Sunday, March 11, 2018

The last dance is finally done!

I did it!!!!!  I finally did it!!!

I finished my Last Dance blanket!

After much procrastination and dragging of feet I finally set myself down and knocked out the border of this thing!  And I'm DONE!!!!!


I'm going to tell you right out that it looks better in the photo than I think it does in real life.  I've got some good light coming in the window and that helps ('cuz I didn't do any altering of the photo - other than cropping), but once this thing was finished I concluded that it would have probably benefited from leaving in some of the lighter squares I removed before seaming it together.   OR... it probably would have benefited from doing the seaming and border in the lightest gray color.  That might have lifted the whole thing.  It doesn't look dark in the picture, but in real life, it's a tad on the dark side.

FWIW, I asked my youngest son his opinion before seaming and bordering and he recommended the lighter gray.  Historically, I've always felt like he has a good aesthetic sense about him.  For some reason I didn't trust it this time.  Lesson learned!

BUT, all that said, I'm thrilled to have it finished.  I have no purpose in mind for this, so it's going to be washed, folded and stored for...  I don't know what.   My posterity, perhaps.  Or until I get tired of having it around, or find the right person to give it to.  Maybe if I put it away I'll be able to see it with fresh, appreciative eyes later.   Right now I'm just so glad to be finished I could dance!



You'd think this was torture to make by the way I go on.  It really wasn't.   Mostly, it's that I found myself occasionally not wanting to do a particular square, and a few others just looked too hard to bother with after a while, so probably half the designs are pulled from somewhere else.  What I want to say about this project is that my blanket was inspired by the Last Dance Blanket and the memory of Merinke (Wink) Slump who was working on this design when she died.  Other designers stepped up to finish the blanket's designs as a tribute to Merinke, and that is such a lovely thing for them to have done.   To date, on Ravelry, it shows that nearly a thousand members have made some version of this blanket.   That's quite a tribute.

Perhaps it's unfair to actually call mine a Last Dance blanket.  Maybe I'll should just call it my Last Sampler blanket.  I always thought a sampler blanket would be fun to make.  I don't think that so much anymore.  lol

To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.



26 comments:

  1. Your Last Dance is gorgeous!! ♥

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  2. I think the blanket is lovely. I could see someone sitting by a fire, curled up with a good book and hot cocoa while wrapped in that blanket. Or even having a wee one on the lap or a favorite pet snuggled up with you. Yup, the blanket is inviting.

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    1. It's definitely a warm blanket. Maybe next winter I'll be able to see it with new eyes. It's hard to appreciate the dark colors here in March when all I want to see is flowers and green grass outside.

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  3. I think the lighter colors just add the right amount of pop! I've started a few of those "sampler" blankets and haven't finished one yet, so i totally understand. Your's came out great, a situation will come up that will be perfect for this I'm sure. Congrats on your finish!

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    1. Thanks, Allison. I'm really hoping someone in the family uncovers it someday and gushes over it, at which time I'll happily hand it over. :)

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  4. It is gorgeous..maybe put it away for one of your kids?....I will be honest, I am not a fan of things that have to be pieced together and bordered...just too lazy for that..I'm kind of an instant gratification person...but it is very pretty...

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    1. I'm normally stopped in my tracks even when I'm attracted to a pretty multi-pieced blanket. Why I started 4 different ones last year, I haven't a clue. I love them, and admire those who make them, but it takes a different kind of dedication than I'm normally up to. Glad to have one down. Three more to go!

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  5. It's really a beautiful blanket. I love the texture of the border; it's a perfect match to the blanket design. Pat 🐱

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    1. Thank you, Pat! The border came with the pattern. It was easy and I think I'll probably use it again - on some other blanket(s) It's a basic crocheted linen stitch.

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  6. Okay, first things first. Blue Jays will eat peanuts ant which way you want to feed them. We have shelled and coarsely chopped raw peanuts in a mesh feeder but that's really intended for woodpeckers and chickadees... the blue Jays will try to feed from the feeder but they're too big and heavy to feed efficiently. We also have peanut butter suet in an upside down mesh suet feeder, specifically for the woodpeckers and nut hatches because the grackles can't manage to feed that way. If they could the grackles would chase off the other birds. Mostly for the Blue Jays we put out whole raw peanuts in the shell. You're right about the squirrels though - they'll be after them - but the Blue Jays are faster and I think the squirrels are afraid of them. The little birds like the chickadees, wrens and sparrows can't manage to shell them. In fact, if you stand in the yard and hold a peanut in the shell above your head the Blue Jays will swoop down to take it right out of your fingers!

    As well as all that we put out seed mix and black oil sunflower seeds on platforms for the cardinals, although the chickadees, juncos, finches and wrens also get into this. Starting May 1st we'll put out Concord Grape Jelly for the orioles and nectar for the hummingbirds! Oh, and Nijer seeds for the Goldfinches too!

    There's a pair of bald eagles at the lakeshore at the end of our street but their preferred diet is fish so they don't come to the feeders. On occasion we do get hawks, particularly juveniles, that drop into to pick off one of the small birds at the feeder? That's pretty exciting when it happens, and then it scares the small birds away for a day or two.

    It's funny how much personality the birds have. The Blue Jays and Cardinals will perch in the trees and complain if there isn't food out for them. The orioles will actually come to our windows and tap on them with their beaks if the Jam pots are empty.

    Anyhow, I ran on a bit there...

    The blanket looks really good in pictures but I can understand your reluctance to take on another sampler style blanket. Sometimes things sound like such a good idea, don't they? Truth is well-matched squares line up better in blankets, but where's the fun in that?

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    1. Thank you so much, Lynn! What great information about what you feed to birds. We don't go to that much effort, but we enjoy finches and cardinals at the sunflower seed feeders, and lately woodpeckers now that hubs put out a suet feeder. I need to look into making my own suet. Peanut butter, eh?

      And I'm going to figure out a way to offer peanuts to attract the blue jays and not worry about the squirrels. Sometimes blue jays appear (I think they might go for our sunflower seeds), but they aren't prolific, or regular by any means. To have one grab a peanut out of your hand?!? Wow. Definitely putting out some peanuts for them.

      This grape jelly for hummingbirds and others is a completely new idea to me. We've done the hummingbird feeders in the past, but mostly they just seemed to be ant attractors, so I've tried to plant flowers that draw them in in recent years instead. For the last few summers we've regularly seen hummingbirds, but never orioles.

      You've expanded my world! I will begin to look into these and other ideas before the migrating birds make their arrival. Thank you so much!!!

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  7. What a terrific finish! It's interesting to see the different textured squares and the light gray was the perfect choice for the border.

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  8. From here it looks beautiful! Sometimes you just have to put a project away for a while in order to appreciate it. I bet you will say "wow!" to yourself when you see it again and all those beautiful stitch patterns☺
    Happy days,
    Jenn

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    1. Thanks, Jenn. I hope you're right. BTW, I spent some time yesterday catching up on your Flosstube videos. I'm reluctant to set up a youtube channel just so that I can comment, but I'd love for you to know how much I enjoy catching up with you there. If you know of another way I can comment, let me know. Otherwise, know I enjoy checking out your wonderful projects.

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  9. You are WAY too hard on yourself! That blanket is gorgeous and your stitches are always impeccable. I wish my crochet turned out as nice as yours. I love the beautiful patterns on the squares and I can see where some of those might have been difficult. I've never seen any like those squares. She was a talented designer and it was so sad when she died so young. I almost did the blanket myself and maybe I will someday but not today! LOL! Sometimes I think when we make something that takes awhile that by the time we're done we are sick of looking at it? I think after you put it in timeout for awhile you will take it out with fresh eyes and a new appreciation for it because it is beautiful!

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    1. It's not that I'm being hard on myself, it's that it kind of underwhelms me. I really wanted to love this after spending so much time on it. I love it in the picture, but in real life, in indoor lighting, it just isn't quite as bright. The hard thing is that after I had made my color choices I knew I would have liked it better in bright colors, but I didn't want to change course. Let's hope you and the others are right - that is will look better to me after spending some time out of my sight. I really had become tired of seeing it lying around waiting to be finished. Thanks, Sam!

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  10. Ummmmm - I suppose - if you REALLY wanted to - you could simply add some of the lighter grey around the outside and THEN call it done? (ducking and running now) Seriously - I do like it!!

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    1. Well, that's an idea that never occurred to me. But now that it has... Nah. lol I'm done.

      But you know... when I pull it out next fall/winter, if I still don't like it, I can always reconsider. JK! I'm done! lol

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    2. c'mon.....you know you want to. hee hee.

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  11. Congratulations Becki!!! :) It looks great! What an accomplishment. :)

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    1. Thank you, Rain. It feels like an accomplishment. :)

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  12. Wow, I think it is gorgeous and if I lived closer would happily look after it for you and or pay good money for that! I don't have the patience for blankets so I totally admire those that do! And it's a wonderful tribute. I'm sure your children would love it one day.

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    1. Thank you, Lucy. Funny... Blankets are my favorite thing to make. Now those sweaters and socks and all kinds of wonderful things you make??? THAT is amazing to me!

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  13. Well...I think the colours are perfect just as they are and I love the variety of patterns.

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