Years ago the baby blanket was a very simple knitted or crocheted sheet that you lay over a baby when they were in their cot, or pram. Grannies knitted away months before the baby arrived and you found yourself with something no one else had. These days there are so many options for blankets that do the same job but better.

Of course you can still have a simple baby blanket, but made out of so many different materials and colours, fleece, cotton, wool, patchwork, they are quite often very inexpensive and cheaper than the materials that you would need to buy to make one. The other alternative is to look at more shaped options or things that the baby actually wears.

I was recently looking around my local department store and notice the blankets that babies wear that are a bit like sleeping bags, they are such a clever idea because the baby can’t kick them off during the night, but they still have their arms out so they don’t feel too restricted.

The other product I noticed that make a clever alternative for a baby blanket for use in a buggy and pram, are the bags that zip all the way round, it prevents the blanket slipping off and going under the wheels. Even more versatile than that I have seen similar products that fit the buggy, pram or car seat and wrap round and also incorporate a hood. These products can be expensive, but the practical solutions that they offer make them well worth their price and you can always ask for them as gifts from friends and family.

Of course this makes the old baby blanket rather redundant and the Grannies and Aunts that knit and Crochet them redundant also. It seems such a shame but with reusing and recycling becoming the in the thing maybe these skills or different ones will return.

I recently made a huge quantity of bunting for friends wedding; she wanted something she could keep forever instead of flowers that are gone after a week. When I attended the wedding I took all the leftover fabric with me incase of any bunting emergencies. When I mentioned this to another guest, she offered to use them make a patchwork bedspread out of them for the bride and groom when they returned from honeymoon.

With so much fabric left I realised there was an opportunity to use it for so many things that we could give to the couple in the future, for example a baby blanket for their first child or a dress if they had a daughter.

It made me realise that the homemade knitted baby blanket may be a dying breed but maybe there are other skills and crafts that are coming back that will possibly replace it.