My biggest project last year began with a gift card for Joann. I wanted to do something indulgent and colorful. One of the oldest saves in my Ravelry favorites is the Monet’s Garden Throw by Felted Button, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I stocked up on a variety of Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarns (not all the ones specified in the pattern are still available, but there are suitable alternatives) and began making flowers.

Once the flowers were finished, I had a bit of a pause in the project while I tried to find the yarn to join them all together. The pattern uses Simply Soft yarn (not my favorite) in XXCOLOR, which isn’t available anymore. I thought Sage would be a good alternative, but it was surprisingly hard to find, too. This was about April, and everything was in chaos in the first in the first few weeks of quarantine. Ultimately, I ended up having to order from Amazon — hopefully the first and last time I have to buy yarn there!

I got it eventually, and started joining the flowers. It is a simple pattern, and quite relaxing to work on. Of course, I had some new complications by then, in the form of our two quarantine kittens…

My daughter has stolen it for her room (it looks great with her comforter) so I might have to make another one for myself. Maybe with a white or pale yellow yarn for joining instead.