Almost Done!!

I started crochet-ing a blanket in February of this year...FINALLY, almost a year later, I am almost done! Its been months and months of work, but I'm so pleased I've stuck by it because its really coming together nicely! :

The Christmas Gift Fair

T'Neal and I went to The Christmas Gift Fair on Thursday morning of this past week. It was the last day that it was on & we didn't want to miss it.. We had such a lovely time...! Grace was as good as gold (as usual) & at one point, she had everybody within earshot smiling as she was laughing and making the cutest sounds.

The Christmas Gift Fair was quite different this year - no cheesy Christmas music on repeat... a more spacious layout & some really high class exhibitors. Tina Bester was there with her book, BAKE, which I absolutely love...I love it even more that she had a few of her bakes on sale! This year, there was a sit-down-and-drink-coffee (-and-eat-Tina-Bester's-cake) which we enjoyed making use of!

So Funny

Yesterday, on our way to Constantia, along Spaanschemat River Road (T'Neal was driving)...and the next thing, mid-conversation, we saw a CRAB about 10cm wide, crossing over the road, just at the moment before it disappeared from view under the car [how it got near the middle line without getting squished, I have no idea!]

It all happened in a second: T'Neal sighed with relief & said "Sjoe! I didn't get it....oh! the car behind me did".

Seriously: a crab. In the middle of the road.

In short, the second thing I am going to share is this:

Third Anniversery

Geoff woke me up around 5.45am this morning...he bought a phone fax machine on auction on monday so that was our present to ourselves. We had fun leaving a message...then we went to Muizenberg for a lovely surf...followed by breakfast at Chartfield :)

Joshua

My little nephew, Joshua is about 5 weeks old and already he is dressed like a grown up little person! He looks so much like my lovely brother :)

Summer Almost Here!

We are down at Muizenberg & I have had my first surf since getting back from our trip to the East. It is such a gorgeous day...I think everybody is so ready for it to be full summer. How I love Spring! :)

I'll Just Keep Dreaming...

I got up at 4am this morning to bid on this GORGEOUS vintage enamel pitcher & mugs on EBay. Unfortunately, in the last 10 seconds of the auction, the price DOUBLED (yes - doubled) in price then went up a few more times. It was very disappointing but I just wasn't willing to go up to $128.50 + $16.50 for shipping (to my friend in the USA that kindly said I could ship to her as the auction dude wouldn't ship out of the USA)!! :(

If anybody can find these for me for less, I'll be very happy!!

Vintage Arabia FINEL Enamel Pitcher and 3 Mugs Kaj Franck

Up for auction is a wonderful vintage Mid Century Modern Arabia FINEL white pitcher and 3 mug set, with the red hearts, designed by Kaj Franck of Finland. This hard-to-find set still has the silver label on all the pieces with FINEL, Wartsila, Finland. The pitcher measures 7 ½” x 4 ½” and the mugs each measure 3” x 3”. This vintage set is in excellent like-new condition. It looks like it has never been used! The only flaw is a scratch/chip on the side of the handle on the pitcher, and an imperfection in the bottom of a red heart on one of the mugs, both shown in pictures. There is no shelf wear or scratches on the bottom of any of the pieces. This set is a real find!!!

Rachel Denny

I was looking for a pattern to crochet a bumble bee & stumbled on Rachel Denny's website. How unbelievably cool is this?! :

She has also made the most beautiful knitted bunnies (see her website's recent work) & other animals. I just love the trophees though -

"Denny is best known for her “Domestic Trophies” work—deer heads covered in cozy cashmere cable knit woolens and the like."

I'll take the pink one, please!

Light & Landscape

I just love overcast and rainy days when the light comes through the clouds without the sun breaking through, giving an infinite play of muted colours to the day :)

I popped in at Karen (my porcelain teacher) yesterday to fetch my latest creation..

I borrowed Jocelyn's teardrop shaped mini cookie cutter which I used to cut 'droplets' out of the form that I made out of porcelain.

Karen then showed me the technique of painting porcelain slip onto tissue paper & sticking it to the inside of the holes - this made a clay paper thin layer & has given  this beautiful light effect after the glaze firing.

The teardrop shape inspired me to create this piece - to paint rain clouds & landscape onto my form with almost see-through raindrops.

My (Old) New Baby

A beautiful vintage Singer sewing machine came into Geoff's shop on Wednesday & he decided to gift me with it!! I actually can't believe it's mine! :)

I've done a bit of research & found this site which, according to its serial number, falls here: EG-312.861 to EG-999.999 and places my machine in 1951 - May of that year to be exact and one of the 128K series & there were 3000 made in this series.

It is beautifully painted! It took me a little while, but I managed to find a free manual to download to see how to thread it correctly...

After looking up and fiddling a bit with the bullet-shaped shuttle for the bottom thread, I managed to sew a bit...and it works so beautifully!

Tara Duff

I got my daily knitting / crochet / craft magazine email newsletter today as usual & this little gem was found! Tara Duff, crochets bearded beanies. How very awesome! :)
Her Etsy shop is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/taraduff

Camera Case

A friend mailed me yesterday to ask if I knew of a free pattern for a handbag and a camera case. I have been looking for a suitable camera bag for my G10 as the one that I have is WAY too big and bulky for travel....and making one is the perfect solution! 

I found a great tutorial with step by step instructions...hauled my sewing machine and some fabric (I actually found some batting too!) and sewed up a test sample. 

I always think of things when I'm finished creating something which is why I did the test. I did a second test one with a pocket in front to keep my spare memory card... The tutorial was for a camera to slip in vertically, but I want to keep the camera strap around my neck as the strap & I just need something to protect my camera when it is in another bag...so this is the result:

I am going to make my final one out of some of my Amy Butler fabric....and try and put something together for my Canon Selphy printer too! :)

Hot Water Bottle Cover

I finally have a picture of the hot water bottle cover that I made for Robyn for her birthday. The pattern I used is the African Flower pattern:

The Pretty Blog

I discovered the most beautiful wedding blog a few weeks back & have kept the page open in my browser window since so that I can keep checking on the updates. It is simply called "the pretty blog"

I love the ideas, the styling, the photo shoots....... Take a look for yourself!

Impaired Concentration

Our trip is around the corner (less than 3 weeks) and my head is FULL of airplanes. I am so distracted thinking about our trip that I could not concentrate any longer & decided to do some felting today. This is partly to keep me occupied & partly in preparation for our Artist's Book Club exhibition which will be held in November.

These are the items I made today:

I just love my little red one I made on my felting course,
so I made a grey, cream & black Felted Bowl

I have been very busy in pottery with the creation of flower design brooches
which are intended to close these 'fitted' scarves.
This one is felted out of Merino fibers with dyed Merino & tapestry wool felted into it.

This one is felted out of Merino fiber with Karakul & silk as well as light grey fiber felted into it. I will still sew into this design to accentuate the grey areas.

This is the original 'fitted' scarf that I created which gave me the idea to do more.
It is felted out of different colour dyed Merino wool fiber.

Muizenberg

James and his flatmates came down to Muizenberg yesterday for their first South African surf experience... I was already surfed out so I didn't join them in the fun...I'd had a lot of my own fun already with over an hour's surf & loads of 'lekker' waves! :)

Saturday + James

Yesterday I went through to Newlands to visit some family friends & get some tips on China from them.. I headed to The Biscuit Mill market to meet up with my friend James from Canada who is in Cape Town on an internship for 5 months... We also popped into the BeadBoys shop which is always such a great experience: I just LOVE how the shop is colour coded :)

James and I went to What if the World gallery on Albert street (I've always wondered how to find it but have never been able to!) and had a look at their exhibition, Double Entry by Dan Halter:

I particularly liked a video installation based on the old 'Space Invaders' game, where a number of people are shown walking back and forth across the bridge between South Africa & Zimbabwe. Every now and then, piteeeuw-piteeuw and somebody gets 'shot' and climbs over the back of wall & the remaining people keep moving back and forth...

 

More about the exhibition as per the gallery writeup:

DOUBLE ENTRY is Dan Halter’s second solo show in South Africa after his 2006 exhibition entitled Take me to your leader at João Ferreira Gallery.

As a relatively fortunate Zimbabwean living in South Africa, Halter investigates and draws attention to the plight of less fortunate fellow Zimbabweans now displaced in South Africa. Dubbed the pejorative ʻkwerekwereʼ these foreigners are often confronted with xenophobic violence by their South African counterparts. Halter is also concerned with the relations between the two neighbouring countries. He seeks to interrogate empty promises made by governments on both sides.

Informed by two field trips to the Beitbridge border between Zimbabwe and South Africa, this new body of work looks at the notorious barrier and the passage Zimbabwean immigrants face in order to get into South Africa. With a touch of Halter’s own dark humour, this exhibition of video, print and installation relates to these ongoing issues.

Halter has taken part in numerous group exhibitions including Dak’Art 2010 (9th Biennial of Contemporary African Art), the 11th Harare International Festival of Art (HIFA 2010), the 10th Havana Biennial in 2009, the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial in 2008 and the 16th VideoBrasil in 2007.

In 2008 Halter also exhibited in Milan with a solo show titled never say never at the Derbylius Gallery. That same year he was nominated as one of the MTN New Contemporaries and he took part in two residencies, one in Zürich and one in Rio de Janeiro.

Halter has recently been selected to take part in the Glenfiddich Artist in Residence program in Scotland in July 2010.

Crochet Purse

Inspired by the African Flower crochet pattern group on Flickr, I have made a gift purse for Katherine for her birthday today :)

(She's saving up to buy some gorgeous shoes she's seen and has requested some funds to help her afford them - what better way to "present" money than in a purse!)

Travel Plans...

One of my most favorite things in the whole world is...the whole world!

I am so excited: Geoff and I have booked our flights for our trip in August/September!

Pouring over the atlas...a most fantastic book that Robyn gave to us as a wedding gift: "MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME ON EARTH" > worth a look inside! ...Guide books "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" by Lonely Planet..."Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau" and the Rough Guides and Lonely Planet guide for China.

We have spent a few hours with both the China guides & its not easy to decide which to buy - The Lonely Planet (LP) one has all the Chinese characters next to the English names of things....but the Rough Guides (RG) seems to have much more amazing info than LP.  Plus, one of the reviews I read said that once people start going to all the places in LP, they end up becoming really touristy & that RG has more 'off the beaten track' info.

Oh what to do... at least we've got until we leave to return the one that we decide not to keep. They're so heavy and (not to mention expensive)...or I'd say lets keep both! :)

(If anybody knows anything about these books & which one is best, please comment & let me know!!)

Our route looks as though its going to be:

• 
  
  SINGAPORE:
  Cape Town to Singapore
  2 night in Singapore

• 
  
  INDONESIA:
  Singapore to Bali
  From Bali we will make our way over 3 weeks to Jakarta
  
  Jakarta to Hong Kong
  2 nights in Hong Kong
  
• 
  
  CHINA:
  Hong Kong to Donggong
  Donggong to Guangzhou
  Guangzhou to Shanghai
  Shanghai to Shijiazhuang
  Shijiazhuang to Beijing
  
• 
  
  Beijing back to Cape Town.

New Colours

Oh sweet crochet addiction!

I found these mohair colours at the waterfront when Geoff and I went through last Saturday - The result is one of many...of which one is that my double bed blanket of granny squares as taken a further step back from a completion date.

I am totally smitten with the African Flower pattern! I went to the Wool Boutique in Fish Hoek on Friday and got some cotton, new wool and bamboo colours to compliment my mohair colours: