Ida, Warm & Wonderful

Ida is now a warm and wonderful blanket.  All of her tails are safely tucked away and she is ready to be a work horse of warmth. 

 When stretched out it is a joy to see those bands of color and texture just as I first imagined them.  I know that this scheme might not be to everyone's taste.   But that is the joy of designing and making something that is unique to you.  Only you need to be pleased.  And I am quite pleased by the end result.

When tossed about, Ida tends to look like any other striped blanket/afghan/throw. 

Those three terms always mystify me.  What is the difference?  Is a blanket larger than an afghan?  When does a throw become so large that it ceases to be a throw and becomes something else?  Please do not question my sanity, for I have pondered this very issue and come up with no answer.

Here she is in the yarn studio.  That bit of piecework in the background is a stretched quilt top that never got completed.  It is there to remind me that while I understand the basics of many artistic crafts, I am not the master of them all.  I am, however, the master of this Ida blanket.

The alternating knit and crochet bands of Ida, the blanket, just might be the most significant blending of my mother's (Ida Mae) crochet skill and my knitting ability.  I like to think that she is somewhere up above, smiling that I do still crochet and pleased that this work was accomplished with her wooden crochet hook. 

And I am smiling as well.