my grandmother is precious

The first Christmas after I learned to crochet I aspired to make everyone in my family an afghan. Since this aspiration hit in late October, and I tend to procrastinate even in the presence of inspiration, afghans quickly turned to lap blankets, which quickly turned into ... scarves. Most of which were never finished.

This year I set out to make a lap blanket for my Grandma. It was tops on my to-do list for over a month and half (attention span allowing of course). She's very important to me and every time I see her she's tinier and more frail. I hope she'll be with me for many more Christmases to come - but it was important to me to make the blanket this year.

After selecting the "this is so my grandma" pattern (even though it's so not me - well, until I'm in my 80's anyway), editing it to my own OCD standards (omitting large tacky leaves), and selecting her favorite colors (a la the infamous "orchid room") I was off to work.

Yesterday marked the completion of the gift, and today I gave it to her.

She was thrilled and absolutely adorable... even when she boldly stated she was glad it wasn't a shawl because she didn't want one of those (I suspect because she feels only "old" ladies wear shawls).