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I'm not one to wish time away but I am totally ready to switch up my wardrobe and start wearing those lighter weight garments. 


It will be toasty, maybe even tropical before we know it so it's time to dive into your warm weather projects!

 

If you are looking for a knit project suitable for wearing in the coming few months of warm weather - and by way of an apology for the missing post from March - here are nine patterns that I'm offering with a 25% off until May 9th. They can be found in my "Spring Fever" bundle available here on Ravelry.  As you check out, click on "use a coupon code" and enter the code "Signs of Spring" to receive the reduced price. Happy Spring Knitting!

On-line, On-nine
Monthly post on the 9th of each month! 
On-line, On-nine April 9th 2018

Signs of Spring (???)


This year in many different parts of the world, Spring seems to be late arriving and everybody seems to be tired of waiting for it.

So I thought that I would try to cheer us all up with some photos of the first spring flowers, seen on my recent trip to the UK. OK, OK so it snowed right after I took these pictures but it is proof that those lovely blooms are finally here.


My work means that I am always focused on several seasons ahead and usually the project on my lap (or laptop) is completely out of sync with whatever the weather is doing outside.  I'm used to trying to imagine warm sunny days when it's 30 below and sweltering under yards of heavy wool when the mercury hits a high.  While it remains cool outdoors is does seem a little odd, even to me to be thinking about swimwear, but that is what I'm doing this week.


Next week I will be the guest speaker at the Toronto Knitters Guild and my topic will be the history of the bathing suit. My presentation will be based on the research that I did for the article that I wrote for Twist Collective. But it seems that the stars are perfectly aligned - I have been able to add more information and photos to my slide show following a trip to the V&A museum, which I managed to pull in while I was across the pond.


If you are a regular reader you will know that I get pretty excited about seeing exhibitions, so when I saw that the V&A had one called "Ocean Liners -Speed & Style" it went to the top of my list of things to do in London. If you remember from last year I was on an Art Deco kick after attending a lecture series. As the hey-day of the "floating palace" came during the 20's & 30's, seeing this exhibition felt like a natural progression, moving on from looking at examples of architecture of the period...expanding my horizons as it were. 


Once again the V&A didn't disappoint. The curation was terrific but it was the staging and attention to detail that totally thrilled me. The room covering the engineering aspects hummed as though you were in the bowels of a ship, its floor covering was metal and it was darker than other rooms, giving a below decks feel. 


On reaching the much anticipated room that showcased clothing, a broad smile spread over my face. It had been set up as though you were on deck, one wall filled by a video of the sea (complete with ocean liner passing by), you could hear gulls overhead and the flooring was wooden decking. There was even a large "pool" mode of plastics mocked up for swimsuit clad mannequins to "bathe" in.  If you live in Toronto I'll have more images from the exhibition as part of my presentation, so please do come along.

I love that major museums fully understand how much more there is to putting together an exhibition, rather than just displaying the artifacts. They obviously pay as much attention to the design of the space as they do curating the pieces that are shown. They know how much this adds to the visitors enjoyment, experience and also understanding of the topic. Ever since the Alexander McQueen - Savage Beauty exhibition I have noticed that sometimes exhibitions can become almost like rock stars, creating tons of buzz and in turn becoming a huge draw.  



Thanks for stopping by...I hope that you enjoy the photos of these lovely spring blooms! 


Please check back in next month...when I'll be here telling you what my latest fascination is.

See you next month      
Fiona xxxx

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