Another world

The first blanket I've found is one that my mother made when she was quite young, around 10 years old. It is made as a bedspread, with a tasselled edge on one long side only. The principle is the same as for the blanket we are now making for my aunt: squares of different colors edged with black and sewn together. The squares are really made in much the same way as a granny square, except that the pattern is made crocheting back and forth instead of in the round.

My mother sometimes babysat two small children in the evening - that was no problem in a little fishing village in northern Denmark in the late 1960s. She had already started running errands when she was three, going to her uncle's shop for groceries and even taking some rather large sums of money to deposit in the bank. My grandmother often says that it was a completely different, safe world back then - but even so, she feels that life is much less harsh today.

In any case, my 10-year-old mother had plenty of hours to crochet every time she babysat and had put the children to bed, so it only took her a few months to finish her bedspread. She could crochet about seven squares in an evening and used leftover yarn from home and some from old, worn-out sweaters which had served their purpose. Some of the squares are slightly stiffer than the rest because they are made from wool for carpet-weaving, which she had been given by my grandmother's friend.

I asked her about the choice of color, and she chuckled and said that there wasn't really all that much choice - she just used what she had. Upcycling and recycling was very much a part of everyday life - not because it was hip, or a matter of principle, but out of necessity. My grandfather was a fisherman, but fish can be fickle, so it is best not to rely too heavily on them. My grandmother has lots of great tips on living in an economical and certainly eco-friendly way - I'll be sharing some of them as we go along.