The softest blanket...

Last week I went into the yarn store. I walked down the aisles of beautifully colored yarn, touching each one as I went. After a few minutes a lady came up to me and asked if there was anything she could help me with. "Yes," I said. "What is the softest yarn that you carry here?" She looked at me with very serious wide eyes and said, "Well... you don't get any softer than cashmere."

"Cashmere it is then."

I didn't get a pure cashmere, but one that was a merino wool and cashmere mix. And yes, it was so so so soft. You see, I like to make things. Especially for my family. That's what I do. I had not yet made anything for this little baby. I'm glad that the idea came to me when it did, one of those little tender mercies that you get at times like this. I decided to knit him a blanket, made of the softest yarn possible. Something pretty small, that I could wrap my little boy in while he lay in the earth.

The blanket is about 16x16" and I did a diamond brocade pattern. It was pretty hard, the hardest thing that I have made yet. There are a few little mess ups in it, but that really doesn't matter. What matters is that I was able to make something for my son.

I love that every single fiber of this yarn has been worked by my hands, slipped through my fingers. Almost as if I am the one there holding him still. I wrapped his little frail body in it before we buried him. I even pinned the side shut so that it wont come undone as the years pass. This blanket will hold my boy until the day comes when I can once again hold him in my arms. I feel pretty good about that...