Knitted 1930s Swinsuit

At half term we went into London to visit the V&A. It is a huge museum, but you might have been able to predict that we started in fashion. Then for no real reason we wandered into the Japanese section, followed by ironwork, jewellery and then up to the top where there was an interactive room where we were the only visitors. There we tried on a crinoline, squeeze into a corset, and built our own version of Crystal Place. There was so much to see that it warrants some more visits. 

So rather than swamp you with photos I will just show you my favourite item. This is also to make up for the lack of knitwear on my blog recently. 

This knitted swinsuit must have been the height of fashion in the 1930s. It was made by Neyret, a French designer, and bought in Galeries Lafayette in Regent Street, London. It is really cleverly constructed, and in the reflection you can see the stylish navy side stripe.  I love it. Eat your heart out Madonna.

Big Fat Cookie

You may have noticed that there really seems to be a lack of knitting on my blog. I seem to have slightly lost focus, but it also because I have been working on a new pattern since the start of 2015. It is taking so much longer than I expected. So until that is done, here is a bit more cookery ....

I thought you might like to see what I came back to find the other day. She hadn't baked it, but my daughter had prepared this enormous cookie. She used this Millie's Cookie recipe, just leaving out the chocolate chips, and came up with the design herself. The letter cutters were from Santa, but he got them from Tiger. I took the photo below to try and show the scale. Despite its huge size the cookie still disappeared incredibly quickly.

Year of the Sheep

Happy Chinese New Year

2015 is The Year of the Sheep

Non Cook Raspberry Fudge

I saw a link on Inspire Me Wednesday at Adventures of Mel for a non-cook fudge. The recipe is on Simple Stacie, and it definitely took some of the stress out of fudge making.

We couldn't find the right brand of cake mix or sprinkles so did a bit of substitution. It would have been nice to have had little hearts like in the original, but our raspberry pieces mean that we can kid ourselves that this fudge contains one of our five a day. Fudge has been placed in a recovered chocolate box, and will be presented to hubby as a Valentine gift when he gets up this evening. (He is on a run of night shifts.)

 

Valentine Hearts - Free Pattern

If you fancy knitting a heart for someone you love, then I thought I would remind you of my Free Heart Pattern on ravelry. Ok it is called Christmas Love Heart, but it would suit Valentine's Day too. Here are a few hearts which you may have seen before.
 

The pattern has instructions for three sizes of heart, and as well as my Fair Isle charts there are also blank charts so you can work out your own Fair Isle design. Or if embroidery is more your thing, then there are some photo tutorials in Embroidery Corner in my righthand sidebar to remind you of the stitches you could use.

There is still time to make a few hearts.

Potato Chip Scarves

Just realised that I can now show photos of some of my Christmas gift knit. These were knitted from the Potato Chip Scarf pattern, so called as you really can't knit just one. I am gradually making one for all my relations. 

The pattern is fairly simple, so the fun is in finding an interesting wool to knit it in.
 

Snowdrop Shoes

I usually say that the items in my shop are unique, but just for once I thought I would make some of my Baby Bee Shoes that are exactly the same (except for the size). 

I thought it would make a good extra photo for the pattern, and emphasise that it contains instructions for two sizes: 0-3 months and 3-6 months. I love this wool, which is Jaeger Luxury Tweed, and was left over from a pullover. I clearly misjudged how much to buy, as I have also used this to knit a dog coat, and still have more left. It is so fluffy that the shoes almost look as if they are felted.

The other reason I embroidered snowdrops was that the snowdrop season will be with us soon. I have seen a few garden snowdrops online, but has anyone seen any wild ones yet?