quote posters. This is messing with our ability to concentrate for longer periods or absorb or even know ALL the information presented in these 'flash cards'. The Age of Misinformation is here...hopefully it won't be a long stay! Right, now on to my random list for January. In a nutshell. This post won't contain distracting images (to make a point...lol), however, I have added lots of links if you'd like to explore further.

JANUARY 

1. The January Birthstone is a Garnet. I've been following a lovely and very interesting account on Instagram which delves into gems. It's absolutely fascinating. The January Flower is the Carnation. If you'd like to know how, where, and when to grow gorgeous, fragrant Carnations, find out more HERE.

2. This January, use your Microwave. I recently bought a Microwave after giving mine up to a neighbour many years ago believing it was basically the spawn of something nasty or the other. However, Jamie Oliver (bless that wonderful man's good, generous, creative, and kind heart) recently made an ENTIRE Butternut and Chickpea Curry, from start to finish...in the microwave! Now I'm sold. Also, use frozen veg from a reputable company (maybe your organic shop?). Good quality frozen veggies are every bit as fresh as, well fresh...and also a lot more economical. Times are tough, people. Veggie snobs, look away. 

3. A gorgeous, uplifting selection of essential oils for January: Rosemary, Peppermint, Orange, and Lemon. Add a few drops to your diffuser, to your bath water, or to your air purifier. Use a small glass spray bottle, add 50ml of vodka then add a few drops of each essential oil, and top up with 50ml of water. Shake well before use, then store in a cool dark place. Bliss. HERE are another 20 recipes for essential oil blends.

4. Pantones Colour for 2023 is...Viva Magenta. Vogue did a whole article about Magentaverse HERE. It, the colour, reminds me of school uniforms. Should WE pick a January colour? Let me know your preference in the comments. Unless Magenta is your thing.

5. My book(s) recommendation for January is: The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel. Also, if you don't already have this gem on your bookshelf (or nightstand), Devotions by Mary Oliver. 

6. It's the Chinese Year of the Rabbit! What's in store for us? To be honest, I'm just happy to be here and I couldn't be bothered with worry or expectations for 2023. I hope you didn't make any New Year's Resolutions? It's more than enough that you are HERE, getting by each day, doing your thing. I'm proud of you. Keep doing what makes you feel good about yourself, inside and out.

7. Your Inner Artist Dates for January: Have you taken yourself on a weekend away? Do it! When last did you visit some FREE (or cheap) local treasures? For example, your local public Library, the nearest theatre or cinema, a botanical garden, a natural history museum, or a night-time market? Visit your local vintage or animal rescue thrift shops and antique shops. What about some simple daytime window shopping, or enjoying a packed lunch at a park? Sit on the grass. Discover, or rediscover your urban or suburban green spaces and use them. Your local council will spend more money on spaces they see people use frequently. Plant nurseries are lovely spaces too. You don't have to buy anything. Just look, and learn. When last, if ever, did you leave your phone in your bag and write a few pages in your journal at a fab coffee shop, or sip in peace and people gaze? I love stationery shops and always leave with a little bag of soul delights...small post-it pad shaped like a daisy, a pen that writes in gold, a bee eraser, and a pocket-sized watercolour visual diary. The idea is to find simple, inexpensive, enjoyable outings, items, or activities aimed at pleasing yourself. Make 2023 the year you finally decide to put yourself center and front in your life. You can't water anything from an empty watering can, right?

8. This January, get your personal spending and finances in order. It's important. Check on your Subscriptions and cancel those that are infrequently used. Just because you might sign-in is not a good enough reason to keep a sub. Toss it. The same goes for any clothes you absolutely don't adore, and those you haven't worn in months. Toss them too (animal charity shops will love your donations) While you're clearing out you may as well expand this action to your kitchen cupboards and the 'fridge. Now that you're well on the way to feeling lighter inside, wash those windows and curtains. You can do this, honey!

9. Dial down the news, quit doomscrolling. If you insist on making New Years' Resolutions let this be the first on your list. More than 90% of events (aka clickbait) you read, see or hear which make the news, are specifically there to target distracted mindsets and generate capital for the media outlets. If it's hateful, derogatory, misogynistic, insulting, degrading, demeaning, sexist, ageist, exclusionary, elitist, classist...or any of the other foul 'ists'...steer well away. Keep your mind free of these dirge pitfalls. Staring into the darkness will give you nightmares (at the very least). The world, our world, is filled with incredible beauty and many good and kind people. Look up. Look to those who inspire, strengthen and support our best selves. Look to The Helpers. They need us. Find your Muse. Aspire to be the best version of who you want to be. Nothing is written in stone. Reinvent yourself as and when necessary. Don't accept survival mode. Thrive!

10. This year, if you haven't done it yet, adopt an animal in need. Even if it's a Budgie. There is a very special, largely unexplored area of what we know as The Human Experience, which is the magical bond with other nations, other kingdoms...specifically The Animal Kingdom. Make the effort to truly connect with your animal companion... as equals, not owners, masters, or mistresses. I see my relationship with Nisha, Augusta, Lally, Roxy, Tweeny, and Carla as 'a Mother-and- her- children' but my aim is to develop our relationship to one of deeper mutual understanding, and to see them as individuals with personal agency. Wish me luck (they still widdle in the house! I won't name names) 

11. This is specifically for those of you who moan about all the tail ends on some of my patterns. You may not believe me but they're there for your own good. Hand sewing, the literal action itself not the end result as such, has been shown to be every bit as beneficial to your mental and physical health as meditation. There are many articles online to back me up. HERE is one for starters.

12. Lastly, don't forget that NO is a complete sentence. Stick to your healthy boundaries. It will get easier to enforce them. If you dissolved boundaries last year because you were moving too fast ( literally and figuratively ), became distracted, overworked, scattered, and frantic with trying to get your or your Fams life back on track to pre-covid times, don't stress. Make that Artists Date with yourself, take a deep breath when you are in a calm space, and very gently whisper back your boundaries. If you must, write them down. Do this mindfully. Remember, words are powerful, and you'll be casting your own personal protection spells. 

 And because this is a Crochet Blog (kinda) I'm back to gifting one lovely free crochet pattern from a talented designer, so don't forget to leave your Ravelry name with your comment.

May 2023 be all you hope for it to be.

Take excellent care of your dear selves. 

Chat soon!

Love,

Jen xx

 Good morning, Lovelies!

Welcome to the Chinese Year of the Tiger...which means it's still OK to wish you all a VeRy HApPY NeW YeAr, right?! Mr Floral Hook is a Tiger so I'm expecting great things from him this Tiger Year.😁

🌸 Some of you Lovelies may recall my last blog post... which was in October last year. I simply ran out of fuel after that. You can say and do only so much before a pitstop is in order. I went through quite an odd phase though. Definitely had something to do with all our lockdowns where I became hooked on the bad habit of bingeing on Podcasts and Vlogs...to the point where it didn't feel healthy anymore. What I mean is, and you might disagree, but watching so much of what other people are doing, is weird? LOL! It struck me, suddenly, as incredibly weird and dare I say...voyeuristic? To boot, and this is no critique on Vloggers and Podcasters...but seriously, why was I watching someone chat endlessly about themselves, sometimes day in and day out ( even if it was about crochet, or whatever ) I literally watched a Vlog of someone cleaning their shabby ( but charming ) kitchen and it wasn't even a lesson in cleaning or renovation! At that point, I knew I was waaaaaay too far down the wormhole. The only way out was to immediately, without another thought, go cold turkey. Crikey, easier said than done! I've definitely developed a new understanding of Voyeurs! And also, for those who feel the necessity to be constantly seen and heard, lest they disappear into a perfectly normal and largely uneventful existence. It's been 122days since I watched a Vlog. I should get a medal or something?😆

🌸 So, that was the conclusion of my first set of thinky-thoughts. The next set of thinky-thoughts ( now that I was a recovering Vlog voyeur with TIME on my hands ) involved crochet and my obsessive compulsion to always be busy with hook, yarn and notebook while simultaneously, and with so much longing, daydreaming about watercolour florals, drawing, botanical-inspired walks, ocean wave and/or cloud gazing and other similar delightful escapes into the realms of forbidden pleasures. I say "forbidden pleasures" because the "work ethic" has been well and truly branded into my hardworking backside! Ordering a new watercolour paint set, a clutch of deliciously rounded paintbrushes and a cold-pressed watercolour A5 pad felt absolutely illicit! I could just as well have been ordering a plain brown- paper wrapped package ( nudge, nudge, wink, wink )

Some of you may know that my real job was once helping people get their heads shrunk. So I'm not totally rubbish at self-therapy. To cut a long story short...that's where I am at the moment...on the beach with Roxy and Lally, or crouched under cooling tree canopies watching Ants drag bits of insect carcass into their sandy parlours ( oh, lawdy, am I an Ant voyeur? ), or frequently traipsing around the green belts of our beautiful Cape, or on a cool morning, sat quietly by the garden fishpond sketching and painting dragonflies and wildflowers ( ok, the garden weeds if you must ). In short, I am having a wonderful time. I highly recommend shutting off all your devices for a meaningful period of time and looking up, or down. It's amazing what's going on while we think we're engaging with "real stuff" via our social media accounts.

🌸 I'm not entirely away with the fairies. I am crocheting, but vicariously through our Group members. I can't see myself picking up a hook until April ( at least ) when the weather turns squarely to face late Autumn. All that thinking made me acknowledge ( and accept ) that my brain really only works properly, for crochet that is, at 23 degrees Celcius, and lower. I'm dead serious! Must be all that Northern European and Finnish DNA, right? You'd think six or so generations of life under the African sun would have made a difference to how I adapt to heat. But no. In the immortal words of Monty Python's famous Parrot skit; I pine for the Fjords ( still )

🌸 The background to all this thinky-thought stuff, the traipsing, the sweeping leaves, the watercolour floral flow, and gazing at nothing, in particular, is that I am quietly percolating new ideas. It happens naturally when you let yourself off the "busyness train". I highly recommend it! In fact, stop reading this right now and go find yourself an Ant to observe.😄

( Our very old Gumtree at the bottom of the garden sheds like a shaggy dog! I'm endlessly captivated by the gorgeous colours of the dried leaves which I sometimes sweep into a pile but then allow the wind to blow them around again )

( Be as happy as Roxy on the beach, covered in sand )

( Will sun-gazing through the branches of a tree EVER get old? )

( Or watching Miss Augusta dreaming that she's a super-cat flying through space? )

( Lally, our Beach Diva...LOVES the ocean, and knows how to strike a pose for the Puppyrazzi too )

( Mr Floral Hook promised me a yacht for Xmas...oh, well, paddle-boats are good for the legs, right? )

( Up and down mountains )

( These two! Up, and down, for anything! )

( An attempt to become one with the foliage. Our day trip to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens )

( Come for a visit...it's only a number! )

( Playing with your fur-babies is the best free therapy )

( Mind-less enjoyment with paint and brushes. Just do it. It's SO GOOD for the soul )

Lovelies, take special care of your precious selves. Don't forget to stop and smell the Roses. These beauties opened in a day because of the heat. I can't stop looking at them each time I pass by. I've placed them in the parlour ( entrance hall? ) so they are hard to miss. Make sure that wherever your eye stops, there is something gorgeous there that lightens your day.

Hugs,

💗 Jen

PS: The REAL reason I'm not crocheting at the moment.

PPS: If you'd like to win a surprise FREE pattern from an amazingly wonderful crocheter ( NOT ME, lol ), then don't forget to leave your Ravelry name in the comments section below. I'll pick 5 winners in a random draw and send your prize to you on Friday 11 Feb.😁

🌸🌸🌸