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

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.