Murphy's Law of Crochet

[badrhinogillett]

Murphy's Law has struck me!

 

A friend of mine is going to be a grandmother again. The shower is this Saturday. A few days ago she asked me to make an afghan for the baby using RH Baby Clouds. I found a pattern using a Q-hook. "Perfect" I figured, it will go fast, and a Q will make it easier to use (since I hate using a smaller hook with that yarn.)

 

So, a few days ago, I got started. However, it was the night following some serious insomnia, so I wasn't exactly operating on all cylinders. I normally crochet very tight and usually go up a hook. I used the Q thinking size would be perfect. WRONG!

 

Somehow, magically, All of a sudden I crochet very loose. But, since I was so tired, I didn't bother to check size when I did my starting chain. I know... I know... ALWAYS check gauge. I got about 1/3 of the way through the afghan, when I discoverd that it was about 45 inches wide! Just how big a baby is this going to be?

 

So, I finished the afghan, but it's not exactly the size I was thinking... so now I'm making a second, smaller, more reasonable sized afghan. I need to have it finished by Saturday.

 

Murphy has struck!

 

I don't mind making the second afghan. I'm going to let her choose which one she wants and I'll put the other in my stash to go to Children's Hospital NICU. Plus, rather than charge her for the afghan (she's too good a friend for me to want to do that), she is going to make my children a handmade Raggedy Ann & Andy! I think it's more than fair.

[Priszm]

I can't help but laugh! You sound like me the other night. I'm doing a double wedding ring afghan and the rings are made of three rows plus the beginning chain. The first ring I did took me over three hours! I was supposed to have 152 DC's and it was supposed to end after a certain set of DC's. The first couple of times it not only didn't end after the certain set, but I didn't have the 152 DC's. I finally figured that I can't count and messed up the counting at the beginning of the row

[Sockmad]

I always make the afghan big because babies grow so fast! I made my parents acupuncturist two kids full size afghans when they were babies. They are now six and three and still use them! I didn't use baby colors for Riley's but I did use pastels for Bella's.

[yellowrose]

I think a big afghan is better then a smaller one. This way the child can grow into it and use it longer.

[badrhinogillett]

Yeah, I agree that a larger afghan can be used for a longer period of time, and isn't a bad idea... I just find it so ironic that I'm always having to compensate for how tight I crochet, only to have me actually crochet something larger than I thought it would be! That never happens!

 

I am almost finished with the second afghan and I"ll let my friend pick which one she likes better. The second one is a far more reasonable size for a small infant. We'll see which she picks!

 

One thing though.. I've discovered that I actually do like Baby Clouds, as long as I'm using a larger sized hook. The only other project I had done with it was a sweater when I was pregnant with my first child. Man, I didn't like working with it with a smaller sized hook. But, I'm enjoying it so much, I think I'm going to use it to make a car blankie for my DS. He has other afghans that I've made him, but he needs one to keep in the car.

 

I'll post pics of the two exact same afghans (just a different size) in the next day or so.

[CLLinda]

It's ok to make the blanket bigger for a baby. They will use it longer. And it can go on their toddler bed, when they get to be that age.

 

Good luck.