Blanket Delivery

Brody and his Mum with their new blanket.  He seems to like it . . .

and Mum certainly did (thankfully)!

It's nice to give a gift to someone who appreciates the time and effort that went into it, even though she doesn't spin or knit herself.  I wouldn't like to guestimate exactly how long this took, that's not the point after all.  The point is, I wanted to make something that was from me, something special, and that no-one else has.  I'd searched the internet for a ready-made pattern but just couldn't find anything that "spoke to me", so the only option left was to design my own.  I've no idea why I chose elephants for this, except that we knew the baby was going to be a boy and elephants seemed to suit a boy better than bunnies or cats.

I think Mum is a wee bit worried about spoiling this, but I'm confident that once she's washed it once or twice she's realise that wool isn't too difficult to care for.  The only rules to follow are, use warm soapy water, let the item soak without too much handling until the soiled parts are clean, lift out and allow to drain without wringing, and then repeat the process a couple of times with clean, warm water to rinse.  I usually then wrap the whole lot in a bath towel to soak up excess water, and lay it out on another towel until it's dry. Easy peasy!