Winter is nearly upon us, which means flannel sheets are upon us, too.
Or not.
Depends on whether you’re the type who likes flannel sheets. Some people don’t.
Some people feel smothered by the extra weight and warmth. Sure, flannel sheets are snuggly when you first hop into bed, but once the body tempature rises, well, I’ll take a 100% cotton sheet any day. Or night.
People can get picky about their beddings. Or, as some say, their “linens.” Polyester sheets pill, synthetic quilts scratch. Some people insist on having their pillows down.
It’s become a normal thing to buy cotton by the hundreds, as in 800. Count. And with foreign accents. Egyptian, for example.
I once heard of a technique where you put an old soft flannel sheet between two cotton ones and, wa-la, zee pinnacle of vinter comfort.
And are flannel sheets really made of flannel? Not exactly. Real flannel is a woolen fabric made from loosely spun yarn, which comes in varying degrees of weight and fineness. What we’ve come today to think of as “flannel” is actually “flannelette,” flannel’s skinny little cousin.
Flannelette is usually made from either wool or cotton, the latter of which is commonly used for sheets and those handsome, oftentimes plaid shirts that were popular in the 60s and 70s. (I wore mine over a tight red thermal undershirt, which, along with my wafflestompers, painter pants, and feathered hair transformed me into a Farrah-Fawcetted flannelette superette.)
Speaking of flannel, urban legend has it that Red Flannel Hash, that New England breakfast hash that involves beets, was not always a root dish.
The story goes that a mining camp wife, who also ran a boarding house, suspected her husband of having an affair. One day she woke up on the wrong side of the bed (having slept in real flannel sheets). While cooking breakfast for the miners, she noticed her husband’s red flannel long johns hanging with the laundry. She ground them up and tossed them into the hash. Breakfast was served, and the miners loved that “bright red hash.”
When they asked for more the following morning, the wife, out of red flannel long johns, substituted beets in the next batch of hash. It proved to be just as popular.
Red Flannel Hash
1 cup diced potato
1 cup shredded beets (note: original recipe missed the beet—ha!—sorry ’bout that)
1 medium onion
Chopped 8 oz. corned beef
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Slowly fry the beets, potato, onion, and corned beef until done. Fry or poach eggs and place on top. Serve immediately.
So here’s a Topic for you: write about flannel sheets. Or polyester. Or down pillows and comforters. Or sleeping naked.
You get the picture. Think about your bedding preferences, set the timer for 15 minutes, then do a Writing Practice.
You’ll sleep like a lamb afterwards.
No winter down here (Venezuela), but still occasionally we will use flannel (a/c cranked low).
When I was living out on the Rez (the Navajo Nation) in the winter my bed was like this because I was living in a built in 1960 cinderblock flat-roofed duplex with large picture windows (classic 60’s architecture):
– sheets
– wool army blanket
– two wool afghans (that my grandmother knitted)
– my NorthFace sleepbag unzipped and placed on top.
Every morning it would be -5F outside. Crazy cold for NM.
LikeLike
I loathe flannel sheets. 100% cotton is all you will find in our house. I don’t like satin sheets either. J & I sleep on cotton sheets, a wonderful quilt that I purchased 9 years ago, & topped with a velour blanket that is SOOO…soft.
I’m wondering if anyone has the same habit that I do. Since childhood I have always tucked the top sheet under my head. I suppose I do this for security purposes. It drives J crazy. Well, that velour blanket was the cats meow. So comfy! Oh, and we never heat our bedroom. Cool air to breathe is a must for us. D
LikeLike
Growing up in St. Joe in an old house with no central heat, I spent my winters on cotton sheets underneath layer upon layer of quilts made by my grandmothers and my mother. Getting out of bed meant throwing back the stack of covers and running for the heating stove that warmed the kitchen.
I like flannel sheets, but have become quite fond of sheets made from birch trees (don’t ask me how they do it). These are like flannel sheets but not as hot. I still prefer to sleep in a cold room even though I have central heat now.
I rarely sleep in the nude. My arthritis in my neck and shoulders acts up…a sure sign of age. I always dress to the max to sleep during the winter months…old habits die hard.
LikeLike
Recipe for comfort – a waffled foam mattress overlay, a down mattress cover, fleece sheets (poly blend), topped with a down duvet. Oh, and an obus forme pillow for the benefit of my old neck.
What quantity / measure for the beets in the hash?? Sounds yummy.
LikeLike
Norm, great recipe for comfort. Definitely!! I have two pretty good body form pillows (I got them at Brookstone—they’re tempur)—and my daughters coopted both.
My oldest daughter got a new mattress when we moved here, and it is the most comfortable thing. It has a built-in pad over the mattress. Jim and I want to get one for us, as we covet hers. 8)
I just realized the recipe didn’t call for a certain amount of beets. I looked up some recipes on the internet, and the amount is pretty much the same as the potatoes. So, 1 cup, boiled and chopped. Let us know how it turns out.
LikeLike
Bob, your bedding sounds like what we slept under at my grandma’s house. An army blanket, several afghans (that she made), some quilted blankets (also that she made). You could barely move under the weight. But she lived in a clapboard house in her older years, in one of the coldest spots in NM. Brrrr, was it cold up there. Their heat went out one weekend when they came to visit us, and all their indoor plants froze.
Hmmm, birch tree sheets. I’ll have to look into those.
LikeLike
Since childhood I have always tucked the top sheet under my head. Interesting, diddy…so you mean after you pull the sheet up to your chin, you take the edge and tuck it under your head, so that you’re kind of closed in for the night? If I’m picturing this right, it does seem that it would feel a bit constraining, but I can completely relate to childhood habits and seeking security.
I tuck my hands, just the fingers, under the waistband of my pajama bottoms. I’ve gotten to the point that I need to break myself of the habit now, because it’s bad for my shoulders and back—instead of opening up my chest by lying with my arms to my side, I’m sort of folded in on myself. But it’s completely a security thing.
diddy, I don’t much like heat on during the night. I prefer to be cozy and warm in my bed while it’s brisk out of bed, although the problem comes in the morning, when I want it to be warm when I get up. However, we have a radiant heater (boiler) that works best if we don’t move the dial up or down but keep it programmed so it stays at a constant temperature. I do think you can set it to go down slightly at night, as long as it’s pre-programmed. I guess the thing to avoid is the manual movement of the dial. Anyhow, bottom line is we do have heat at night in our bedroom, but not too high.
LikeLike
Brrr, MM. How did you heat that place? Sounds like it wouldn’t have held the heat very well. Cinder block is such a poor insulation. Our house off of 4th Street in Barrio Griegos was cinder block.
Your using flannel in Venezuela reminds me of how the hotel in Saigon had down comforters. You had to sleep with the a/c on there, too. I tried not to, but I woke up sticky sweaty each time I turned it off.
LikeLike
yb, I take the corner of the sheet & because I sleep on my right side, I tuck that end under my head. I also do it when lounging on the sofa to watch tv. I’ll take a small blanket & tuck it under my head. My hands are cupped as if I’m praying, but they are also under my head, closer to the cheek area. I think my mother does the same thing. I’ll have to ask her. Your habit of tucking fingers under the waistband of your pajama bottoms is funny! I suppose we must like to feel safe in bed.
One thing I forgot to mention is that we use down pillows only. I do know that R3 swears by the form pillows, but I have yet to try one. I knew a woman who would sleep with a buckwheat pillow which was 100% organic. I would have tried one too, but they were much more expensive than down, which is not cheap at all. D
LikeLike
We are serious into our winter wear for bed in wisconsin – bet QM can relate to this.
My pajamas are long underwear. And socks if my feet are the least bit cold – I’ve found I fall asleep much faster if my feet are warm, even if I pull them off in the middle of the night totally iritated that my feet are now too hot!
Flannel sheets from October usually to April, two cotton weave blankets, an old quilt my grandma made which I probably should save for a keepsake, but I love sleeping under her quilt.
Finally there is a down quilt to top everything else in the middle of winter.
I like sleeping in the cold (when I was growing up I slept in an un-heated attic, though it didn’t get horridly cold there) so we set the thermostat to 65˚ and crack open a windoe a crack.
Sometimes I take a woolen hat to bed if it’s really cold, that’s usually when it’s under 10˚ below.
I’m seriously considering becoming a snowbird in a few years–something I always swore I would never be. We were totally spoiled by the weather in the Southwest.
LikeLike
I’m also curious as to how QM finds comfort in the winter. I know her as someone who layers, even in the heat of summer. It gets fairly cold here in PA, but I doubt it is anything like Minnesota or Wisconsin. D
LikeLike
Fun post and great to read all these comments. I took some time away from the Internet over the weekend and am just getting back in the groove.
I LOVE flannel sheets. My regimen is similar to Bo’s with the flannel sheets going on when we turn the heat on (early October this year) and not coming off until around April. I love anything soft to the touch. And once I warm up, I slip one or two feet out from under the covers to keep cool. We also turn the thermostat down to 61 or 62 at night. It’s usually plenty cool enough.
My next favorite is soft 100% cotton. I don’t like starchy sheets. Interesting to learn about flannel and flannelette. When we were doing our Birthday Legend decade celebrations, the 70’s were what I called my “Flannel Decade.” There was lots of it back then in Montana, along with hiking boots and bib overalls. I think I only own one bright red flannel shirt today. It brings back fond memories when I wear it. 8)
LikeLike
oh, diddy, yes, I am totally a layer person, summer, winter, spring, or fall. I like to be prepared, to be able to adjust my body temperature whenever I need to. I run really hot most of the time, so in winter, I need to be able to wick away sweat, or at least keep it to the bottom layer and away from my skin.
I usually wear a T-shirt, sweatshirt, then jacket over that, for about 3 seasons a year. And I forgot to say, with the flannel sheets, we have a down comforter over those and a cotton quilted blanket over that, followed by a light “cat cover” to help regulate the cat fur. (They like to sleep at the bottom of the bed. I guess they know what’s warm!)
BTW, we’ve also got a down comforter next to the couch that we cuddle up in to watch movies in fall and winter. Liz came home yesterday with two new duvet covers that were on sale. They really spark up the down with brightness.
LikeLike
BTW, diddy, that’s fascinating about tucking the sheet under your head. I sleep mostly on my side, and tend to toss and turn from side to side at night. I have to think more about hand positioning. Maybe that will filter into my Writing Practice on this Topic. 8)
LikeLike
Good name for the 70s, QM—The Flannel Decade. 8)
In our household we alternate flannel with cotton. Right now we only have two really good sets of sheets for our bed, so one week it’s the 100% cotton ones, the next week the flannel (-ette) ones. And I guess since I’ve been so aware of those two alternating like that, I’ve realized how much more I prefer the 100% cotton. I used to like flannel almost exclusively in the winter. I wonder if maybe living in a much warmer house than what I was used to before, that’s perhaps been a factor in my shifting preferences. Could also be it’s still too warm for flannel. Maybe in the heat of winter I’ll only want it.
I do know we definitely need to buy more sheets!! I like having at least three good sets for our bed. 8)
LikeLike
Cool poll gadget. I voted for cotton. What about silk? Yuck. I don’t even like silk pajamas, unless it’s raw silk, the kind you can wash. Very cold stuff anyway, not the right bedding for cold nights.
Right now I’m typing from my bed, covered in sheets, a quilt, a cotton Mexican blanket (like the kind in yoga studios), and I’m wearing a sweater over my pajamas, still cold. It’s damp here in Georgia, and we’re rarely equipped for the bitter, bone chilling air.
Night night!
LikeLike
christine, meant to come back and comment on this after I saw it the other day, but just getting to it — you live a charmed life down there in Georgia. Sounds kind of nice. I’m with you on the silk; it is cold stuff. I keep thinking about how hot it was in Georgia last summer when I was there and how darned cold it is outside in Minnesota tonight. 8)
ybonesy, it’s cold enough for flannel here tonight. My body hasn’t adjusted yet. I’m just freezing. It will get better by February though….there’s no place lke home, there’s no place like home. click….
LikeLike
[…] But the thing I remember most about Grandma’s bedding is how it held me down, the weight of it all, pressing me into my dreams. How later on whenever I got X-rays at Dr. Thurman’s office and they placed that iron-like blanket over my small body it would remind me of reams of color, patches of Grandma’s dresses and crocheted yarn, weighing down on me, not like a burden but a release, allowing sleep, finally, to come. -related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC – FLANNEL SHEETS […]
LikeLike
[…] -related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC – FLANNEL SHEETS […]
LikeLike