A gift of comfort...

I missed catching up with my YOP buddies last week, and it's good to be back with a post.  It may not appear at first to be a very YOPish post, but I wanted to share some of what's been going on here.  And I'll tie it back to our Year Of Projects theme before I'm finished.

My father-in-law passed on from this earthly life on Maundy Thursday (March 29th, 2018).  I like to imagine he enjoyed a most celebratory heavenly communion with his Lord on what has, here on earth, become a very somber observance for many of us in the Christian faith.

Bernie was 93 years-old and had been failing for some time. His decline had become marked since before Christmas, but when he got pneumonia in early March he just couldn't overcome it, and then a bacterial infection took its toll on his poor, tired body.

Bernie (age 90) on Veteran's Day, 2014

Last autumn, I had given my mother-in-law, Marcene, a blanket when she had a short stay in rehab after back surgery.   Marcene loved the blanket.   A blanket that seemed to me to be something of a mistake (too big for a baby or lap blanket, too small for a full--sized blanket) ended up being something my mother-in-law just loved.

When Marcene went home from rehab, I was told that Bernie confiscated the blanket and often slept with it.  He even told me how much he enjoyed it.  He said it was "just right".  Nevermind that I had made other blankets for both of them, something about this blanket was perfect.  I thought about making another one in more masculine colors.  Something just for Bernie.  But I never did.  Something tells me that that was okay.  That a different blanket might not have been so "perfect".

When Bernie was released from the hospital into rehab, Marcene brought him the blanket.  When I was visiting him one time I pulled the covers up over him and saw the blanket I had made scrunched down amongst the other covers on his bed.

I held it up in his line of vision and said, "Well, this is pretty!"

He looked at me, at first with a look of slight confusion as if to say, "You do know you made that, don't you?"   

I smiled at him and Bernie broke out in a huge grin that told me the joke was understood.

One of Bernie's sons was with him on his last night and while Bernie was rushed to the hospital in his last hours (to receive comfort and pain relief he wasn't getting in the rehab facility), of course, the blanket was left behind.  When his belongings were collected the next day, many things were thrown away because it was learned that he had contracted a bacteria in his last days.  But my mother-in-law brought the blanket home to clean it.  I suggested it be thrown away.  It wasn't worth the risk, in my opinion, to save it.  Marcene decided to wash and dry it and once again it's being used and loved.

I'm touched, not only that something so simple that I crocheted was well loved, but that it brought comfort during Bernie's last months, and saw him through most of his last night.   I'm touched that we shared a little joke between us when it was all he could do to smile when he was so weak.  And I'm very touched that my mother-in-law wants to keep the blanket that I would have likely put in the burn barrel after all it had been through and been exposed to.

But a simple gift lives on.  To warm others.  To bring some bit of comfort now to my mother-in-law.   And to make me smile knowing that Bernie took comfort being covered by it.  I'm reminded to not underestimate the value that a handmade gift can have when given in love to someone we love.

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

Spicier and Spicier...

Last week I mentioned that I was thinking of making a second Spicier Life blanket (alongside the first one), and I decided this week it was time to start it.

Here is Part 1 of my 2nd Spicier Life Blanket:

For this blanket I went with colors that are bright and fun, and hopefully it will be a blanket that makes its recipient smile.


Meanwhile, I also continue to work on my first Spicier Life blanket (which is done in more or less the same colors as the original Jaipur-inspired blanket):

I'm enjoying them both, but I enjoy them differently. 

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I know friends on the east coast have taken a beating with snow this winter and I almost feel bad showing off our pretty (and hopefully last) snowfall of the season we got yesterday.  Do you see that tiny red spot just a little above the center of the picture below?  It's a cardinal that was competing with the finches at the bird feeders.  I didn't even see it when I was snapping the picture, and I was a little sad that it didn't come back before dark so I could try to get a better photo of it.

Anyway, it was a peaceful, heavy snowfall and I thought this young couple so cute, out taking their dog for a walk in the falling snow, I decided to snap their picture:

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And today, the sky is (mostly) blue and I hear the drip drip of snow melting off the roof as I type.  It's in the high 40's and with tomorrow in the 50's and rain forecasted the rest of the week, there will soon be nothing left of this season's last winter wonderland.

At which time I'll be doing a jig because that will mean the magnolia tree blossoms (that appear to have survived the freezing temps and snow yesterday) will bloom, and other flowers will shortly follow.  Spring has nearly sprung, and like the rest of the country, I'm ready for it!!!

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

Feeling thankful...

Another week come and gone.  The holes in our walls and ceilings have been repaired and they now await painting.  This process of reclaiming my home is slow-going and at times physically exhausting (my job this week was to get all the plastic taped up and laid over anything I didn't want covered with dust - I was thorough and the job left me feeling muscles I hadn't used in some time). 

But while February held ample opportunity to complain, March is giving me many reminders to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness.  It goes something like this...  We had leaky pipes, I am thankful that we have a home with plumbing.  We had holes in our walls in several rooms, I am thankful that we have walls and multiple rooms to live in.  It was an expense we didn't plan for, I am thankful that we had the money available to make the repairs.   And on it goes like that.   It's an exercise.  A discipline.  Not one I'm consistent at, but it does something good for the soul to remember to be thankful.

Except for having a man here two days repairing drywall it was a quiet week, and I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to crochet. 😊

This week, I'm hosting the weekly CAL in the Our Happy Cal Place on Ravelry, and since the theme is "Gift Ideas", I thought an Easter themed dishcloth would be a fun project.  So I whipped up a Chocolate Bunny Dishcloth:

A little something one could take as a simple hostess gift if visiting someone for Easter dinner.  OR, it would make a fun washcloth to tuck into a child's Easter basket.

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And throughout the week, I worked off and on on a little Fairly Isleish Baby Cardigan I started way back in June of last year, and I finished it!  Except for buttons.  I have yet to get the buttons, but this project is finished as far as the crocheting is concerned:

I did not find the pattern difficult, exactly, but it also wasn't completely intuitive for me.  I think I'll have to make another one now that I worked through some confusing parts to see what I truly think of the pattern.  It makes an adorable sweater (suitable for a boy or girl - which isn't common in crochet patterns), so I hope I make another and like it.

And that's all for crochet.  Next week I plan to get back to my Spicier Life Blanket - am actually toying with making two different ones simultaneously, and I have another WIP in the wings I'd love to knock out.  We'll see how that goes.

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For St. Patrick's Day I made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread, and it was so yummy to eat.   

I'm eating some pieces of it as I type this, in fact.  It's just as good cooled down as it was warm and slathered in butter.   Mmmmm   I'm thankful for the pleasure of a simple loaf of bread.

And that's it for what I created this week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

On a different note...  last week my FIL was taken to the hospital where it was discovered he has pneumonia.   He's in rehab now, but is not making significant improvements at this point.  He is 93 and is very frail, very worn out - he was those things before pneumonia took hold.  I'd sure appreciate prayers for him.  Of course, we'd love for him to be able to go back home soon, but given his overall condition I also hope he has peace during this time away from home, and that he is comfortable.

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I leave you with a lively rendition of a favorite Irish hymn:

Be Thou My Vision performed by Rend Collective

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.

Things just got a little spicier here...

Having a much better week than the previous two, and inspired to work on something new, I temporarily put aside my Last Dance Blanket and started crocheting a Spicier Life Blanket.

I was missing a couple of colors in my Stylecraft Special DK stash, so I substituted  Claret for Tomato, Parma Violet for Mushroom, and Violet for Grape.  And I think I want to add in some Parchment because it has an interesting vintagifying effect on pretty much anything it rubs up against.

So....  While I'm not completely convinced as I look at what I've completed so far, I've learned with a many-colored project like this, one simply can't tell until several repeats of the colors are used how well one likes the whole effect.  It's ever so slightly excruciating to keep going and all the while second-guessing colors, but for now I'm carrying on and hoping for the best.  This is meant to be a gift, so I really do hope I like it in the end.

It's a beautiful pre-spring weekend here in central Indiana.   This morning some of the extended family met to celebrate my mother-in-law's 87th birthday.  We enjoyed brunch where a nephew (who is a culinary student) works as a chef.  It was fun to visit over some interesting gastronomical delights (most of which were completely new to us) cooked by a young man we've known from birth.  How DOES the time fly so fast? 

And that's all she wrote!  After my long tome last week I thought it best to keep it short this time around.  😉

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

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Thank you to all who left sweet comments last week of prayers and hopes for eventual renewed health for my sister.   The month-and-half wait now for surgery is hard, but her spirits seem up and her faith strong.  I'm in awe of the courage and spiritual outlook she expresses.

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