cards cards cards

I got a good amount of them today

 This one is my favourite of the season ~

 "...it's topsy turvy, like you..."

This is one I bought in Latvia, but it's not for me

shave it for later

So, a recent obsession with all things moustache has now joined my eternal love for beards.
I have decided to inflict this upon others, in the form of knitted gifts.
They have (fortunately) been well received.

 

I got the pattern here for free

Knitted Bikini

I recently had the dilema of what to make for a friend who is off to Australia for a year. It's got to be handmade, obviously and preferably knitted (to remind her of me!), yet remain practical for her adventure...

The answer, of course, was a knitted bikini:

I found a free pattern called the BVI Bikini on Ravelry.

I followed it true to word, until it came to adding the straps (I'm still getting used to crochet patterns; so sometimes it's easier to freestyle it still).

The ties were a row of chain stitch which I then worked dch (double chain stitch) into.

It was nice and quick to knit up, I think I'll have to make one for myself too.

 The best tip I picked up fron this pattern, is after the cups have been knitted, you should hand sew elastic around the edges of them.  This will make them stay in place and give them the hold that commerical bikinis made from synthetic fabrics have.

I'm happy to say that my friend absolutely loved it ("The best present ever!") and it fitted her perfectly!

Just a special something for those cooler, nightime beach parties perhaps?

All the best, Saz!

xxx

Lace Knit Purse

Here's a little something I knitted up for a friend's birthday a few months back.  Her favourite colour is purple so this sparkly yarn had her name written all over it.  I began to knit the Lacy Drawstring Bag pattern from Textured Knits (Julia Cooper) but decided to freestyle it into a purse instead.

I used a contrast mint coloured yarn and added this minature sweet buttons for the opening.

It went down a treat!

You can buy the book here

It's got some great patterns in it, I'll post my other knits from it soon!

Skully Potholder

This is a potholder I knitted as a house warming present for a friend of mine; I adapted a free knitting pattern for a dishcloth I found on Ravelry that created the skull shape by simply switching between knit and purl at the right time. Instead of changing stitch I changed colour; then reversed the row and colours on the flip side.

To finish I crocheted a hoop so it could be hung. I find double knitting projects really satisfying not only whilst working on but also the chunkier feel to the fabric when they are complete.
Many thanks to Dee Brown for listing this pattern for free on Ravelry!

Abergavenny: Discovery Beautiful Countryside & Knitted Treasures!

I was lucky enough to get away camping for a few days this August Bank Holiday Weekend; the destination being Abergavenny in Wales, situated between the Brecon Beacons & the Forest of Dean; MTB perfection! We had some fun treking to the tops of some rather big hills on the bike, with our dog closely following, to discover some wonderful views such as this:Without boring you all too much with my holiday snaps; here's only a couple from a beautiful little cycle we had along a canal one day too:

On my final day there we spotted signs for a Gift Fair that was being held in Abergavenny Town Hall and had to stop off for a quick peak! It was definitely worth it; there was everything from stalls of old-school comics & action figures; to books, craft supplies (wonderful!), local hand made food, jewellery to name a few!

An absolutely fantastic find was Odd Balls stall; chock full of fabulous bags, broaches, phone holders, purses and such, all made my a lovely lady named Belinda. She uses 'odds & bods' to create some very irrestistable recycled goodies!

Here was my handmade souvenir from her; a big & beautiful purple flower broach! Please e-mail Belinda on bee.oddballs@gmail.com to find out more!

My second fantastic knitted discovery was Amanda Bland's stall. She is a knit wear designer who creates unquie hand knitted scarves; not only does she sell these but also an amazing array of yarn, needles & all the patterns so you can recreate them yourself too!

My favourite was the 'Big Necklace' and after a lot of umming and ahhh-ing I finally went for a green - purple - yellow - sparkle eyelash style yarn to take home with me!

Here is my creation of it all:

A close up to show off the super snazzy yarn used to make my new scarf / necklace!

Please e-mail Amanda on a.j.bland@hotmail.co.uk; there was a wonderful selection to choose from!

On my list of things I wanted to find this holiday was a pot of locally produced honey; which was being sold in the gift fair. Already started on it as you can see; it tastes delicious! Also came away with a handful of jars of various chunteys; which have all been sampled and are so, so tasty! Buying local honey something we should all be doing, it is a super easy way to help support all the bee keepers and help save the honey bees!

I also have to mention the brilliant caravan / campsite we pitched ourselves up at; which I really, really to recommend staying at if you are thinking of visiting the area for a few days: www.blossompark.co.uk

The owners were so friendly and accomodating! It was in a perfect location; stunning scenery, short drive/ride to the village, lovely clean toilets/showers, electricty, cheap to rent a good size pitch... The owners even lent us a pack of playing cards on a rainy night! (I'd forgotten my knitting...)

So; all in all, a fantastic trip!

Egg Mag!

I have been using my old copy of the fantastic Egg Mag to create paper bags, which I use to sell my items in at my market stalls.

Here they are having made themselves onto the lovely EggMag's website:

http://www.eggmag.co.uk/eggstras/eggcam.html

Check them out and keep your eye out around London & Brighton for a free copy of the mag, it's utterly awesome!!!

Not to mention the magazine which inspired me to donate my profit from all of my bee sales to help save the honey bees!

I have also finally been able to part with my pile of old Howies catalouges; (for some reason they're so lovely it's hard to part with them?!) by recycling them in the same fashion.

Have a look through my previous posts for some pics of them! Better still, come and see me on Sunday's at the Backyard Market on Brick Lane and view them for real!

See my website for more information on my creations & my honey-bee-saving-bees!

www.laurabaxendale.co.uk

Fantastic Fathers Day Recycled Beer Gifts!

The perfect present for a beer drinking Dad on Fathers day!

Only £10 per pair!

Order before this Wednesday to recieve in time for Fathers Day - Check out this link for more styles:

www.laurabaxendale.webs.com/cufflinks.htm

Cufflink bases are more than secure, are nickel plated and bottle tops have been sanded down with lots of care via moi so a pair of these will make a shirt shine not snag!

Knitted Treasure Bags

Further additions to the gift bag range; here are my first three knitted bags, intened for phones, cameras, MP3 players, treasures, playing cards, mula, gifts, trinkets and all that jazz!

Knitted from all those little bits of yarn still hanging around from the winter's hats & socks projects. These will be available for purchase from my market stall, with more designs and sizes soon to follow!

Only £6.00 each!

Multicoloured hand dyed purpley merino wool from wales, with recycled lilac and wooden bead drawstring fastening.

Green and black striped bag, ribbed merino wool pattern with elasticated top.

Green & purple alpaca, with plastic diamonte button and loop fastening.

Recycled Paper Gift Bags

Here's a little sample of the gift bags I make using recycled catalouges, flyers and whatever else people have finished reading already!

All the lovely people who buy my jewellery at my stalls and online get it handed to them in one of these... Unless of course they just want the empty bags; then I happily sell them separately too!

WWW.LAURABAXENDALE.CO.UK

Keep your eye out, they may be available online soon too!