A Treasure Remembered

Deep in the darkness of my basement closet, wrapped in a 28-year old plastic bag, lay a forgotten and unfinished afghan. Recently, I unearthed it and brought it upstairs into my sunny room. 

When I pulled this treasure out of its bag, I noticed a typewritten note I had composed (yes, on a real typewriter, not a computer) pinned to the afghan...

Does anybody recognize this stitch?...

If you said hairpin lace, then you are 100%, exactly correct. That part, I do remember. And something about a crochet hook. But that's about as much as this old brain can recall.  

Its colors are officially lemon-yellow and lime-green, which happened to be my favorite colors when I was a youngster. They were inspired by my (also) favorite - yellow and green M&Ms (which have been around much longer than 28 years). I had so many favorites when I was young.

If you read my note in the picture above, you know that my grandma had a hand in getting this afghan as far as it got (before I stuffed it away). Grandma B is famous in our family for the beautiful afghans she crocheted for her loved ones. She crocheted me a hot pink (another one of my favorite colors) king-size bedspread when I got married. And she crocheted each of my four children a baby blanket when they arrived into the world.

I am now a grandma myself, just as I predicted in my note. These are still favorite colors of mine, and in 2011, I could care less what might be "in style." I still love this unusual and beautiful blanket.

It means so much to me that Grandma B's hands helped to shape its weave. You see, she's passed on, and I miss her. When I see this blanket now, I don't think of Home Ec. or my obsession with yellow and green M&Ms when I was 12, I think lovingly of Grandma B, and her willingness to finish this ambitious project I started so young (and which very much overwhelmed me in no time - what was I thinking?). She had the patience to make blanket after blanket, one stitch at a time.  

I love her dearly, and this treasure which I have unburied, brings sweet memories of her.

I've decided that no more yarn or stitches are needed to make this blanket any more useable, enjoyable, or finished. I will tie up the lose ends and let Grandma B's work complete my blanket. This is enough. And it won't go back down to the basement. It will remain in my room to warm my shoulders and brighten to my sprit. Another beautiful blanket worked on by Grandma B to be enjoyed by a loved one. Thank you, Grandma. I love you. ~CJ~