Baby blanket... question about yarn

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

My mother received a lovely little baby blanket for me when I was born, knitted by a friend. It's small enough that it fits well folded in half in the infant bucket seat, and it's a beautiful cheerful orange. It lasted well through me and my brother and now I've used it for DD and more recently DS. It's still in almost perfect condition, and not because I've treated it with kid gloves.

So I'd like to duplicate this blanket to send to my SIL. I'm a relatively new knitter, and I'm still trying to figure out the pattern, but that's not my question.

How can I figure out what material was used? I know it's not wool - it doesn't smell like it and doesn't act like it. But is there a way I can tell whether it is cotton or acrylic? It was knit in the early 70s.

Regardless, what yarn would you suggest for a blanket now? I don't think there are any wool allergies, so I could use a baby wool, or a soft cotton, or acrylic - which makes most sense?

Thanks...

[cristeen]

If it hasn't faded and is still in good shape after all these years, it's acrylic. I have a few of these myself, from my own childhood.

Personally, for baby blankets I go with something machine washable. No mom is going to take the time to handwash a blanket. And then I'd go with whatever is the softest. Depending on the stitch/pattern you have in mind, tightness of twist/halo might also come into factor.

I will say I hate knitting with cotton - it just doesn't have any stretch to it, it hurts my hands. But I've seen some lovely organic cotton that does have that stretch - but it's expensive and it's not a tight twist, so it won't show much stitch definition.

Personally, I'd probably either go with acrylic or superwash wool. But, that's what I have in my stash - I wouldn't have to buy anything.