MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Friday, May 17, 2013

A rare gift

Yesterday we made a trip to the city (Toronto) to pick up a lovely blanket that was gifted to me by one of my online friends.  A couple of years ago I shared some old (early 1900's) needlework magazines with her and it seems she wanted to do something nice in return. (Thank you Jan!!)

I'll give you what little history I know (at least for now) on the blanket.  It is made of 100% wool - very scratchy and definitely not something you would want to have tucked right up under your chin at night, despite the wonderful warmth it would give.  It was made here in this town at the Horn Bros. Knitting Mills whose building has now been turned into apartments.  My mother-in-law worked there - probably in the early 1930's.  The building itself is only about a block and a half away from where we currently live. 

I haven't been able to quickly locate much further information on the Horn Bros., but I did find a picture of the building as it looked before it was turned into apartments.  The picture, unfortunately, is undated.






The blanket itself is in wonderful condition for being so old.  The binding has become quite worn and Jan very carefully removed it and gave it to me.  I will be able to re-use it to rebind it, although it won't be as wide as the original. 

Here you can see the blanket and a close-up of the label...





Thank you SO much Jan - we will treasure this!


3 comments:

Thank you so much for leaving comments! I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy life to talk to me. It's wonderful to know that someone is actually reading my mumblings and even more fun if I can connect with you and visit your blog.