Six months ago my Mother-in-Law (who I shall refer to as Granny which is what the other grandchildren called her) passed away. Her daughter was at the time, three months pregnant and so Grandmother and Grandchild were to never meet.
Granny was a spinner and weaver and when she and Pops had their little farm she would spin, dye, knit and weave the wool from their sheep. Like any crafter she had a stash; a stash of yarn. After her death I was allowed to take four big boxes of yarn home. There are all sorts in those boxes. Two of the boxes hold woolen yarn on cones which I understand was from carpet manufacturers. The other two boxes had store bought yarn, wool that Granny had bought from other spinners and the best of all, wool that she had spun herself.
As soon as I learnt that my sister-in-law was pregnant I knew I had to crochet something for the baby with her Granny's wool. I had three colours to play with but chose the off-white and the teal. The brown would be ok for a boy but as I didn't know if baby was a girl or a boy I figured the teal and off-white would be safe.
I decided to make a blanket. The hardest part was choosing the design. I decided that squares would be the way to go as I could then control the width and length depending on how many squares the wool was going give me. I consulted my trusty book, 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton.
After much page turning I settled on one block, number 86 Sunray.
I made 15 of each colour then slip-stitched them together. Not a bad size for a baby, it would fit in the cot and on a big bed later as a throw. I can't remember which book I eventually chose the border from but here it is all finished.
Not all of the off-white was from the same batch. There is some slight colour variation and some are fluffier than other squares. I also had to keep an eye on the yarn thickness.
Yesterday we all went to Auckland for the childrens orthodontic appointments. We were also able to fit in a visit to the newest member of our extended family. That's right, a beautiful baby girl was born a week and a half ago at home which was not planned. She was a week early and in a great hurry to meet us all. She is so tiny. It's hard to believe that my three were once that small. Here she is being held by my big girl.
The gift was received by my sister-in-law with tears (which started me off) when I told her the blanket was made with her mum's wool. A gift greatly appreciated and Baby will be wrapped in love.
I also had to make a little toy to go with it, of course I did.
Same colours too and just the right size for a baby.
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