Imagine my shock the other day when I came across the photo of the afghan on the left at Norma's site! I blinked twice when I saw it because I was looking at an exact replica of the afghan on the right, which was made for me by my Mom in the late 1970's as I was preparing to go away to college. That's right, over 25 years ago!
The beauty on the left was made by Norma's friend, Lee. You can meet Lee and learn about her knitting obsession in last Monday's post over at Now Norma Knits 2. She has quite a collection of sweaters, each telling a story. My afghan has been with me from the day my Mom gifted it to me. It now sits at the end of my daughter's bed, ready to be pulled up for added warmth on a chilly night.
The similarities are obvious! Brightly colored stripes, separated by cream, the whole thing finished off with fringe and a crocheted edge. I remember doing the crochet and the fringe myself as my Mom was always challenged in these areas. The differences - Lee used pure wool (good call, Lee!) while my Mom chose acrylic. If you click on them, you can see that Lee's is accented in green, while my Mom used a light gray.
Knitting is timeless, a labor of love, gifts made to last forever which give our loved ones warmth and comfort and a link to home. I am so inspired by all the gift knitting going on out there for the holidays (and a bit jealous of all the finishing that's happening, too)! I'm working on my own gift - Na Craga for my husband. I was thinking "this is taking so long!" but now I see how the few weeks spent on this sweater is nothing if it is worn and loved as long as my (and Lee's) afghans.
A few months ago, I was searching for some free patterns on the web, and what to my wondering eyes should appear....
The name got me thinking...imagine the same afghan done in the beautiful natural colors of icelandic lopi - gray, black, brown, cream....
