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

Tropical Orchid

All sewn up and just in time for spring ~

 Kid mohair & silk, candy stripes, delicate texture, intricate lace pattern...

It took a while but it was worth it.

I love the organic edge the stitch pattern created.

It's on Ravelry here

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!

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