A Box of Baby Blankets | Chickens in the Road

May
4

Slowly (very slowly), I’m going through boxes of things that still need unpacking around here. Yes, I confess, it has been two years since I moved into this house and I’m not completely unpacked yet. But, it’s kinda fun this way. Every once in a while, I tackle a box–and it’s like opening presents! I never know what I’m gonna find.

This box held a bunch of baby blankets.

I’d forgotten I’d crocheted all these baby blankets. I crocheted them a long time before I even had babies. I think I must have had a lot of time on my hands!

Look at this pale yellow one with a pretty fringe. It’s gender-neutral.

Pink and blue and yellow–more gender-neutral.

Blue, blue, definitely blue.

PINK!!!!! And FLUFFY!!!!!!

Blue again.

What was I doing? Why was I crocheting all these blankets? How many children did I think I was going to have? Was I worried they would be cold? Did I ever actually USE these baby blankets? I don’t remember using them! Why would I crochet all these baby blankets then have babies and not use the blankets?

What is up with all these baby blankets anyway? Remember my cousin’s wife, Sheryl, and her craft stash? FULL OF BABY BLANKETS. Many, if not most of them, made in her 20s, before she had a baby. Did you do this, too, before you had babies? Was it obsessive? Insane? Were we lucky we didn’t end up stealing babies out of hospitals, we wanted one so bad?

Or were all these baby blankets just tangible bits of dreams, their actual use not nearly as important as the hook by hook drafting of fantasy into something we could touch? And have they come back into my life now so I can dream about grandbabies, now that my kids are in their teens–far away from babyhood, and yet still far enough away from adulthood that grandbabies are still dreams?

Or am I supposed to give them to Beulah Petunia?

P.S. Don’t miss today’s giveaway!

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32 Responses
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5-4
1:15
am

You never have enough baby blankets..if you are out of babies…just use them for you pets.
My dogs sleep on baby blankets..so do the cats..and they love it

Flatlander

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5-4
1:20
am

There beautiful. Keep them for Grandbabies.

Melinda in Washington

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5-4
1:26
am

My babies blankets have been used to wrap my Grand babies up in!! save them, you will have many!!!!!!!

Grandmatotwochicks

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5-4
1:30
am

I knitted and crocheted baby sweaters and later doll clothes – didn’t get into the blankets except for the “quilt” I made for Diane. Used the wrong filler, washing made it lumpy, but now – 39 years later – she still has it!

She also has the beautiful mini-afghan my grandmother crocheted for MY dolls, over 60 years ago.

Nancy in Iowa

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5-4
4:21
am

If you don’t want to wait for grandbabies, I bet some other babies, maybe ones in need, would love those.

Karen Anne

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5-4
5:19
am

I think Beulah has you thinking babies…I am sure she would appreciate the beautiful blankets..
Hugs Granny Trace’

Tracey In Paradise,Pa.

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5-4
6:40
am

They are beautiful. Keep them for furture grand babies. Or stitch them all togeather and make one big blanket to snuggle under with 52. I think they are too pretty to use for the animals.

I never made blankets. But I did make a few things for my dd as she was growing up. Some items I remember her wearing so much she wore them out.

Diane

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5-4
6:46
am

You must be thinking of grandbabies. I did long before I got any and would collect stuffed animals and disney movies. I just let Baby Brooke play with them and watch one of the movies the other day! Dont want to be the boring grandma…..

Leah

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5-4
7:22
am

when I worked at a nursing home people would donate them for lap blankets to the elderly, they get so cold. It is a idea or snug them back in the box for the grand abies to come, wont be time to make new ones after they are here

robin

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5-4
7:42
am

I think Robin and others are right, save them! You are so busy in your new lifestyle, you might not get to make new ones. I think that box is like a goldmine. Seeing Weston and his lovely friend makes me remember how quickly they are gone from home. Also, your children might do what ours did. They waited, and waited, then all of a sudden, they all had them at once, 5 babies appeared in just a few years. Never would have been able to make gifts quickly enough as slow as I am.

Barbee'

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5-4
7:53
am

I think you should keep them for your grandchildren. It would be so sweet to wrap a baby shower gift in one of them when the time comes..tuck a little stuffed animal under the bow, so cute.

Mary

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5-4
8:49
am

I have one word for you. Afghans. When the babes go off to school, they still need blankets, and if they go very far, you crochet even more afghans!

Anna Adams

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5-4
9:11
am

Oh Suzanne, I have the very same sort of stash of baby blankets. You captured the exact idea–they are tangible evidence of a dream. I still have mine (for boys, for girls and the requisite gender-neutral) and now I have a grand baby–only problem is, her mother, my daughter-in-law, received gobs of them as shower presents so I was informed that she is well stocked with baby blankets, please don’t bother to bring them over to her house. Well, when the next one comes along, I’m gonna beat those other gift-givers to the punch and make her use mine. Actually, maybe my daughter will want to use them for her baby(ies). It will be a while since my daughter has informed me that she’s not havin’ any babies til she gets her Masters and has a career esablished. Kinda makes me wonder why my vision of what the future held could be so off from reality. Either way, they were a pleasure to make and after all these years, I’m keepin’ them.

PJ

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5-4
9:32
am

You could donate them to the nearest neonatal center. They are always needing baby blankets!

Mary Kellogg

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5-4
11:42
am

That’s a very nice idea. I already give quilts (child size) to a local charity for mothers and children that are going through abuse problems. However, I like the idea of helping at the hospital. You were probably speaking to Suzanne, but thanks for the idea. I know they like little knitted and crocheted hats for the infants, also.

PJ

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5-4
11:43
am

If you keep going how you’re going, you’ll never have time to crochet new ones when the time comes for grandbabies!! Even if they don’t take them home, you will always need them at your house! I’ve got a whole dresser dedicated to the grandbabies……too many times they have arrived with something forgotten in the huge diaper bag! Now they just arrive, I’m prepared!

CindyP

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5-4
11:49
am

They are beautiful! You are/were the crochet queen!

DonnaTN

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5-4
11:50
am

Maybe consider donating them to a nearby hospital for their NICU. I’m sure they could use some warm blankets.

Lisa

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5-4
12:32
pm

When my oldest was born, a lovely woman in the church (who I didn’t know) came up to me on his dedication day and gave me a beautiful hand knit blanket. She said she loved to knit and crochet… and so she spent her time making baby blankets – and giving them away. Each one she knew would be for a baby she’d hear about… and she just kept knitting and knitting and knitting… maybe you could wash them up all pretty and nice and hand them out as a gift as you meet new mommies?
I love baby blankets.. we have a couple which as just “couch snugglies” now… just the right size to put over your lap while you watch your Hubby cheer for his favourite hockey team! LOL!

Shannon R

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5-4
1:13
pm

I started doing this looong before I ever had my daughter, not I do it to sell a markets! I was the only 18 year old that knew how to do this and actually did!

Leigh

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5-4
1:32
pm

If you have room & inclination: save for grandbabies to come. If not, give to charities for children to help them now. Just do online search. If you plan on making new ones for the grandchildren to come, then maybe helping others with them now would be nice. It is your choice. No, I never made baby things ahead of time, maybe I didn’t have the free time or even the dream of children. But I am very different than most dear ladies.

Karen

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5-4
7:50
pm

One place to donate is called “The Linus Project” which gives blankets to children in need (search the web).

Hey, Cuz, I only have 2 baby blankets unfinished at my house. The one I started for my nephew (now age 6) and I broke my thumb. Another I started for a mom-to-be at work, didn’t finish, was going to give to a couple at church, etc. (and so on……)

Keep or donate?? Hmmmm – whatever, they will be used and loved either way! They are beautiful!

Cousin Sheryl

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5-4
8:32
pm

I’m crocheting a baby blanket right now and I do not have any babies, nor am I expecting. I just liked the yarn and know I will use the blanket someday!

Amber

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5-4
8:46
pm

Perhaps it is because you really, really wanted to have children that you made blankets towards that day.
I never wanted to have children…and never even thought about making baby blankets; never had any children, either.

princessvanessa

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5-4
9:44
pm

Your blankets are beautiful.

NorthCountryGirl

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5-4
10:16
pm

I never got a whole baby blanket made. Received some lovely ones as gifts for baby though. I used the hand made ones more for discreet breast-feeding than actually wrapping the baby in.

lavenderblue

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5-5
2:17
pm

That brought back a memory and I had to laugh. When my son was born almost 30 years ago in Rochester, NY, my friends threw a baby shower for me. I guess no one checked with anyone else because we got 13 baby blankets! Most were hand made and all were lovely. Still, even in that climate I did need other things besides blankets. Ah well, that’s why there are garage sales, right?

Oh…and when my son was not quite 3 months old we moved to southern California!

Linda

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5-6
10:26
pm

Intensive care nurseries around your state would love these-Debra Cox-coordinates W.V.–through Newbornsinneed.org !!!! You’ll be crocheting/knitting all new ones for your grandbabies–well maybe keep one or two favs!!!

rainss61

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6-24
12:44
am

I keep a few baby blankets in the car incase the air conditioning gets too cold for someone. And they are invaluable in the fall as the weather changes. Winter school mornings, too, before the car gets warm…You can never have enough baby blankets.

Jo

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12-16
1:06
pm

To me, crocheting (and maybe knitting too) can be just something to keep the hands busy while allowing time to think, almost meditative. I never made baby blankets, but made many big, thick lap blankets (lot of heavy thinkin’ going on back then).

My boys each had their favorite “banky,” from all those received as baby gifts. They drug them around everywhere for many years until the bankies fell apart in the wash! So, youngins do love their bankies! You can’t make enough of them! I think your baby blankets are all beautiful, but I’d keep a few for future grandbabies and give the rest to a charity as already suggested. There’s a baby out there who may need a banky right now!

Sundownr / Bev

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1-16
11:08
am

I just discovered ths post. What did you do with them Suzanne?

Judi

TeaCup

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1-16
11:18
am

Nothing, LOL. I still have them.

Suzanne McMinn

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