Linen Love

An inherent quality of linen is the endless design stories it creates for living spaces and wardrobe alike. I am especially drawn to the fiber due to it's cool, fresh quality that is in stark contrast to the extreme hot weather climates I call home. This past summer stood out as one of the most brutal recorded in the Middle East, no doubt the driving force behind my continued obsession with natural fibers.  Linen is notoriously laborious to manufacture, but an affair with this ancient fiber, dating back thousands of years, is a lovestory for life! Linen is going through a revival stage with bloggers such as Beth from LocalMilk honouring the integrity, showcasing the beauty of the fiber in their daily narratives. 

The pincushion above and the broach below is by the uber talented Namolio. I was doing the happy dance when I opened my parcel to see that she has gifted me with no less than 3 skeins of 5 ply linen yarn in  3 colourways. What a wonderful gift, thank you so much! The fragrance of lavendar emanating from the pincushion transported me straight back to our summer vacation in Croatia. Ah bliss.

Find Namolio on Etsy for exquisite gifts, Flickr for incredible photography, and Instagram for daily snapshots into her life.

My fingers itched to give the linen yarn a whirl and the result is this textural piece hooked from a pattern by another very talented woman, Sandra, the driving force behind the Mobiusgirl label. She has just started her own blog on which you will find the pattern for this beautiful mandala. I have yet to decide what to do with my mandala, but see some of the options below! 

Have a great weekend, we are off to enjoy bistro style dining in a hip, relaxed atmosphere at Opal, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant where we will be celebrating my birthday that took place earlier this week. 

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!