The Mother's Day Project

Don't mind the red streak next to the afghan.  That's a scarf (which will used as an example later).

And don't mind the shadows.  I was too lazy to figure out how to remove my shadow from the picture.

Savory Salsa Afghan close-up (finally, Chelsea, you got to the pattern name.)

So, this last summer, there was a huge yarn sale at Michaels.  I have a hard time resisting such sales when I find out about them.  So, I asked my mom which afghan she would like to have.  She chose this one.  I didn't get to it in time for Christmas, and so I thought, well, how about Mother's Day?  And didn't get started on it until late February/early March.  I couldn't just sit down and get it done in a couple of weeks, what with school and all, so it sat for a couple weeks after I'd done the base row.

And in that time, I forgot which size hook I had used.  I didn't have the hook size that the pattern called for, so I had used a .5 gauge difference.  When I started up the afghan again, I decided I'd probably used a .5 size larger hook.  About nine rows in, I realized I'd made the wrong choice.  That's a problem, because each row has to be fastened off (meaning I have to cut the yarn and finish off each end.  It's really hard to undo that.).  I didn't want to start over, so I decided to try switching back to the smaller hook to fix the problem.  Well, it stopped the twirling (those 12 rows looked like my scarf), but I didn't think about the difference in length.

Although I averted having to start again by using the smaller hook, I'd messed things up at the base length-wise.  The thing twirled because it kept getting larger and the base couldn't handle that.  Using a smaller hook didn't fix the addition of length.  So, the base is about a foot shorter than the rest of the afghan.  You can sort of tell if you lay it out flat, because the thing curves.  You can really tell when you fold it up neat and the bottom is smaller than the top.

Still, it looks nice.  If my mom just folds the thing in half and drapes it over something (like I did in my picture.  See, there was a reason for that) no one will know the difference unless they look too close.  I'm still giving it to her, because I worked hard on it, and I think she'll appreciate knowing that her daughter got over perfectionist ways and gave it to her despite the mistake.  And it's nice and warm, and will make a good throw to have over her while reading books.  So, that's my third afghan made, and the first one that I've ever made a big mistake on ("Don't people usually say that about their first afghan, Chelsea?"  Yes, but apparently I just decided to get in on that idea two afghans late.).