That is so sweet.... you really are a great mom girl!!!

It's universal!! Alison, what WAS the pattern you used? I'm thinking any blanket that is so beloved must be THE pattern to make!!

I agree with Bonney; that pattern must be magical. Would you mind sharing the pattern?

My son is currently in the process of loving his softie to death as well. And he loves the holes! In fact, when I purchased a replacement (no, his softie is not a handknit), well before the holes began to take over, he rejected it, calling it "too fresh."

So sweet. Can you remind us which pattern it is? It seems like a real winner of a blanket.

Funny...I posted a blog entry today with a similar subject, though mine is a rag-doll whos face was literally kissed off...

I really enjoy your blog.

Both of my children have lovies, neither handknit. However, it has been sweet to watch them grow old and tattered. It shows how much they're loved, like the story of the Velveteen rabbit.

The pattern is Ann Norling #35 "Crib-Blanket-Afghan II". You can find it online at places like this one and probably at your local yarn store.

I don't know if the magic trick is making the right blanket or making the right kid. S is just all about snuggling and cuddling. B sleeps with his blankie and runs his fingers along the edge like his brother, but when I tell him at noon that it's time for the blankie to go back upstairs to bed, he's okay with it. S tells me that big blankie will be too sad all alone and has to stay with him. Awwww.

FYI: I was a thumbsucker and my younger brother had a "blankie". We did a lot of camping and when he got a certain age, he held a ceremonial burning of his blankie in the campfire. For years he hassled me that he had broken his blankie habit while I remained (sadly) a thumbsucker. I was envious of his ability to hold a "ceremony"!

Oh, the thumbsucking! S is a big thumbsucker. B used to suck his thumb until he broke his arm when he was 1 1/2. He couldn't bring his preferred thumb up to his mouth for the month he had the cast, so he was forced to give it up. Whenever S says he can't stop sucking his thumb, B tells him proudly that HE stopped and that all he needs to do fall down the stairs and break his arm.

You are right, it really is "a beautiful thing to watch."

Thanks for sharing this painfully sweet story with us. It has brought a little more joy to my lunch hour.

:o)

I'm glad you posted on the blanket again. I had been vaguely thinking about this blanket for a few weeks when I was trying to decide how to design a baby blanket that I want to be well-used. But I didn't come back to your blog to check the pictures when I decided to use regular columns of yarn overs, in between columns of decreases forming chevrons, in blue denim yarn. Now that I see pictures again, boy is my blanket goiing to be similar! I'll post pictures when I give it away.

The blanket chronicle is so sweet and one of my favorite things about your blog. Thank you for sharing it with us!

There is a way to add more stabilizing machine stitching to preserve even the completely ripped up corner. Use the "freeform lace" technique--place the blankie remnants between two layers of self-adhesive water-soluble stabilizer and stitch around the outline of the pieces and then back and forth across the gap in a grid-type pattern (make sure you cross your own stitching lines). Then soak the blankie to dissolve the stabilizer away. Any good sewing store should be able to direct you to the right products. Good luck!

My son is seven years old, and has a ragged old blanket much like your son's, knit by his grandma as a newborn gift (before I learned how). I remember an episode of "Friends" a long time ago where they had a flashback to Chandler's college days--he had a raggy old blankie that he brought to college as a "wall hanging." At the rate my son's going, I fear his "Grandma Blankie" will be hanging on his dorm wall!

Dear god! oh why oh why didn't I knit my boys blankets?? I have to get started. Now!! Before I have to make them queen sized!

One of the few things my son asked me to keep for him when he left home was his precious "bubby", now reduced to a mass of strings tied together in a mass. They truly don't care what the thing looks like. This one started out as a small crochet afghan. I made him a new one later but he never did care much for the substitute.

I only wish I'd known how to knit when my girls were little! Of course, my oldest has a crocheted "Kiblin Cat" and the youngest has her "counting blankie"....safely tucked away for their children!