It's highly unlikely that I will see young Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge become King. That isn't a political observation, merely that I'm a couple of years older than his parents, and his father comes from a long-lived family (when they lay off the cigarettes, champagne and French cooking, at any rate).
The young Prince already has at least two shawls - a spectacular handspun and handknitted one from New Zealand, and the one he was wrapped in for his very first appearance. That wasn't handknitted, but framework knitted in Nottingham, by a company founded in 1912, using techniques that are far older. Another little piece of textile history.
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I have two rather nice cream cotton shawls/blankets that my MIL knitted for my two sons. They're very simple - she's not much of a knitter - basket stitch with a border of plain stitch, but they are a very pleasing weight and texture and I've kept them because they are much nicer than almost anything else she's ever given us. My in-laws are the sort of people who usually equate worth with cost, but I like the personal touch in a present, even if (as she never misses an opportunity to point out) they have a few little mistakes in them. I hope that if we have grandchildren, they'll be able to use the shawls too, and that like my sons they'll sometimes opt to cuddle up under one on the sofa when they're bigger and in need of a bit of TLC. But they're robust enough that they don't have to be treated as precious heirlooms. I hope George has some "everyday" things too, as well as his historic pieces of craftsmanship.
I'm always glad when I see Libby dragging the blanket I knitted for her around the floor. Hers is a reasonably complex lace pattern (because I needed to be distracted from pregnancy), but I deliberately chose a machine washable wool in a dark brown that doesn't show anything.
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