The Swimsuit.

 

 

 

Hullo there,

I’m here (smelling salts, anyone?) and I’ve brought the knitted cossie along with me (Hurrah, crack out the sherry)!  Super exciting, no?

I stupidly joked on my last blog that I ‘may’ be back in three months to show off my next knitted… Ha! It is now nearly 5 months and I’ve only just put my fingers to the keyboard.

Well, we’ve had a wedding since the last post (not mine but my sister’s- they haven’t managed to get rid of me yet), so I have been busy doing little bits and bobs for that momentous day! Then the following four weekends were taken over by 1940s weekends- two of which were ones where I showed off some of my collection. Busy, stressful and exhausting ! It has taken me until now to get over it all, and even now I'm not feeling totally 'normal'.... but when am I ever?!

Anyway, back to the cossie. Weddings are all very exciting, but l lets face it girls and boys- a knitted swimsuit is far more interesting than any old wedding, right?!  (Joke, sister. Joke!)

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^ Isn't she just perfection?

 

The end of last year and the beginning of this year has become one big blur. I can’t remember much of the knitting (except that the sewing up took longer than the knitting). Let’s just say that it was started back in the month of I don’t know when (???) and finished a few months later.

 I do, however, remember how excited I was to finally find a suitable swimsuit pattern that ticked all of the boxes. (I've started about four swimsuits in the past) I also remember the time between finding the dream pattern and the day my wool arrived through the post… oh! The wait! I was like a kid who was desperate to use the little girls or boys room only to find it was engaged…you know how kids tend to jig about on the spot when they are bursting to ‘go’, don’t you?!...except I wasn’t desperate for the loo- just fidgety and itching to get my hands on the wool that was travelling all the way from bonnie Scotland! (I can hear all my English teachers sobbing after reading that last passage. Ah well…)

 

Okay, I was super excited and couldn’t even wait one second to start knitting it! Can you blame me for being a little impatient? Just look at the pattern... JUST LOOK AT IT!

 

 

"You couldn't find a swimsuit with more snap about it than this one! And it takes all the prizes on the practical side, too.... is simple to knit, fits marvellously and has the forethought to choose a stitch that doesn't stretch out of shape. The suit is low at the back, and in front the shoulder straps slot through the amusing little striped revers to tie at the base of the neckline; it has, of course, the regulation skirt with brief, almost legless trunks beneath."

Unfortunately I don’t have a private beach to hand, so all of the pictures have been taken in the back garden… oh, and by the shed too. Can’t forget the shed…

 And a close up. Possibly a little too close?

 

...and the back!

 I can't stop sniggering when I see this snap. It's a good job I can't see this side when I have it on, otherwise I would be going around the beach in fits of giggles! I don't know what it is.....

 

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^A b/w shed snap for good measure...

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 Close up of the Bramble stitch pattern.

 



  The brief, almost legless trunks!

Stocking Stitch… My nemesis. I usually stay away from anything with stocking stitch, as I can never keep it neat (I swear it’s because I’m a lefty who can’t hold the wool/needles properly). But on this occasion I thought I’d give it a go as no one would be able to see the messy stitches under the skirt... I'm sorry, under the 'regulation' skirt! 

 And finally, the dashing revers! Probably the best feature of this swimsuit. I did make a change to the pattern and gave it a crocheted edge instead of one without.

 

All in all, I'm extremely pleased with the outcome. I've given it a dunk in the tub (ahhhhh, now that was a shock to the system!) and I can safely say that it doesn't stretch too much or end up around my ankles- Hurrah!  All I will say, though, is that once you are out of the drink (bath, paddling pool... ), all the water heads straight to those brief, almost legless trunks! Just imagine... soggy pure wool.... nice!

And on that note, I think I'll leave you.....

 

 

 

Here's to the next time,

Your Tupney xxx