Vintage blanket with pills

[owenjulia]

I have been looking for a blanket like one my Grandma had in the 1970's.
It was white and had pills all over it.
I don't know when she would have bought it. I'm sure it wasn't expensive, she wasn't rich, but the thought of it makes me happy. It reminds me of her.
Any ideas what a blanket like that might be called and/or where I could find one?
Please help.
Thank you!

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

by any chance do you mean chenille??

 

[retro ruth]

I wonder if you mean a candlewick bedspread - which is a technically a chenille as Mary says.

Here's a few examples of vintage candlewick bedspreads.

I have no idea why they are called 'candlewick', but they are!

 

[retro ruth]

There is also popcorn chenille. These can also be called candlewick as well, though I realise candlewick might be a British term.

 

[Pinkcoke]

Ruth the old fashioned candlewick, the wick for a candle, was like a thick cotton rope and when cut it is fuzzy and looks like the above!

 

[retro ruth]

Yeah I read that after I posted - they are made with the same kind of cotton yarn as candlewicks.

 

[foofoogal]

I have done embroidery called candlewick. One has to wrap the thread around the needle several times to do it.

I am gaga about chenille. My grandmother had one with a basket of flowers. I have looked for the exact one for years and years.

 

[owenjulia]

Thank you so much, that very well could be it. If I remember correctly, the blanket looked thicker than the chenille, but I'll try searching this next!

 

[Better Dresses Vintage]

Yes, Melanie is correct, candlewicking -- a type of embroidery -- is named for the wicks used in candles:

Candlewicking is a form of whitework embroidery that traditionally uses an unbleached cotton thread on a piece of unbleached muslin. It gets its name from the nature of the soft spun cotton thread, which was braided then used to form the wick for candles.