SPRING, AGAIN!

It's always fun to return to the yard after the last (we hope!) frost and poke around beneath last year's leaves to find the ferns. Their graceful journey upward is almost a dance.

Thanks to Martha, we have this Wisteria on our back fence; it was frozen just a day or so after blooming last year. There is never enough blue in the garden for me, so this is a special pleasure.

Our grandson's first birthday came in February, just two days after Mom died. Then Spring, and Easter! The rebirth that cannot be denied is all around, reminding us of the joy of the cycles of life.

I will soon show you that I am back to the knitting; in fact, am working on two ruffled blankets for sisters as well as a little stroller blanket for a baby. My sweet husband is making great progress on a lovely wool blanket of blocks - more later on all those. Meanwhile, I hope spring works Her magic once again! Enjoy!

Beth

On the Fence: Parting Shots

We finally saw a bit of sunshine today, so I took the blanket outside for a picture. Here it is hanging on the fence. Below, it's on the gate.

I tumbled it in the dryer to remove bits of debris from the yard before trying it out on the guest bed.
The next pictures I hope to see of this will be as it covers a family snuggled up together on the sofa. If I get one of those, I will share. Now, as my friend Diana says, onward and upward!

Beth

Hooray! It's finished!

This has taken a year and seven months, from its beginning. Of course, I have completed several other projects in the intervening time. This has been a learning experience and a real joy!

Yesterday, I tumbled this in the dryer on air fluff (no heat) to remove lint and cat hairs. I washed it this morning in cold water and Woolite on the delicate cycle; dried on lowest temperature.

The colors remained vibrant; the wash water was not colored with dyes. There was a bit of shrinkage, but nothing alarming.

This big project is completed and I am happy to be able to give this to my daughter-in-law on her birthday in a few days.

Now, I am looking forward to spring and new projects for my needles! I hope you are, too!

Beth

Learning By Doing

This blanket has been a true learning experience and I have loved it all. I had to re-place this rectangle (with the diagonal center) from the bottom edge, to the row above. Then I knit another to put where it had been. That left two spaces to fill in next to it, and another at the bottom edge.

Below the white, circular stitch marker is a tiny rectangle that I filled in with background color. The space above required I create another log cabin rectangle. Below, those spaces are filled in, and lying at the front edge of the pillows, one row from the left end of the blanket.
The wise ladies at The Yarn Nook in Candler suggested the border be the same as the background, and not deep blue as I had at first thought. After deliberation, I concluded they are right. I wanted to put on an applied I-cord border, but this yarn is not conducive to that which calls for a bit of tugging to get it right. This yarn is easily broken - basically, it's roving with a thread around for texture - and has very little elasticity. So I have opted for a double seed stitch. Have not begun yet; I am working on the many, many long ends to weave in on the wrong side.

Anyway, I continue to learn and enjoy as I go. I hope it's ready for her birthday in February!

Beth