Why Didn't I Do This Sooner?

just an unassuming piece of flannel. . . 

Earlier in the winter, I got the idea I wanted to make myself a few handkerchiefs out of scrap flannel.  Nothing fancy, just a few large squares with zigzagged edges to keep them from fraying.  I was just going for something I could stuff into the pocket of my Carhartt when I'm going to be working outside for hours.  Because when you're outside in the cold that long, you inevitably need to blow your nose a few times.  Kleenex and gloves don't work all that well together.  Kleenex and snowy gloves work even less well.

I figured back in the day before germophobia became the normal way of American life, with antimicrobial chemicals put into every product under the sun; even back in the day before disposable facial tissues were invented, people used cloth handkerchiefs to wipe their noses with.  So why couldn't I?

Now that I've cut and sewn a few squares of flannel, and given them a test run through several 5-hour work days out in the horse barn (sub-freezing all 5 hours for the past week; was -16F when I went to work yesterday and 14F when I left), I'm wondering what in the world took me so long.  I mean, I had the idea back in early December.  I actually made the handkerchiefs that same month while doing a few Christmas present sewing projects.  But I didn't put one in my pocket and take it with me, or blow my nose on it, until about the end of January.

Oh.  My.  Goodness!  A flannel hankie is so much better than a Kleenex!!

1.  It's soft.  Oh so soft.
2.  It doesn't stick to damp gloves.
3.  It doesn't turn to a lump of mush in the bottom of my coat pocket.  In fact, it stays handy--I never have to fish around in my pocket to find it.
4.  It seems to last longer (hold more?) than a tissue--I previously went through 3-4 tissues in one work period and now I use less than one entire handkerchief during the same time frame.
5. I can toss it into the washing machine and the dryer with the rest of my work clothes, and use it again.

Yep, I'm sold.  Flannel hankies it is.  I'm heading back to my box of scrap fabrics so I can make myself a few more.  :0)