A wreath for a knitter

Someone posted a picture on Facebook of a wreath made with balls of yarn and knitting needles.  I asked Jacy and Joan if they would make one for me if I supplied the materials.  Yesterday afternoon Joan went out with a list and this morning I have a new wreath on my door!

We looked at the website with the original picture, but couldn't find instructions.  Still, it was easy to figure out a way to make it, although the wreath that was our inspiration may have been put together differently.

Supplies for my wreath:
 * 1 wire wreath frame
 * 3 packs of styrofoam balls in 3 different sizes
 * florist's wire
 * yarn in various colors, gauges, fibers
 * 1 pair of large (mine are size US 13) and long aluminum knitting needles
 * Modge Podge, if desired (we ended up not using it)

I showed Joan how to wrap the yarn around the styrofoam balls, as if she were using a nostepinne.  We thought about spraying the finished yarn-balls with Modge Podge, but Joan just tucked the yarn-end under the wrapped yarn, then slipped florist's wire under a few strands of yarn and wired them to the wreath frame.  Finally she stuck the needles under the yarn on several balls and it was done!

Sonnet 73

That time of year thou may'st in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day,
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by-and-by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
   This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
   To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

                                          

                                             ~William Shakespeare

November baby blanket

I found a new-to-me crocheted edge that I love!  It's from the book The Crochet Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden and it's called "Crown Picot Edging."  A couple at church is expecting their first child later this month.  They will find out if the baby is a boy or a girl when the baby is born, so I made single crochet rounds in gray, pink, blue, yellow, and green before finishing up with the crown edging. The edging does have a strong tendency to curl, so unblocked it looks more like a ruffle than a crown.  However, using a good steam iron on it flattens it enough to coronate the blanket. (The body of the blanket is crocheted using the "Turtle Stitch" from the same book.)