A Gift

David's late wife, Marilyn, was a knitter and crocheter.  She had crocheted blankets for almost everyone in the family.  During her bout with cancer, she was working on a blanket for her sister, Susan, all in shades of blue.  Unfortunately, she passed before the blanket was finished (it was almost half done), so the yarn and the unfinished blanket was stored in a box for a couple of years.  David's daughter, Teresa, had the box, and in December she asked if I would be willing, or able to finish it.  I said I would look at it, and I decided that I would try to finish it for Susan. 

So, I figured out Marilyn's pattern - the edge decreases were a little different than I had done (I had made a ripple afghan before), but I really liked the look, and once I got that worked out, I started.  The other little problem was the gauge.  Marilyn was a very loose crocheter.  She was working with a size G hook.  I went with an I hook after some swatching.  It worked for a color stripe, then I decided that I needed to go bigger, so I just continued working on the blanket with the bigger hook (not a great idea...).  What this did was it created a little section in the blanket that was "skinnier" than the new section, so I ripped out everything that I had done, and started my section over.  While the J hook was closer to Marilyn's gauge, it was still a little more snug than her gauge, but when I did some swatching with a K hook, I really didn't like the look, and it didn't look like Marilyn's crocheting, so I stayed with the J hook (three sizes larger than Marilyn had used). 

I worked on it off and on through January, February and March.  And since I was doing it as a surprise for Susan, there were a couple of times when David and I had to run through the house to hide the blanket if Susan stopped by.   Once I simply threw my knitting bag on top of the box to hide it, which worked.  And she never suspected a thing.  She had even mentioned a couple of times about the blanket that Marilyn was making for her, but we said that we hadn't found it.  We gave it to Susan for her birthday last week.  She was so surprised, and we chuckled over all the times we had to hide it from her!  It made her SO happy!

So, here are a couple of pictures.  The brown blanket is one that Marilyn made for Teresa's husband, Mark, which I used for reference for the color scheme.  The yarn is Plymouth's Encore (75% acrylic, 25% wool).

And, since I got the crocheting mojo on, I made a small lap throw out of some Brooks Farm Four-Play (Wool/Silk) I had in my stash (I really need to start using up yarn - so I can get more, of course!).  The colors in the top picture are closer to the real thing.

That's it for now.  Time to start new projects!

Comments

[Saffron]

Aww, what a great story, a great afghan and a great gift. And I really like the play of color in the throw you made. Did you use a specific pattern or did you make it up? :)

[Paul]

Thanks for your kind words!  I made up the pattern for the throw I did, using Marilyns blanket as a guide. 

[Tristan Robin]

what a lovely thing to do - and the blanket looks terrific!

[Diana]

The blanket is like the story... beautiful!

[Devorah]

What a wonderful gift!

[Sara]

That is wonderful that you were able to finish it ... and make something new, too!

[Knitnana]

What a terrific thing to do! And it's lovely, as are the other two!
(((hugs)))

[Paige]

Wow! I haven't read your blog in a bit and see lots of big changes in your life. Congratulations on the big move - I love the story behind it!

[rodger]

What a sweet story. And...the finished product is gorgeous!

[Anne]

It's what it is all about. Lovely, Paul.
A very touching story with alot of heart.
So 'you'.

[maggie]

That is so sweet! You are such a good man! And the afghans are beautiful. I can still hear you telling me that "it's all about the process." This was a process in every sense of the word.
See you very soon!!!!
Magatha

[Will]

I especially like the two in earth tones with oranges predominating. Earth colors have always been "my" colors and I think orange is a highly underappreciated color.