A Baby Blanket for Life

When I was small I never really was that bothered about dolls or teddies, and I never had a special toy or a comfort baby blanket and I never really understood them. My sister had a blanket which was a knitted patchwork blanket which was lined with satin.  She carried it around everywhere with her and wore it completely out.  Once the satin lining had disappeared my mum suggested that she took the patches apart and she could a little box with the squares in so that if she lost one she could have another one.  She reluctantly agreed and so that kept her going for a few more years until they either got lost or completely wore out and disappeared. 

You would have thought that was it, no more baby blanket, but she then became very attached to a bear that my mum had made her from a kit.  She kept it, cuddled it and sniffed it until her early 20’s, he was mended and washed many times and looked like he had!  Until one day when she went on holiday with her boyfriend in France and a bag was stolen out of their car which contained the bear.  She was absolutely devastated and although there were goods of value in the bag, she was completely unbothered about them. 

My mum was at a loss and did the only thing she could do which was to make her another bear from a kit that was very similar.  It took a bit of time getting used to the new bear and of course the bereavement of the first bear.  But eventually the new bear took on a similar worn appearance and she was happy with it.

This got me thinking, when you give or make a baby blanket for a new baby, you have to consider that this blanket may not be just for the baby years, but a blanket for life.  You can never predict if a child will become attached to an item or what that item will be.

I am thinking of crocheting a baby blanket for my sister who is due to have a baby and I am aware that this might be something that the baby becomes attached to so it needs to be really well made.  I am wondering whether I should make two so there is a back up.  Or just to buy double the wool and keep half of it incase I need to make another one in the future.  Of course if I do that the baby is bound to attach itself to a completely different item.

There are products now that are a piece of fabric with lots of silky tags sew round the edge, which are something that many children get attached to on normal baby blankets so I could just get one of those, but it wouldn’t be homemade and so special.