| When I was a very young girl, my grandmother was | | | | reasoning for this recommendation is clear. |
| always sitting at the kitchen table crocheting. Often, | | | | As many as 25% of the deaths annually attributed to |
| she would use a fine cotton thread with a hook that | | | | SIDS are associated with over-heating and/or |
| had a head so small you couldn't really see it. I would | | | | asphyxiation caused by bedding materials. Infants |
| marvel at how her hands moved effortlessly back | | | | poorly regulate their own body temperatures and are |
| and forth and, as if by magic, beneath her hands | | | | unable to adjust their heads once they have worked |
| delicate lace would appear. It was only as an adult | | | | their bodies underneath bedding. Well-intentioned |
| that I realized it was the incredible strength of her | | | | parents responding to the instinct to bundle their |
| agrarian raised hands that made it appear so subtle. | | | | babies and keep them warm often use blankets |
| She would make me the most stunning outfits, | | | | made from tightly woven materials. |
| dresses, suits and jumpers. As wonderful as they | | | | Tightly woven materials have restricted airflow. |
| looked they were often itchy. I mean they were | | | | Restricted airflow creates a build up of lost body |
| look for the closest mud puddle and fling yourself into | | | | heat from the infant and can cause the infant to |
| it, itchy. The yarns of the past were frequently | | | | overheat. The infant does not have the strength or |
| rough to the touch. There is a definite elegance to | | | | coordination to deliberately extricate its body from |
| crochet work. The way the yarn twists and turns | | | | beneath the blanket. In the extreme, this |
| together lets you watch it evolve into something | | | | circumstance maintains a dangerously elevated brain |
| else. The transition from the simple strand to the | | | | temperature and results in death. |
| complex weave is sublime. | | | | Restricted airflow is also the culprit for the second |
| The transition is more than visual. A simple strand of | | | | facet of this issue with bedding. Infants frequently |
| cotton thread has very little elasticity and somehow | | | | manage to squirm underneath bedding and their faces |
| the finished cloth has stretch. This kind of give allows | | | | become covered by the blanket. Again, because |
| the garment to be form fitting and still comfortable. | | | | infants lack the ability to extricate themselves when |
| Crochet is the visual art of lines and spaces. It | | | | this occurs they are essentially trapped. As they |
| balances the open spaces with tendrils twisted and | | | | exhale carbon dioxide, it builds up beneath the |
| pulled into shapes. It is this balance of lines and | | | | blanket near their nose and mouth and their oxygen |
| spaces that allows it to be a suitable art for all | | | | levels plummet. The tragic result can be death by |
| seasons. This is true because body heat is both | | | | asphyxiation. |
| trapped and released based on the density of the | | | | No parent reasonable parent wants to put his or her |
| stitches and the type of yarn. | | | | baby at risk but fighting the instinct and cultural |
| The characteristics of crochet itself lend themselves | | | | tradition to bundle up a baby can be an enormous |
| well to afghan construction. How many times have | | | | undertaking. It is an unnecessary battle. The wonder |
| you been cold and snuggled up in the warmest | | | | of crochet is that with all its spaces, when the proper |
| blanket you could find only to find yourself | | | | yarns are used, it can maintain warmth and allow |
| uncomfortably sweaty 20 minutes later? You are in a | | | | positive airflow. With the appropriate stitches, there |
| cycle of getting cold bundling up and flinging the | | | | is no danger to the infant of strangulation because |
| blanket off again in frustration. Or worse, you are | | | | the openings are too small. (Premature babies require |
| really really cold and no matter what you do you just | | | | blankets with smaller stitching for safety.) In |
| can't get warm and your feet feel like 30 pound | | | | economic terms, crochet afghans are the point at |
| blocks of ice. Crochet afghans are the answer to | | | | which parental instinct and infant safety meet, |
| that problem. When the appropriate yarns are used | | | | equilibrium |
| you can sustain body heat without becoming | | | | (Shameless plug imminent) At Fresh From the Farm, |
| overheated. | | | | our Grandma's Love Afghans line provides a wide |
| This low-tech art form is the perfect defense to one | | | | variety of baby afghans generously sized 46 inches |
| of our most heart breaking afflictions, sudden infant | | | | by 46 inches. Wrap your baby in Grandma's love. |
| death syndrome (SIDS). The Consumer Product | | | | In short, (I know it's a little late for that) the new |
| Safety Commission (CPSC) in conjunction with the | | | | yarns now available have completely elevated the |
| Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have | | | | potential of crochet from the visually spectacular to |
| recommended that mothers put their infants to bed | | | | the total package. |
| in a sleeping sack without additional bedding. Their | | | | |