the amazing afghan

My friend Kimberly and I met when we sat together in high school physics class — I would nap before class, she would knit socks and mittens and wake me up before class started.

Where other friends brought a bag of chips and six-pack of beer to a potluck, Kimberly brought homemade twinberry jam bars and apple spice cake. The year I teased her about these habits, she responded by dressing up as Suzie Homemaker for Halloween. When she found out we were moving to California, her first comment was, “A move halfway across the country may require a housewarming gift. Thoughts?”

Kimberly is well-known for her knitting and crocheting skills and her all-around awesomeness. While any gift would be very appreciated, I couldn’t very well ask her to invest that much time and effort in something. So imagine my surprise when a box arrived from Virginia containing a beautiful crocheted afghan!

The only request that accompanied such a generous gift was that I take photos of it for her.

It’s really a beautiful blanket, and perfect for curling up for a nap on the couch. The kitties agree and will only nap on the couch if the afghan is on it.

Since my living room doesn’t have great light I decided to use a model for scale and interest.

Someone hasn’t watched enough America’s Next Top Model, it seems. I don’t think Tyra would consider this “smizing.”

Unable to resolve our creative differences, I needed a new model and a new idea.

Always helpful, Kimberly had a suggestion: “Photo shoot idea: person walking along the beach with afghan wrapped around shoulders. Of course there will be a perfect wind blowing it back just the right amount. Ha!”

Since my first recruit hadn’t worked out, I had a model fly in from New York.

Special thanks go to Liz for making the trip out just to take pictures with me.

And even more special thanks go to Kimberly for being a rock star.

The other part of my plan was to post a photo of us together, but the only one I could find was 1.) blurry and 2.) taken at High School Musical On Ice which would require admitting that we were in fact there.

So if you live in Virginia and need an afghan, befriend Kimberly! Or don’t so I can hog her awesomeness to myself. She’s still nice to me even though I took these photos in March and just posted them now.

What’s the best gift you’ve received lately? And “lately” can apparently include the last year. Whoops.

Tagged as: crafts, friends, gifts