The Wool Blanket

I had a busy birthday! It went kinda like this: I slept 'in' until about 9am, had biscuits and gravy and donuts with my family for breakfast, then played with the kids for a little while so my hubby could get the Christmas lights for outside down from the attic. Then he took both kids outside to play and do lights, and I got to spend time in my sewing room! Yay! I got a bunch of things done including some pencil/notebook holders, some crayon rolls, and I got started on some little tissue holders! I had a good time, it was nice to have the time to get things done, and I feel like I accomplished something. I also got to have the Alice Springs Chicken from Outback for dinner - although at home - here's why... my daughter seemed to be a little sick today. She started the day out saying she felt like she needed to throw up, but didn't. Then the rest of the day she didn't eat much (VERY unlike her), but she did want a snack in the afternoon. Apples and peanut butter. One of her faves. It stayed in her about 20-25 minutes... not fun! Poor thing didn't feel bad otherwise and she didn't have a fever, but did complain of a sore throat later in the evening, and still had no appetite. I'll be taking her to the doctor in the morning for sure... hope tonight goes OK!

So... take a peek at this beauty:

This blanket is the aforementioned nonchalantly draped wool blanket from my last post. I haven't noticed it before in my parent's house, but I'm sure it was there for a while. I asked my Mom about it while visiting for Thanksgiving... thinking maybe she had picked it up at a yard sale or something. I was wrong... Apparently this blanket is over a hundred years old!

Close-up of the patterns on it

So - here's the story: My Great Grandfather bought a large tract of land in Charlottesville, VA when he was starting his family. The property he bought was an old farm known as Brookhill, built circa 1815. I think it was originally a farm of some sort. He was a professor of Mathematics at the University of Virginia, and also commuted to teach somewhere in New York. He was a busy man with a growing family, and didn't really have time to mow the large grassy areas on his property. So, one year he decided to buy some sheep for the sole purpose of keeping the lawn from getting ratty. When the sheep needed to be sheared, my Great Grandmother decided to send the wool off somewhere to be spun, then made into a blanket. I'm guessing it's woven, certainly not knit. There were 4 blankets made, one for each child. My Grandfather got the one my mother has now. It's amazing to me. I love it just because it's nearly a PART of the family! It's a true family heirloom - something no one else in this world would have except if they were in our family. It's so cool. And I think it's beautiful.