I accidentally felted my mother-in-law's handmade wool blanket in the dryer four years ago, and she still has no idea it's a replica

Four years ago, my mother-in-law spent three monthes knitting a heavy cream-colored wool throw blanket as a housewarming gift. A few months later, I was doing a massive load of laundry, wasn't paying attention, and tossed the blanket into the wash with our towels on high heat, then straight into the dryer. It came out about the size of a placemat, stiff as cardboard. I panicked. My partner loved that blanket, and his mom was so proud of it. Instead of confessing, I hid the felted square in my car, drove accross town, and disposed of it. I found a spare skein label she had left in our linen closet, reached out to a local knitting group, and practically begged a retired crafter to recreate it from scratch. She matched the stitch pattern, the border, and the gauge so well that you couldn't tell them apart. I slipped it back over the armchair before anyone noticed. To this day, whenever his mom visits, she touches the blanket and comments on how well the yarn is holding up. I just smile and nod, but inside my heart skips a beat every single time.