Busy Bees

I thought you'd like to see something a bit different today. I don't normally accept commissions but when my son asked if I could knit bride and groom bees for his friends' wedding cake, I couldn't resist the challenge. It was actually a celebration of their wedding which had to be cancelled last year because of Covid restrictions. They got married in a registry office instead and have only just been able to mark the occasion with friends and family.

Why bees? I don't really know, other than they like bees. The theme of the wedding was 'Alice in Wonderland' so it could really have been any creatures. I'm quite glad they didn't want a pair of Cheshire Cats.

Designing the bodies of the bees was quite straightforward, although it was a bit tricky trying to keep the small enough. The real problems came when trying to give them antennae and legs. A combination of pipe cleaners and thread wrapped wire did the trick though.

For the wings I used more wire, wrapped with cream yarn. So far, so good. Then I had to turn them into a bride and groom. 

For the groom I just added a purple felt tie (somehow, this photo looks unseemly) ...

But oh, that veil for the bride ... I could only find one piece of lace and it was too big, too floppy and looked ridiculous. Fitting a veil on something with wings is hard. In the end, I starched the lace and pressed it into folds give it a bit of shape and then gathered the head end tightly and sewed on some tiny pearl beading. I thought the little artificial flowers made it look more like a veil and less like a bit of old net curtain.

I had the bees finished about a week before the wedding and they were very pleased with them. Here's a photo of the bees on the cake. Not a very good photo - taken by Jack on his phone in poor light conditions - but you can see them.

All the decorations on the cake, except the bottom log and the bees, were made out of icing. Isn't that amazing? Even the cup and saucer which look just like china.

Here's wishing Ian and Tori a long and happy life together.