“Pumpkin Patch”

October 30, 2012July 12, 2014thegreensheep 2 Comments

I’ve seen some crazy lovely pumpkins this fall. These sat at the back door of the Wisconsin B&B where Elder Daughter and I stayed on a weekend art studio tour:

The pumpkin in the lower corner looked like it had empty peanut shells stuck all over it. But it didn’t.

And these colorful rows of pumpkins were at an apple orchard my Hub and I stopped at in northern Door County while camping at the end of September:

Gorgeous gourds.

All of these colors inspired my new blanket, “Pumpkin Patch.” (I’ll be bringing it to this weekend’s holiday open house!)

I had this blanket, minus its appliques, along for the college campus modeling session:

This is Younger Daughter, above, studiously observing the boys’ apartment building and, below, meandering in the garden. What are we paying for again?? Just kidding.

Today, back at home, I added the finishing touches: leaves drawn from a pumpkin vine (although I took some liberties with their color).

Our leafy yard made a good backdrop today!

And finally, I captured a shot of “Pumpkin Patch” and “Night Garden” together, keeping sweet ones warm after a rain:

“Pumpkin Patch” (70″ x 82″ )

(This is no longer available for sale.)

“Night Garden”

October 14, 2012November 28, 2018thegreensheep 6 Comments

I have a new blanket ready for a fall show in November! These sweaters sat stacked together for months, awaiting some time on my calendar to put them together. This is “Night Garden.”

While I was sewing it, when our temps were a bit warmer, it evoked for me the feeling I have when my hubby and I sit out on our little street-facing balcony on a quiet evening, enjoy a glass of wine together and watch our neighbors walk with their spouses, their dogs, their babies.

Now that the weather is cooler, though, I just see “fall” all over this blanket. Funny how my feelings change through the seasons. We use our wool blankets all year long.

I was lucky enough to have my daughter and two of her wonderful college roommates agree to model, and even luckier that the rain stopped long enough for some photos. That their T-shirts serendipitously complemented the colors in the blanket — that was a bonus :)

“Night Garden” (70″ by 85″)

The Pacific Northwest and God’s Grandeur

July 29, 2012August 22, 2015thegreensheep 3 Comments

We recently returned from a trip to the Pacific Northwest to visit our daughter and son-in-law (who are on Whidbey Island for a summer internship), to invite ourselves to dinner at the home of several other relatives :), and to see as much of the landscape as our nine days would allow.

We were taken aback by so much of the beauty of the area, especially the mountains. As I’ve gone through our photos since returning, I find that the words of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem run through my head over and over. Here is God’s Grandeur, written in the late 1800s:

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell; the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah ! bright wings.

“11,12, Dig and Delve”

February 3, 2012July 12, 2014thegreensheep 9 Comments

Gloria is the grandma of some very special grandchildren, two of whom are brothers. These boys –2-1/2-year-old Rex and his brand new baby brother Uriah — have already had more than their fair share of hospital time, and Gloria wanted a pair of blankets that could accompany them on those hospital visits. I asked about colors. Nature colors! said Gloria — brown and green and orange…and maybe some blue.

Initially, I puzzled some over how to make this combo look childlike. But then I thought about boys playing outside. After that, it got fun.

Can you picture two little boys daring to catch a frog and hold it in their hands?

Squatting in the garden dirt to examine a snail?

Sitting in a homemade sheet-tent under a tree and listening to the breeze in its leaves?

Squinting against the bright sun as they lie in the grass and look for cloud shapes?

Can you remember your own sense of wonder while exploring the outdoors?

1, 2, buckle my shoe

3, 4, shut the door

5, 6, pick up sticks

7, 8, lay them straight

9, 10, a big fat hen

11, 12, dig and delve.

Baby Uriah was just born in January. This one is for him:

And little Rex is 2-1/2. This one’s for him:

So buckle up those shoes and go explore God’s beautiful earth, boys.

“11, 12, Dig and Delve” (each blanket is 42″ x 50″)

“Asleep in the Meadow”

July 3, 2010July 12, 2014thegreensheep 3 Comments

This blanket makes me think of a shady spot of grass on a perfect summer day. I can picture the picnic basket just off to the side. The wool in this one is very, very soft — lots of cashmere and angora in here, and the binding is merino wool. (Size: 54″ x 68″)