Colorific

Ya'll, if you are of the mind to pray for little dogs, please say a little prayer for Sally. Reader’s Digest Condensed: She went to the vet today. She has two broken vertebrae and a crushed disc in her spin. The doctor recommends $5000 worth of surgery. (Yes, seriously.) We are going to see if we can help her heal without surgery. She is home and confined to the cage (thanks, Lori) for 2 weeks on steroids and sedatives. Those sad, hurting eyes are breaking my heart.


On a more uplifting note:

In real estate, there is a concept known as Highest and Best Use. It is a principle that basically states that the value of a property is based on the fair market value of the property when the use of the property that yields the maximum possible value. For example, if you have a residential property on a major commercial thoroughfare, the Highest and Best Use – the use for the property that would yield the greatest return – may not be a residential use.




This is the Tahki Cotton Classic I have been stockpiling for the knit/quilt project. After some thinking and a stroke of inspiration (thanks - again - to Lori) I have decided that the knit/quilt does not represent the highest and best use for all of this cotton (and more like it, of course.)




This is my Daddo. He was my mother’s father and one of my favorite people to ever walk the earth. He passed away several years ago and my mother, his only child, inherited all of his worldly possessions. One of those possessions is a wooden ladder that he made himself and that he used for pretty much any task that required a ladder, though most frequently it was used when he was pruning his apple trees. I don’t know exactly how tall it is. 18 or 20 feet, I would guess. When I was little, it seemed like it was 100 feet tall. My sister-in-law Lori recently saw a ladder leaning against a wall as decor in a Pottery Barn catalog and mentioned it to Mama…so Mama has decided to bring Daddo’s ladder in the house and use it as décor. Specifically, as a blanket/quilt rack. I think it is a perfect idea.

I tell you all of this to tell you: I’ve decided that the Highest and Best Use for the Cotton Classic is as a blanket to go on Daddo’s ladder. I saw a blanket while I was shopping on Saturday and it was serendipity – when I saw it, I made the decision then and there to alter the destiny of this cotton. It isn’t going to be the world’s most ambitious blanket (I’m going for roughly 42” by 50”) and it will be predominantly stockinette but I am excited about it. I feel inspired.

The blanket/afghan/whatever you want to call it, will be made up of roughly 35 7" by 10" stripey blocks. Some of the blocks will be random, multi-colored blocks. Others will have some rhyme and/or reason. For instance: here is the first block:

















Screwy.

Here is the start of the second block:














It will be all blues and greens. (It is fascinating how the yarns that appear to be one color cozy up next to another color and change completely.) I have intentions for a red/yellow/orange block and reds block, a creme/khaki/tan/brown block, some more modge-podge ones. 35 different combinations so I haven't made "plans" for all of them yet. I am just going to let it come together and see what happens. I talked to Mama over the weekend and she has some sheets that were Nana and Daddo's and she said I could have one to make a lining for the back. I am so excited to see this project come together.

Wednesday morning is the ankle surgery. I guess I'll see ya'll when the drugs wear off.