I'm going to throw this out there as a heads up for you: if I give you a crocheted blanket, I expect it to be used. I do not expect it to be put behind glass or on a hanger as display. They are made to wrap you in comfort, love, and peace. Make note and don't forget. 
Image courtesy of YouTube
My mom and I disagreed on this. She made us a beautiful quilt for our bed when we got married. I put it on the bed. Over 10 years or so of use and washings, it started to show its age, and I would find small tears in it. When I asked Mom is she could mend it, she got mad that I hadn't taken better care of it....preserved it, if you will. Why wouldn't I use something that's useful? It didn't make sense then, and it still doesn't.
I am only pondering this now because over the weekend, I received a text message from Captain's aunt. She was visiting her daughter and grandchildren, and her oldest grandson brought out the blanket I made for his baby shower 10 years ago.
The text said "Can this be fixed? Easton is very sad about this." and was accompanied by this picture:
Friends, this made my heart so happy! That might seem contrary to what would be expected, but this kid literally loved this blanket to death! They say the sincerest form of flattery is imitation. Nope, I saw the sincerest form of flattery is a beloved blanket in tatters from use.
I replied to Captain's aunt that fixing it might be possible but I would have to actually see it to know for certain. Since Easton's family lives over an hour away, the timeframe for this to happen was uncertain.
However, two days later I had to make a parts run for Captain that would bring me within minutes of Easton's house, so I texted his mom and asked if she would be home so I could look at the blanket and probably take it with me. Yes, that would work fine.
Unfortunately, the blanket had come apart from the middle out rather than at an edge, so there was no fix to it. I explained that the yarn used originally was still in production and easily available, so I could deconstruct the blanket, get some new yarn to crochet a new blanket and then use the old yarn as the border so that Easton would have part of his beloved blanket still with him.
When I got home, I started the deconstruction process, which was much more complicated than I had expected because it hadn't come apart in such a way that I could just unravel the blanket. I had to undo each stitch individually going backwards until I hit a joining knot that would then allow me to unravel it.
Once I was able to quickly unravel the yarn, I soon ended up with a coconut-sized ball of yarn plus half a dozen little piles of the yarn I had undone stitch by stitch.
This is where the project currently is at a standstill until I can get to Hobby Lobby to get new yarn. Plus, I have another idea for a surprise for Easton that I can get at Hobby Lobby. Retail therapy....YAY!
I hope that there comes a day when I get another text, maybe from Easton himself, that says "Can you fix this?" with another picture of a tattered, well-loved blanket.
If I have ever made a blanket for you, please know that prayers and love are included in every stitch, and my sincere hope is that those prayers and love wrap up with you under your blanket.
Blessings, my friends!
