There's green....and then, there is GREEN

As a grandmother, I have knitted or crocheted a baby blanket for all of our grandchildren.  The first four have been created with the same brand of yarn (if you look at the photos down the right of my blog, you will see one of these blankets. Trinity is wrapped up in hers sitting in Grandpa's lap). Very soft and very colorful.  When Shelly recently announced that she was pregnant once more, of course I knew that I would be busy crafting another for the new arrival, due in February.  Unfortunately, the yarn I used for the first four is no longer available so I had to figure out a new direction for this blanket.  About a year ago, I had knitted a blanket for a friend and the pattern was very pretty and easy so I decided to use that pattern again and in just one color. So, I asked Shelly what colors she had in mind for the crib, etc. and she said she was thinking of apple green; that she wanted to stay away from pink and blue all together. Even if she knew whether she was having a girl or boy, she wants to stay 'neutral'.

So off to Michaels Grandpa and I went to pick out the yarn.  Ok, apple green.....to me that is the color of the green delicious apples that they sell in the grocery story, right?  I sort of had a picture in my mind of what that color would look right (although I actually did think about going and buying an apple to take with us).  Well, we did not find a yarn which had the color name of 'apple green' but did find one that seemd like the color but it was called 'pea green' and it was one of Vanna's yarns and I love to work with her yarn.  I asked Grandpa what he thought and he said 'perfect' which I was glad for because my eyes were starting to cross looking at all the greens and going dizzy trying to make up my mind. It was one of the times that I tossed the decision into Grandpa's lap and was happy to do so.

If you are a knitter or work with yarns at all, you KNOW how many shades of one color there are to choose from.  If not, let me enlighten you and then maybe you will understand why I was on the verge of a headache over a simple thing as chosing yarn. When I got home, I went on the computer and brought up the Herrschner's (they sell a lot of yarn; and I have bought a lot FROM them) site.  Just to give you an idea that picking out the yarn that is 'just right' for a project can be a daunting task.  Now, these are just the colors I found at Herrschners; we also have Mary Maxim, Lion Yarn plus others. Sprout, leaf, guacamole, grass green, limelight, soft green, sage, fern, soft fern, pea (yep, the one we picked), dusty, kelly, olive, mint and seedling just to name a few.  I think you get the picture. You will notice that they don't have one with the name of just plain GREEN.  It's sort of like the big box of crayola crayons the kids use these days.....way more than your 'basic' colors, that's for sure.


And then I thought....why was I putting myself through this? If it's the wrong shade of green, will this little baby refuse to be wrapped up in it?  Will the baby be totally stressed out to be laying with a blanket that was made from yarn that did not say "apple" on its label?  I don't think so!  So I have stopped thinking about what shade of green it is and remember the important reality here....it is made with love from Grandma.

Actually, the picture makes it look a totally different color than it actually is.....but.....let's not start this all over again.  I'm going to keep knitting and will post another photo when it's finished; hopefully before February when the baby is due.


I'm Grandma; therefore, I knit.