I finally got round to paying a visit to Ayoka; a charity shop run by the St Margarets House Settlement. Before I knew it was one of their projects, I used to cycle past it on my commute to work and was always intrigued to pay it a visit.
The shop is small and requires a bit of a rummage in some corners... Organised but still a bittle of a jumble... Just they way charity shops should be.
I got this beaut of a cardi there:
Check out the crocheted epaulettes
What makes this cardi like none other I've seen are these fantastic crocheted patches (doilies!) on the side, spreading from front to back.
The front and back sections have been knitted separately and stitches cast off/on to leave an open space for the crochet design to be sewn into; the picot edge allowed to float freely.
Along the arms is a criss-cross and bobble pattern;
not too dissimilar to the cardigan I am knitting for myself at the moment:
St Margarets House run so many different projects; including the Gallery Cafe, literally next door to the charity shop. I stopped in there for lunch & ended up staying for hours... All the food is either vegetarian or vegan and very reasonably priced; I had a homemade vegan burger and it was probably the best I've found in London yet!
Take a look at their website as they also hold craft/sewing events there too... I might try to get involved!
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