so excited

New found respect for H&M as I recently found out a lot more about how the company operates - very anti sweat shops.  

Even more so when I found out they are collaborating with Brick Lane Bikes

[best bike shop in town]

Current Addiction

Avocados.  Also, painting my nails.  Seriously, every day.  Waiting for/traveling on public transport.  That spare 5 mins before the working day starts that should be spent consuming caffiene.  On my lunch break.  Before I'm rushing out at night.  Before I'm going to bed... There's always a spare few minutes that can incorporate it....


I got some wonderfully tacky diamonte nail stickers given to me this week, so kids/psychedlic nails have been for the win the last couple of days.

I want to do something like this though:

Mary Katrantzou

So cool

finger paint

glitter slime nails

+ 

space nails

mohair pullover

I went back to my family home a few months back and one of my favourite things to do, is rummage through the shambles of my old bedroom (I left it in such a mess!), find old projects & remind myself of the substantial wool stash still there.  I found this half-finished project, from maybe three years ago.  I'd done it all - the knitting, the side seams, everything except sewing up the shoulder seams.  I have to idea what stopped me (read: distracted me) but I brought it back to my London space and have finally sewn it up.  Now it just needs it debut wear (which I think will have to happen today).

I improvised this pattern and can't remember the details; but here is how I appear to have made it...

 There's a K2 P2 rib an inch high at the bottom edge to help give some shape.

 The front & back were knitted in two separate pieces, just plain stocking stitch [I was letting the yarn do the talking with this one] then sewn together down the sides.

However, around halfway up the front piece I knitted a row of purl stitches, which gives the impression of a seam - I'm not too sure if this was purposeful, but I like the appearance of structure it creates.

The shoulder seam is only a few inches wide, allowing the sleeves to hang naturally.

I'm really happy with the volumous shape that the knitting creates - the front has more fabric then the back piece does, which presensts itself as a cowl style neck.  The pullover measures roughly 19" long and 22" wide.  The best thing is, I also found a fair amount of this yarn left, so there's room for some matching items too...

Here is it on Ravelry [with a few extra pics]

Pleat Treat

I've been brooding for a pleated midi for a small while now.

On the off chance, I thought I'd check out the charity shops of Richmond on my lunch break today.

I walked into the Cancer Research shop on the corner of Hill Street and there it was.

The skirt I'd been wanting all this time.

Brand new with tags.

In my size.

[What are the chances?!]

 I also had to have a quick gaze at the jewellery section.

I found this piece.

At first I picked it up as I thought it would be great to reuse all the chain for my creations.

Then I realised I actually quite like it just for myself.

That's my outfit sorted for the rest of May then...

[just the way] i like to shop

Tuesday was a day well spent. 

It started with a quick trip to my local charity shop Scope, as I'd seen a dress in there last week and was silly enough to walk away from it. 

Lucky, though, it was still there.

It's not usualy something I'd go for, but it really called out to me and for £5, you can't go wrong. 

I had an Etsy order to ship out to the States I was quite happy about - the first chain maile necklace I'd put online sold, so watch this space for more very soon.  For now, though, I still have bicycle chain bracelets, chain maile earrings & my charity bees for sale...

I enjoyed the nice 4 or so mile walk down to Spitlefields and met up with my good friend Penny; then spent the day wandering Old Spitlefields market & reminiscing in the vintage shops along Brick Lane.

I got some great buys...

First up, was these cool carved characters:

Hand crafted animal pens!

Ace.  There were so many others too... Turtles, lions, wolves, sharks, birds...

 Then I came across the stall of Conquer clothing.

Original (and ethical) illustrated vests, tees, sweatshirts, hoodies and artwork.

So refreshing.
Actually some unique illustration out there which makes a change. 
Fell in love.
Although my vest has quite an optimistic feel to it, a lot of the designs had a real dark side to them. 

I like.

The third amazing find was a stall full of the most beautiful handmade, semi-precious stone jewellery I have possibly ever seen:

 (My own chain maile necklace is sneaking in this photo - and the charity shop dress I'd picked up that morning...)

This fabulous woman was making these beauts using gold wire & stones to create rings, which she sells with a chain, so you can choose to wear it on your finger, or round your neck.

I found it so hard to pull myself away.
So I came away with this white quartz necklace and this turquoise, rose & lilac stone ring ~

Here's mine & Penny's new rings...
  She was such a wonderful person too; unfortunately she didn't have a website, but go find her in Old Spitlefields Market or Portobello. Now.

The green beaded ring I got for Penny as part of her birthday present (this Friday 13th) from Trade charity shop on Holloway Road.  {Love that shop}

She also got a token pair of hand knitted socks this year, too ~

~ and she loved them, hurrah!

Older & Bolder

Flicking through one of last week's Metro paper on my break, this article snapped up my attention:

I always used to see the lady on the right on Brick Lane when I had my market stall there.
She always looked so good.  I hope I'm as stylish when I grow up.
These lady's look amazing.  I bet it's so effortless for them too.

BUY my BOW BELLE vest

Last year I entered the Design a Vest competition ran my London knitwear company Grannies Inc. and won!

As a result; my design is now available to buy from their website here:

The vest is machine knitted using 100% pure american wool and features a plunging v-neck backline, with bow detail and a hand crocheted trim.  The front of the vest has a higher v-neck; although you can choose to wear it whichever way you like

Fairtrade Fortnight + Vivienne Westwood Appreciation

Fairtrade fortnight has started today!

One of the cutest shops I've found was a few years ago in Harrogate... A little fairtrade shop being run by a darling elderly lady in the archway of an old church.  The curved, rustic walls were climbing with handmade jewellery, finger puppets, bags and all sorts.  I'm still so in love with this hand crafted bangle I got myself:

Another fave 'ethical buy' of mine is this t-shirt dress I got last year from People Tree.  Fairtrade, organic cotton and very, very cool...

 It was exclusively designed by Vivienne Westwood -

with some of her wise words on it to boot:

On the subject of the great Dame herself; this artical on her in last week's Metro (20th Feb) put a smile on my face:

 'We are so conformist, nobody is thinking.  We are all sucking up stuff, we have been trained to be consumers and we are all consuming far too much.'

Couldn't agree more with her!

Maybe buying a few less 'unnecessaries' and spending a smidge of that extra money on fairtrade products could make such a difference. 

We're talking food & clothes here - who doesn't like buying either of those?

It's all about consumer power!

How about buying some 'moral coffee' (as a good friend of mine likes to call it...), get some fairtrade bananas in the fruit bowl, go treat yourself to a nice big bar of chocolate (made from tasty fairtrade cocoa) and have a little clicky on the link I've posted below.

Without wanting to like I'm getting into a rant I shall end here and go make myself a nice cup of afternoon tea.  Fairtrade tea - of course...

CHECK OUT MORE ABOUT TAKING A STEP TOWARDS FAIRTRADE

Finally finished my Tropical Orchid....

...Well, almost. 

I still need to tie all the ends in and sew it up -

 but the knitting part is done -

 and that's what really counts, right?

The pattern (Tropical Orchid by Erica Knight) is from an issue of Simply Knitting. 

I saw the top on the front cover and liked it so much it made me buy the magazine. 

A little ignorant of me to really look at how intricate the pattern was...

Took me a little longer than the 1-2 weeks I had hoped for!

Worth it though because the pattern is beautiful and so effective when you see it as a whole piece of fabric. 

I used the left over mohair/silk yarn from my Clouds sweater and so made a few alterations to the original pattern - basically mine is striped and sleeveless, which gives it an entirely different look.

I'll get some far nicer photos taken once the sheets of tendrilous knitting have been transformed into a wearable garment!

Clouds... My First Knitted Sweater

I have finally gotten round to knitting my first ever jumper:

It was great fun; really quick to knit as the stitch pattern is quite loose.

I used Debbie Bliss angel yarn which is a blend of kid mohair and silk and it feels so wonderful!

For the cuffs I knitted with an organic 100% wool dk yarn; all of which I treated myself to from Loop Knitting in Islington. 

The pattern is from this fantastic book I got given second hand.  Seriously worth checking out!

(If you click on the pic it'll take you to it's Amazon page).

There's some great patterns in there and I've already got my yarn lined up for the next one from it...

Grannies Inc Catwalks & Knitting Circle

As you may already be aware; I recently entered Grannies Inc 'Design a Vest' competition and have been lucky enough to be selected as one of the finalists! 

Last week they hosted a couple of catwalks to showcase the chosen designs and gain further opinions as to which vest should be crowned as winning knitting...

 Here is a photo I managed to snap of my vest on the runway in Brixton Village, Thursday evening.  What a treasure trove that place is - I can't wait to go back!  So many kool and adorable shops, places to eat (I had some tasty Japanese food) and local DJ's & bands filling the air.  Great atmosphere there and it was so good to see all the knitwear in real life!  There's some great finalist designs in the competion.

The second catwalk took place on Sunday in London Fields. 

 Not only was there the catwalk taking place, but a knitting circle stitching away throughout the day, which you can see in the background here:

 I actually designed this vest to be worn the other way round to how it is shown on the model; but think it looks good this way too! I guess it could be rotated depending on day / evening wear...

I really love the hand knitted sign Grannies Inc had made for the occassion:

 Not too mention all the free wool that they provided and their signature 'granny' on her rocking chair!

How lovely!

I took the opportunity to teach my good friend (and sewing extraordinaire) Nina how to knit:

She picked it up quick!

Here is some of the swatches we made that afternoon:

So all in all a great couple of days; I loved seeing the designs up close and especially to see how mine looked on another person.

I find it fascinating how differnet they all are; what all the different knitters came up with given the brief to knit a vest that was 'long and loose'.  Everyone has done well to get this far and I feel I've gotten so much out of becoming a finalist I couldn't have wished for more!

Many thanks to Grannies Inc for organising the competition & the catwalks and for giving me this opportunity to be involved in it all!  Also a thankyou to everyone who has voted for me and all the kind words & responses I have recieved.

The winner is announced on 17th July and until then you can still vote for your favourite design(s) on the website right here and go straight to my design here

MY KNITWEAR IS A FINALIST FOR GRANNIES INC - Please Vote!

I recently designed & knitted a vest for a competition that was being run by eco knitwear label Grannies Inc and have been so lucky to have been selected as one of the ten finalists!

All the chosen designs are currently online for the public to vote on;

you can see mine & vote for it here 

and view the other contestants here

I am absolutely elated to have been chosen as a finalist! It really is a wonderful feeling.  There are some great other designs on the website; so let's see what happens!

All the vests will be appearing in two pop-up catwalks next week (details below).  

However; possibly the most exciting part of the competition is that once the winner has been chosen, Grannies Inc are going to be attending a meeting to pitch the design to

the buyers of London's famous Liberty's store!

Here are some photographs I took myself of the vest before I entered it.  They don't show the shade of the top off to it's true potential which is a shame; however the image on Grannies Inc website is perfect and they will also be adding some higer-quality photography of all the finalists' vests very soon!

 So please; if you can spare a minute to rate my knitting; you never know where you may be seeing it for sale in the future...!

 

For now though, come along to the catwalks on Thursday 30th June, Brixton Village from 7pm (catwalks at 7.30 & 9pm) and also on Sunday 3rd July, London Fields from noon (catwalk shows on the hour, every hour).

Many thanks from a very, very, ecstatic Laura!