I loved this yarn the minute Kaity dyed it. It wasn’t supposed to look like this – when she dyed it (back when we were still learning) , it was much darker, bright, and vivid, but when she rinsed it most of the color came out, and she was not pleased. I was VERY pleased. And I was blessed when she gave it to me :o)
Immediately, two things came to mind, Monet and Hanami.
Years ago when my mom, sister, and I took one our a girl trips, this one to Manhattan, one of the places we knew we wanted to visit was the Guggenheim Museum. When we got there I was thrilled to see they were having a Monet exhibit. I’ll always remember standing there, drinking in the paintings. It was one of those moments where you can’t believe you’re really looking at something, that it’s real, that it’s even more beautiful than you imagined. I remember not wanting to leave, because when knew when I walked away I would never see it again. I’ve been blessed to travel a lot of places and see a lot of things, but I’ll always remember not wanting to leave the Monet paintings.
The other thing that immediately came to mind was that this was the perfect yarn for my Hanami shawl. It just said cherry trees and cherry blossoms to me. The more I read about the tradition of Hanami, and looked at pictures of cherry trees in blossom – the more it became apparent that this was the perfect yarn.
I’m SO glad I didn’t give up on this shawl after the first few trials. I’m so in love with it. And, it’s already full of memories.
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The Pleasures of God, John Piper
Knit Together 
I’m with you, that yarn is beautiful. Kaitie’s loss was your obvious gain! The shawl is quite lovely, too. 🙂
A match made in heaven! It was meant to be 🙂
Oh Wow! Look how the colors turned out, even so different from when rolled up in a cake. It looks beautiful!
LOVE IT!! It is absolutely beautiful. I love the colorway even though she doesn’t. You lucked out.
Beautiful mix and Kaity and mom.
Beautiful – and the colors are perfectly-Monet!
I love it when everything comes together so perfectly. So beautiful!!
I have enjoyed reading your blog for some time now and I’m just now posting. I have enjoyed doing some crochet in the past but I really only know two stitches, taught to me by my grandmother. I’d love to learn how to knit. Can you recommend a good book to start off with? The things you make are SO beautiful!
Hanami is gorgeous – love the colors! You have done an excellent job of matching the yarn with the pattern.
Ooo, that is a lovely pairing of yarn and pattern.
Your Hanami is looking beautiful!
I felt the same way when I saw a Monet while in Chicago. I couldn’t believe I was standing that close to something he actually created. It wasn’t a calendar or a picture or a notecard – it was the real thing! I didn’t want to leave it, either, and I still vividly remember it.
I’m behind on my blog reading and today I caught up on your last ten posts. You’ve been busy! I love the new ministry project you’re working on. Very cute!
it IS the perfect yarn for this project. Monet was always my favorite impressionist when I was an art major…still is , in fact. The colors are very dreamy.