Saturday, November 14, 2009

Saturday Daydreaming: Cherry Blossom Blanket

Cherry blossoms mean so much to the Japanese that the more reliable plum blossoms of late January to early March is only a prelude to the Cherry. But the pale pink flowers are delicate, and as they bloom when the weather is changeable, between late March and early April, we're very lucky if we can get one or two sunny, warm spring day of blossoms before the spring gusts blow them away or the sudden shower wash them in minutes.

About the time I leave home to come back to Nelson next year, Mom will start to get restless, anticipating the Cherry Front Line info after the nightly news and weather forecast, even though in Yokohama where they live, it'll be the coldest couple of weeks of the year in mid-Feb.

So I'm thinking of weaving Mom a "Very Early Spring" blanket, with the colors of anticipated cherry buds, the gray sky, spring rain, and young leaves on other trees, (cherry leaves come out after the flowers are gone on the five-petal "proper" variety), in wool including fine boucle to give some thickness and extra warmth, in a simple twill.

I think this is my next project. I must think of something for my wool-allergic sister, too; she's the hardest.

3 comments:

  1. I'm a wool-allergic too! I think cotton is the best, in summer, and silk, in the winter.

    Cherry Blossom Blanket sounds fantastic!

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  2. Love the idea of the Cherry blossom blanket - could I be forward enough to suggest trying a less "in your face" yellow. Maybe it needs your choice for the spring concept:)

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  3. Desiree, you, too? My mom and I do fine with merino and cashmere, but not for too long, and anything else not directly next to the skin. I don't go near angora and only weave, in heavy duty protective gear, with mohair mixes.

    Dianne, that's more of a yellow green, the color of new leaves. The problem, I discovered only last night, is that I make my warp in a very small space, in the hallway, so I can't use the paddle. This is why many of my warps end up being graduated or obvious stripes - this one being graduated. If I wanted to swing a paddle around and make a more diffused warp, all I needed to do is to go downstairs and use the mill, which I didn't think of it until I was halfway done with this warp. At any rate, the yellow green is cheerful and certainly takes the eye off the blue gray area of the boucle, turns out actually rather accurate depiction of the rain/snow clouds hanging above that time of the year,) so I don't mind.

    The stripe wrap is not an accurate representation of my warp, to be sure. Just an idea of the mix and the proportion of the boucle.

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