Katie's Blanket

This may be a first for me. I'm notorious for starting a crochet project and leaving it half done. Years ago I had planned to make a red and black striped blanket for my brother-in-law Ben to use in his college dorm room. I didn't measure it and ended up making it WAY too long. So after I realized my mistake, at about the half way point, Daniel suggested I just unravel it and make it over in the correct length. I got it about halfway unraveled and gave up in frustration. It's currently in my linen closet, looking like two blankets, a twin size and a king size, connected by a long strand in the middle.

Recently the kids stumbled upon a three quarters finished blanket that almost looks like an American flag. That was the one I had planned on making for Kevin's baby blanket since he was due on the 4th of July. Somewhere in the house there is an unfinished crazy multicolored blanket that I was making for my best friend from high school when she was expecting her first child... she has four children now.

Anyway, my broken leg actually had one positive outcome in that I was able to spend plenty of time working on this baby blanket for Katie. Gloria took this photo of me as I was finishing up the border around the outside. I brought the blanket with me several times to the Children and Family Services building to work on while I was waiting for Miss Lady and Thumbelina during their visits with their parents. Several caseworkers and foster parents who know me stopped by and noticed the blanket in progress and were surprised to find out that I was pregnant. I guess the blanket was a more obvious sign than my not-so-large belly. I can't tell you what a feeling of accomplishment (and relief) it brought to finish tying off the last bit of yarn on Katie's blanket. Now every time she uses it I smile. For once, when someone sees a crocheted blanket on one of my babies and asks who made it, instead of telling them that a friend or my mother-in-law made it as a gift, I can say, "I did."