Pretty Pieces and my dear Katja

Tinctory- I fell in Love with Eva's creations many years ago when it first started making an appearance in my Pinterest feed and finally got around to take the plunge and buy myself something from her Tinctory shop.  Czech born and British based designer, Eva, uses cues from geometry in nature and created several pleating studies over the years which she later translate into wearable jewellery. I love expats artists, you can see the depth of their lifestyle experiences in the works of art and craft they produce. Her pieces are etherial, intriguing, unique and if you page through her Flickr and Blog, you will also fall in love with her photography.  Eva hand dyes repurposed silk and then applies various techniques in her work, among others batik and shibori, knitting and smocking. She scanvenges natural organic materials from the forest floor and her colours represent the forest fodder and seasons. The jewelery exhudes space, stillness and calm. I am completely in love with the Feather I chose and love wearing it. Thank you Eva!

Swoon Lounge is a gorgeous new online shop by Susan Cropper, owner of bespoke yarn shop, Loop London in Islington, London. I had such a great time selecting yarns from the shop during a business trip to London earlier this year, that I knew Swoon Lounge would be a great choice to order a few linen dresses from.  I bought the Bud Dress and Fan dress by Manuelle Guibal  and it quickly became weekend wardrobe staples. Each piece is individually garment dyed and processed by hostoric mills in the French countryside and tailored in pure and simple shapes with sculptural volumes.

I took this picture in the Medieval Mediterranean garden of St Lawrence Monastery high up in the old town of Sibenik, Croatia during the summer holiday. These flowers remind me of delicate tutu wearing ballerinas.

Have a nice weekend, I will be posting more about my latest crochet project that I started making during a trip to Istanbul soon!  I am making a blanket titled "Sprinkles" in the gorgeous Moya, hand dyed organic cotton with a hight twist in a stunning palette of colours. I am in love!


Oh no, I just read the sad news of Katja's passing away on 13 October. RIP Katja, your Versponnenes blog has been a constant favourite of mine over the years and I will miss our bantering over "Visiting Sweden" (Ikea shopping) and me buying "Katja Colours" during one of my King Cole Cotton Bamboo shopping trips.  A recent blanket of mine has been inspired solely by one you made (photo below), I will most definitely be blogging about that next. I am so damn sorry, cancer is a bitch!

Loop London!

Hello!  The Afrikaans word for walk is "loop". I literally did a Loop London two weeks ago when I not only walked and walked, exploring the city on foot, but I also shopped and shopped - at Loop yarn store! I arrived back home with no less than 23 hanks of yarn in Lace (Merino, Silk and Linen) and Worsted Merino by Madeline Tosh, Artisan Yarns, Eden Cottage and The Uncommon Thread.  

I visited the shop twice, the first time to buy the Worsted Merino (6 hanks in purple and green) and linen (oops also 6 hanks in purple and green). What was that all about? Oh wait, I also got married in lilac and mint, those colours must have stuck with me after all these years! At the same time I picked up a few hooks, a pin for a shawl and the glorious Sophie Digard scarf in the above photo.

Once a back at the swanky hotel in Knightsbridge next to Harrods I called home for a few nights, I realised that I shunned the opportunity to buy the most amazing lace-weight yarns.  I have long since admired the work of Alice on Instagram & on her blog.  Right there and then I decided to return to Loop for more shopping as I would like to try my hand at something more delicate in the spirit of Alice's work and needed those lace yarns.  

I then invested in the most beautiful mushroom, stone and greige colours, a yellow, pink and charcoal too and am plotting and planning the next project for these yarns and am already whipping up sample squares to see where it will take me. Of course as I was about to exit the door, I spotted the Sophie Digard necklaces and promptly bought two of those too, one for myself and one for Anisa from Hellohart who introduced me to Editor Dala Watts, leading to an article of my work in the South African Ideas magazine!  I wanted to say thank you in a special way and have been keeping my eyes peeled for that special item that turned out to be the Sophie necklace!

The great thing about the Loop yarn store is also the location (not reflected in the above photo!) They are located in Camden Passage Islington. Camden Passage is world famous for its vintage and contemporary shops, markets and arcades. Be sure to pop into the leather handbag shops near Loop. I dislike the majority of women's bags on sale and much rather buy from markets or independent shops where simplistic styles are crafted by hand. This shop delivered a glorious green leather bag with a huge flap that disguises Ipad and wallet alike.

Just pho you! Finally, just before you hit the Underground, walk across the road where you will find a delectable bowl of Pho in a cafe serving Vietnamese street food. I have had a need for hot, brothy, salty, soothing beef noodle soup ever since we left South East Asia! There are few things better than a tangle of slick rice noodles in a rich, crystal clear, intensely beefy broth; the warm aroma of cinnamon, cloves and star anise rising up in a cloud of steam, balanced by a squeeze of lime and a handful of fresh herbs and chilies. Ah hell, I entered heaven!

Have a great week!