June
would ask [our guest] if she was warm enough, so she asked me for another
cover, and of course, I didn’t have one. – Bertha Dobson, 1936
|
A winter scene |
I
always thought that when I got to this point in life, I would have a collection
of nice blankets. My mother had enough blankets to make every bed comfortable,
or at least I thought she did, so why shouldn’t I? But it didn’t happen for me,
and I don’t seem to be able to make it happen for myself. During the cold
months, we keep the house on the cool side, and while we cope, guests feel the
chill, so I comb through our linen closet in search of anything to make the
guest bed warmer.
Why
don’t I have blankets? Let me count the reasons:
1)
The
price. Good blankets are expensive and I just balk at spending because ...
2)
we
seldom need extras – just once or twice a year for a few days, ...
3)
and
then they take up storage space that I don’t have.
4)
I
prefer the woven blankets that seem to have disappeared from the market.
5)
I
want to see what I’m buying rather than ordering from a picture. Macy’s and
Penney’s closed here, and I learned the hard way that Walmart blankets aren’t
warm.
As
I recently re-pondered this dilemma, it occurred to me that I could sew up some
simple quilts. Lord knows, I have plenty of fabric, but it’s probably not coordinated
well enough to make a pleasing quilt. Not all fabrics belong on the same quilt.
I could also crochet some “blankets,” but again, all the yarns in my extensive
stash don’t belong on the same afghan. To be warm, an afghan would have to be crocheted
tightly without holes – no grannies.
A
family member said in effect, “I hate to think of you taking that on. Why don’t
you just buy some blankets?” Well, see numbers 1-5 above. On the other hand, nice
big afghan kits are $250. In that case, I just as well buy a blanket and do
something else with my time.
But
– the post-Christmas sales are on, and I ordered an afghan kit from Annie's.
I can hardly wait until it gets here, but it's on backorder. KW