More Pups and Projects

I thought you might like a pup update! For those who haven't read my previous pups post, my glorious bromeliad, which was a birthday pressie from a dear friend in June and which still has its original flower more than two months later, also had 'pups'. Apparently that's what you call the new plants which shoot off from the base of the mother plant. Well, I decided a few days ago that it was time for the biggest of these pups to be delivered! So, having watched a few internet tutorial videos I got ready to play puppy midwife! And this is the result!

As you can see, the mother plant survived very well and looks as beautiful as ever - she's positively blooming!

Everything didn't quite go exactly to plan tho'...... Following the internet advice I had intended to take off only the two biggest pups but I think I had let the biggest one get too big and it needed much more force than I had thought to gently break it away from the mother plant - and in that process the compost holding the other littlies in got broken apart and they literally fell out!! Obviously, they were not as strongly attached as this big one which I think was taking the lion's share from the mother. So, I potted the littlies up together for company. I hope they are big enough to go it alone! Maybe they'll actually do better now that they are away from Big Brother!

It's been about a week now and two of them look to be doing fine. The tiniest one might not make it tho'. 

I'm really VERY excited to see how they all get on! There was actually another medium sized brother, not pictured here, which I took to my friend who bought me the mother plant. According to my research we can be hopeful that these plants will produce their own beautiful pink flower in 1-3 years time and then pups of their own after that! Isn't nature wonderful!

Well, besides delivering pups, I've been working on a very special crochet restoration project which unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures of as I went along! I was asked by my brother if I could repair and restore a much-loved blanket that my darling Mum had made some years ago for his Grand-daughter, Dxxxx, who is now 11. The blanket has been so much loved that it was literally coming apart at the seams. Not only that, but I discovered that some of the yarn had broken and the granny squares were unravelling from the insides! Despite having no idea if I could actually do it, I undertook to try. 

The first issue was locating some matching yarn, especially as the blanket had been made years before! I searched through all my Mum's left-over yarns which I had kept, but without success. I really thought then that I had no chance of matching the yarns, especially as they were not common colours but a very unusual bright pink and deep purple! Then I thought of one of my favourite wool shops in the centre of Skipton - a long way from home but a place I enjoy spending the day when I meet up with friends. So, armed with two strands of yarn to match up, off I went - and yippee! My lovely wool lady not only had a PERFECT match for one yarn but, incredibly, for BOTH! FANTASTIC! Not only that but she only charges £1 per 100g ball for many of her yarns which is amazing! 

So, I set about painstakingly restoring my beloved Mum's blanket, re-sewing all the seams and, to my own amazement, re-crocheting the inside rows of Granny Squares, reattaching them to the previous and following rows! I was amazed that you really can't see where the repairs are at all! I really wish I had taken before and after pictures! Too late now tho' because I've already returned it. 

Anyway, although it turned out surprisingly well, it is nevertheless still past it's beautiful best and the yarn is fading in places so, I returned to my Skipton wool lady and bought several more balls of each colour - and started a new exact relica of the original! And here it is.......

This new one is a surprise still to be delivered - I didn't tell anyone I was making it. I still have all the ends to weave in but once that's done I'll take it down to Staffordshire on my next visit. So Dxxxx will be able to keep the original much-treasured blanket my Mum made for her and use this new replica that I have made.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

I'm amazed at how blue it looks in these pictures because it's actually a deep purple! 

There was something very special about being able to restore my Mum's original blanket and then re-creating it again in a completely new one. And there was definitely a 'meant-to-be' about finding exactly the right coloured yarns in Skipton!!

As usual, as soon as one project gets close to completion I seem compelled to start another new one - and so my Bobble Baby Blanket has been born! But more of that next time.....

Bye for now, Tricia xx