Perfect for Easter

A while back, we went to the ordination of our youth minister.  His 4 year old daughter, Elana, reminded me I knit a sweater for her baby sister.  She had the color and buttons down cold and described it to a tee.

So, I said, "Would you like me to knit you a sweater and what color would you like...pink?" - knowing full well pink would be her choice.  She told me she wanted a sweater with buttons and yes, pink would be her choice.

So, when I went to Windsor Button I picked up some Plymouth Encore in a pink that borders on Pepto Bismol pink.  I got some white and then used some purple I had in my stash.  I combined two patterns to make the cardigan - I used Drive Thru for the sweater directions and Isabella for the yoke pattern.

Originally, I wanted to find flower buttons but nothing appealed to me so I ended up with matching pink buttons that actually let the flower yoke stand out better.

It went in the mail and should be her Easter surprise - what a perfect Easter sweater!

I won a prize!

Leslie, A Friend To Knit With, was having a contest for a Lilly lint removing brush.  I put my name into the hopper of comments and imagine my surprise when I saw her post saying I was one of 10 winners.

I love Leslie's blog and love her knitting - she's inspired me to make several items including my favorite Inca Marl Coat.  The small world thing we learned is both our parents live in the same small town in Florida.  One day I hope to meet her in person - virtual friendships are lovely but sometimes you just have to meet the person like I did with Major Knitter.

Here's my prize - now to get some sweaters out and give it a whirl!

Finished

Well, the friendship blanket is finished - we had so much fun doing this and the coordinator, Leslie, lovingly seamed it together.  Then a quick crochet border was added and voila, it is done.  The plan is to give it to the family on the Greek Orthodox Easter which is in May.  What a loving gift for a family that lost their mother.

My new knitting group

As most of you know, I participated in the most amazing knitting group when we lived in Connecticut.  In fact, when asked if I miss where we lived, I reply that I only miss our church and my knitting group.   They are the ones that lovingly made me my friendship blanket.

Thanks to my cousin, I have a new knitting group here in Massachusetts.  Shortly after I joined them, one of their members lost her battle with cancer.   The group decided to knit a blanket for her family. The lady organizing the effort, Leslie, asked for my help in selecting yarn.  We picked Cascade 128 Superwash which is bulky and knits up quickly.  Each skein easily made two 10" x 10" squares.  I took my swift to Leslie's house and I spent a morning winding 24 skeins into cakes.

Today we placed all the squares in order for seaming.  The wonderful thing is the center square has a heart.  So much love went into this.  Some of the women are novice knitters and this was a delightful challenge for them.  Funny thing is I never met the woman or her family but it doesn't matter...that's what we knitters do.

Here is how it looks...I know it will be loved and cherished.