Celebrity Fashion Show

Here at the Panopticon, it's not just about knitting big things. We also knit small. And though we are not willing to go to the extreme of actually having a baby in order to knit baby things, when babies are in proximity we are only too pleased to knit for them.

Messieurs-dames, je vous présente an extremely short fashion show of modes des bébés in progress.

Lumière! Musique!

You know him best as the composer of La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. But just for today suave and sexy Giacomo "Three-Minute Aria" Puccini has hopped on the catwalk to show off an ensemble destined for a baby as yet unborn, but expected in January.

We think you'll agree, ladies and gentleman, that Giacomo is blessed with a hat face (not to mention a pair of cheekbones that Katharine Hepburn would have envied) and how better to set it off than with this snowy white, 100% acrylic cloche from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts. A simple rolled brim adds an extra layer of warmth around the ears. A fetching bow at the forehead, made from I-cord, adds a certain je ne sais pas la plume de ma tante.

And Jack Frost won't have a chance to nip at Giacomo's pretty shoulders–not when they're covered up and cozy inside a scarf created in a zig-zag rib from Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. Only the finishing fringe is lacking to make this outfit complete.

Thank you, Giacomo.

And no fashion show on this blog would be complete without the Panopticon's answer to Heidi Klum. Ladies and gentlemen: give it up for Her Majesty Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, and one hell of a good time when you get a little brandy in her.

Victoria is sporting another chapeau from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, the baby bonnet.

On the principle that what's good plain is better fancy, our version of the simple bonnet will include a strip of lace at the collar. We selected the "Doris" edging from Sharon Miller's peerless Heirloom Knitting (eternal thanks to Jean for being the person who alerted us to this book), as being a pattern easily memorized, fun to knit, and perfectly sized for a modest edging.

Victoria's bonnet, like Giacomo's ensemble, is knitted from absolutely the finest 100% snow white acrylic because, frankly, we know if the mother-to-be (a non-knitter) receives anything she has to hand-wash, she'll just throw it away.

We are also still trying to get rid of this gigantic ball of white acrylic that has turned out three hats and two scarves, not to mention several dozen lengths of "waste yarn" and a several stitch swatches, but which refuses to get any smaller.

Okay, darlings, I have to go. Apparently Victoria just chucked her cell phone at one of the hairdressers.

Bises!