Antique very early 1850s handwoven PEI deals wool blanket

We were so thrilled when we acquired a number of hand woven blankets from the mid 1800s era from a Prince Edward Island homestead.
Houses of the era when these blankets were made were very cold as most had no insulation (some had wood chips or seaweed in the walls). Water in the kettles would freeze overnight and it was not unusual to find a layer of frost on the walls as well as the windows. Warm blankets were a very important necessity.

During that period, women would take the wool from the sheep, wash it and dry it and take it by horse and cart to a local mill where it was carded or combed. This blanket came from an area on the eastern part of the Island and we are told that the wool for this blanket was taken to a small local mill in the Belfast area of PEI. Once done then the homemaker would hand weave the wool on her loom at home into 2 long strips and stitch them together to form a very fine seam down the middle. The looms at that time were small thus the centre seam to join the pieces.
The ends of this blanket are turned over and stitched by hand with a dark brown coloured wool.
This blanket is in good condition for its age - we found two small worn areas (see photo) hard to imagine it is probably 150-170 years old!
There is an elderly lady in one of our eastern communities who was downsizing and a number of blankets came from her homestead. She was the one who gave us the history on her blankets.
We decided to launder this blanket as it looked like it had been shrunk a bit and we wanted to see if we could stretch it out once the fibers were relaxed. It is just a bit smaller than the other 2 antique blankets we listed that came from this homestead. This one looks like it was used whereas the deals other two look like they may have been made and put away in a hope chest. This blanket measures 60" wide x 80" long
Remarkable that these blankets have survived intact after all these years. A treasure for the serious collector or a warm blanket for those cold winter nights.
What a wonderful gift for a textile lover or someone who appreciates owning a textile from a bygone era.