Want to win a frog beanie? Like Share Win!

Anne and I are running a give-away on facebook: please pop over to the Jam Tarts page here so you don’t miss out.

The beanie can be sent anywhere in the world, and will be specially made in the size of your choice (baby, toddler, child, teen, adult).

Our photo features Aidan Joseph, the sweetest and most handsome boy in the southern suburbs, and a very patient model.

We also want to start sending out a short email newsletter once a month, so if you’d like to be on the mailing list please send me your email address.  (Been meaning to get around to this for nearly a year now – you know how it goes!)

Back soon x

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my goodies

You know how nice it is when you win something and then the post office notifies you that it’s arrived and then you go and collect it? This was like that!

I won Jane’s last give-away, from Rainbow Junkie Corner, and very pleased I am about it.

I plan to make a chunky cowl with the yarn, using all three colours in bands. It’s finally getting a bit cooler in Cape Town, so maybe autumn isn’t too far off and cowls will be wearable again.

Not sure about the buttons but I don’t have any quite like them, so they’ll definitely find a good use soon.

The bookmarks – well, Jane has outdone herself! Never in a million years would I be able to work such tiny and perfect stitches. They are also nice and firm, not floppy, and I certainly have nothing as dainty and quaint as these.

They have already been put to good use.

An aside: I’ve been meaning to read Johnson’s A History of the Jews for years; he’s an immensely readable historian and there are myriad gaps in my knowledge of history (of pretty much most things, actually), so I can’t go wrong. This book belongs to Rob’s dad, he lent it to me – I hope he knows it’ll be a while before it gets returned.

Another aside: David Medalie and I were at UCT together for a while some years ago, David had just completed his PhD at Oxford and had started teaching English and I was registered for my Masters and was tutoring some first-years. I am in awe of his fiction-writing talents, and of course his work is of particular interest to anyone who lives in South Africa.

Thank you to Jane for my lovely crafty goodies. If you haven’t visited her blog yet, now would be a good time. There’s a focus on crochet but also a bit of knitting and the odd recipe thrown in! Can’t go wrong with any of that…

Back soon. x

and the owl cushion goes to…

There are a few more owls now, since last week. They are perched on the top of the couch.

I’ve started doing the eyes differently, which I think looks a whole lot better.  The first owl I did was the one on the right, with green eyes, but he ended up with too much of a horny look. (you know what I mean!)

The winner is welcome to choose whichever owl she wants, from the three that I think are good enough (pink eyes, greenyblue eyes, or grape-coloured).  And since the winner lives far away somewhere in America, I hope she will understand that surface mail is a more cost-efficient way to travel than airmail.   Takes slightly longer, but owls are in no hurry.

Thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who took part, especially those of you who reblogged my post, and those of you who have just met me and decided to become a follower.  This give-away and all the great comments it has generated has been a real boost.  It isn’t just a ploy to spread Nice Piece of Work, it’s how I speed up the process of making new friends and contacts. I wish I could send each of you an owl.

So, Pillows a la Mode, find an empty spot on your couch – you got a new “pillow” coming your way :-)  Please mail me with your address details, and your choice of owl, and I’ll parcel it up.

Owl be seeing ya…

 

 

 

 

 

a WIP Wednesday

Seems like there’s a bit of a “work in progress-Wednesday” thing going on with the crafty blogs, so here’s what I’ve been fitting in every now and then.

You knew I was gonna come up with something like this one of these days, right!? It’s almost finished, and Alex made me drag it outside into the sunshine for a proper pic. Jessie (aka Flotsam) refused to sit on it but that’s because I used the sheep to model the blue hat yesterday, and not her, so she’s sulking.

I picked the stool up at some junk shop or other, with the idea of painting the legs and mosaicing the top. As far as I can remember, anyway. But I’m very pleased with my first yarnbomb effort and I’m starting to look at other things around here that might benefit from similar treatment. The couch? Bedside table? Jessie?

And I haven’t forgotten that midnight tonight is the cut-off time for picking someone’s name for the owl cushion give-away. It’s been such a fun and gratifying thing to do, I wish I could give everyone an owl!

Watch this space….  

my first jar entry

At last – my first “happy event” of 2013 to write down and add to my jar: the arrival of my give-away goodies from Patricia at Daniella Joe’s blog, in Florida, USA. Thank you so much, Patricia, it was SO nice to finally find the parcel notification in the mail box, and to open the presents. (It’s been a long long time since I received anything wrapped in christmas paper!)

Last winter Karen made herself fingerless gloves with that soft fuzzy Boa yarn and they were gorgeous, so I think I’ll use my gift for a pair of those. Karen already copied the pattern for me, now all I have to do is locate it….

The little mirror is just my taste – I have lots of Indian-y things in my flat, and I think with a magnet stuck on the back, this will look perfect on my fridge.

And as for arts and crafts keeping me sane – well, Patricia, I don’t think I ever really made the sanity grade even before I started painting and knitting – but it’s a nice thought!

I see from wikipedia that you live next to Dade County, which is where the book I’m reading at the moment is set (Stormy Weather, Carl Hiaasen). He makes me laugh out loud.

I hope your generosity gets returned to you times two. I’ll post a pic of the gloves when they’re ready, although it won’t be cold enough to wear them here for a while yet. But when it is, brrrrr, I’ll probably keep them on when I go to bed.

To be continued…