A Bump in the Road
...or, a slant on the edge . . .
I had such good intentions for this throw, and just when I thought I was done, I folded it to find that I couldn’t square the corners. Ugh. Thinking of the many times I tried to fudge a miscounted stitch, I knew what I would see when I laid the entire blanket out: the throw is 3-4 inches narrower on the finished edge than on the first row - what I would call the cast-on row if I were knitting. (I think it might be called the foundation in crochet?)
Looking back, it would have been easy for me to identify when the pattern didn’t work, and all I would have needed to do is rip back one row.
I messed up on this, my first crochet project in 40+ years, and I know the recipient would view this obviously flawed gift as a message that she is not “good enough” to get my best. I do release expectations once I gift a handmade object, but I also hold myself accountable to do my best work. So, I will start over (I definitely have enough yarn).
Lessons learned:
Pay attention! This pattern is easy (a 1-row repeat) but not foolproof, and hooking Row 1 incorrectly will create problems on Row 2. It’s not like row upon row of stockinette in knitting.
Pause for the occasional critical review of the whole piece, checking for overall shape; it’s not enough to look only at the last couple rows or rounds.
Learn how to “read” my crochet work the same way I’ve been reading my knitting for years.
There are probably greater lessons at play here too, but this is enough for today. I’m not beating myself up over this - it’s just a learning experience, and everything doesn’t have to be a deep dive.
I love the lessons that you've taken out of this.
For me, I would probably go with how it is and expand the change in size even more to create a dramatic asymmetrical blanket. I really resist frogging :) Which, too, is a lesson in and of itself for me to ponder.