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Baby, it's cold outside--but not for this Decorah tree!

Posted: Mon, Apr 8, 2013 9:33 PM

Early last fall an ash tree in Decorah was trimmed quite drastically, leaving many scars along the trunk. 

At about that same time the Cedar Rapids Gazette ran a feature article on knitters in Iowa City who were knitting tree sweaters to dress up the trees on a Mall in that city. 

That gave Irma Johnson of 909 Ridgewood Drive, Apartment #4 an idea.  She and her neighbor, both long time knitters, decided to knit a sweater for the tree.

Says Irma, "Both of us had large stashes of yarn leftover from previous projects.  We measured the diameter of the tree, figured out a gauge for number of stitches and began knitting colorful stripes in many colors.  After we had about ten feet done a helpful daughter climbed a ladder and attached the completed project to the tree trunk."

The tree sweater has been a subject of much conversation among those who live in the Assisted Living Complex next door.  Johnson says she's even seen many cars stop to have a closer look as they drive by.