Two important things happened in the last six months, I got married and I found out I have some really sneaky friends. The wedding was wonderful and went off without a hitch, but I'm not going to talk about that. Instead, I want to post for all to see what 16 dear friends can do behind one's back in a mere 6 months.
Here is a photo of what those sneaky girls did:
They call it the Stripper Model Nuptial Blanket because each of them knit a strip from yarn spun just for this purpose (from a fleece from Sarah Swett's stash) and then they sewed them together into the most amazing blanket EVER. (The Stripper Model deliniates it from other blankets and afghans the group has made by sewing together knit squares instead of strips. The Stripper Model is far superior and I am honored to have this first one)I guess there was lots of talk about strippers and stripper names and other fun discussions that took place while they put this together, but I don't really know because they did it BEHIND MY BACK and I was totally clueless.
When they presented it to me a couple of weeks before my wedding, there was a moment or two when I thought they had gone out and bought it. I couldn't imagine why my uber-talented knitting and spinning friends would buy me a store-bought knit blanket or why they thought I wanted one. During those brief moments, staring done into the beautifully wrapped gift, I never considered the idea they made it just for me. I realized I was wrong. And then I started to cry.
As I cried and said how unworthy I was, I unwrapped it, spread it out and was in awe. These pictures don't do it justice. When you see it in person you can understand why there was that brief moment when I thought it was store bought. It is perfect.
The blanket came with a book. It records for posterity the e-mail conversations that went on for months behind my back, including a brief scare when an e-mail mistakenly went out with my address included and I almost found out. The back side of the blanket has beautiful handmade tags so I'll always know who made which strip. 
Now that the weather has turned toward winter, I find myself wrapped up in it in front of the fire. It's warm and snuggly and it's like being wrapped up in the arms of my dear friends.Thank you again Amy, Andrea,Carolyn, Danielle, Ivy, Jane, Kelly, Laura, Lodie, Mary, Nancie, Robin Rochelle, Sandy, Sarah, and Sarah.
