Dear Waiting,
I have been thinking on weighted blankets. I love a heavy blanket, it feels comforting. Not everyone does, of course; some feel claustrophobic under the heaviness.
Why now? I ask myself, why heavy blankets now? You may (or may not) recall the euphoria of the fluffy Duvet years, in the 1980's, '90s, and even the early 2000's. We were all going to get good and intellectual by ditching the top sheet and doing like they do in Europe: duveting it up every night. I had one, in college; it was down, and shedding feathers all over, and I hadn't the money for a nice cover, so I sewed two cheap top sheets together and slid in my lunpy fluffy duvet. The sheets were unfortunate colors- very saturated: a deep unnatural purple and a dark and chemical green. Also, it was a real chore to get the duvet into this envelope, so I hardly ever washed the cover, but that was okay, too, because, well, I was using the top sheet for the most part, because the sheets I had came that way, as a set: a bottom fitted sheet, and a flat top sheet and a pillow case or two. It seemed silly not to use them both when making the bed.
I had a second duvet, and when it got all lopsided and thin everywhere but the feather filled far margins, I got a quilt, with techno-fiber batt stuffing. It never moved, or seeped through the seams, that batting. Since 1999, it's been wool and cotton blankets and quilts. But, would a thirty pound blanket be more of a good thing, or too much of a good thing?
Enjoy your longest night, under blankets heavy or light!
