Trial and Error

I came across this picture today and it made me laugh.



When I first started knitting, my aunt told me, 'Just cast on some stitches and make a blanket'. I had only knit scarves up to this point and I am VERY bad at judging anything that has to do with distance, time, length, etc. So, I casted on a crapload of stitches and started with my pattern that I made up. I commented to my mom at one point that it was taking me 45 minutes to knit just one row and my hands were getting tired from so much work! She thought I was just being a whiny baby. When I had to buy the 5th or 6th ball of yarn and the blanket was still only about 1 foot long, Brad said this was going to be the world's most expensive blanket. Yet, those two huge warning signs didn't stop me from trudging through this project.

One night after I had spent forever completing a row, I was so excited that the blanket was finally getting long enough to lay across my lap. But then I realized that the blanket could lay across my lap with TONS extra on each side of me. I took out a measuring tape and started measuring the length while it was still on the needles. The number astonished me and I couldn't believe it. Surely since the blanket was on the needles, the measurement was off. So I took it off the needles, and sure enough, it was the longest blanket EVER!!!

I called my mom and we were cracking up at how long it was. But then she said the most devestating comment: 'You will have to rip it out and start over'. I almost cried right then. But she was right (as always) and I unraveled the blanket and started over with a more appropriate length and finished the blanket to be the perfect size for me!

So, the moral of the story is that we are all going to make mistakes when learning a new craft. I think it is all part of the process. At least I won't make that same mistake again...and I will always crack up when I see the picture of the big ass blanket.