A Tapestry of Life

During my recovery from a badly broken ankle, a plan slowly evolved out of the fog of pain and sheer boredom. One particularly bad day, my son caught me weeping and asked if I was in pain. My response was "Yes, but not from the injury. I'm just so very sad." He disappeared but returned with a steaming cup of tea and some sage advice! "What you need mom, is a project! Something to keep your mind busy!" From this thoughtful comment, and some good strong Yerba Mate, the plan began.

Let us be kind and compassionate to remove
the sadness of the world

For years, I had been wanting to crochet a blanket for Mystic. I made one for our sailboat Keewatin years ago; a beautiful Indian pattern in many shades of blue. It looked like ocean water; with blending colors all shimmering together. It was stolen from the laundromat just a couple years after I made it. We have only two photos to remember it. They are taken from far enough away that you can't see the mistakes I made. I had only just begun crocheting back then. Perfection was not on my radar yet.

Beth aboard Keewatin, blanket on bunk

Dave at Beach House, Little Gasparillo Island
Afghan on the back of the couch

This time I wanted to make something even better; an heirloom perhaps. First, I had to pick a pattern. There were so many to choose from. I went on YouTube and followed videos to learn the different stitches which appealed to me. I must have learned a dozen; crocheting cloth size swatches that I showed to everyone to see what their favorite was. It took a long time to decide. Both Dave and David, liked the Basket Weave because its tightly woven without "holes" in the pattern. This would make it warm and dense. I liked it too. After weeks of exploring, I finally had my pattern.

Elizabeth Stitch

Star Stitch

Bean Stitch

Cluster Stitch

Basket Weave in Variegated

Celtic Cross

Basket Weave

My favorites, Elizabeth in lilac and Basket Weave in blue

Next, I needed to pick a color. The basket weave looks good in solid, variegated and in strips of contrasting colors. After a lot of contemplation I choose a solid wool blend in Heather Blue. We calculated I'd need about 30 skeins (almost 6,000 yards). Each skein grew my blanket by only 2.66 inches. It was slow and steady progress, like the healing of my ankle.

That's a whole lotta yarn!

I worked on it every day, first with a long skinny pile of stitches bunched on my lap, eventually using the finished side to keep me warm as I added to the length. The pattern is very easy, 4 front post double crochet, 4 back post double crochet. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep mid stitch, the pain meds overpowering me, sliding me into a sweet slumber. I'd wake up, find my place and begin again. The basket weave pattern shows on both sides so it was easy to see when I made mistakes. I pulled out a lot of stitches in the beginning. As I unraveled the tapestry I thought about how nice it would be if we could do this in life. Have a redo of sorts and take a step back to a point where life was perfect, without mistakes, then make it right.

At about 10 rows

Getting help from Jess

Progress after 5 skeins

Keeping me warm as it grows

Measuring length on our bed;
still a ways to go!

The blanket turned out gorgeous. My son says it is definitely an heirloom. It took over 200 hours and over $100 in yarn. It will keep us warm and bring us comfort aboard Mystic and it will remind me of my healing struggles in a positive way. I have something to show for my winter in bed! I guess you can say I made lemonade out of lemons!