Last year I started to crochet a blanket. It was the first big
project that I had attempted since teaching myself to crochet. I
love the whole process of making something: the inspiration, the
designing, the sourcing of materials, the planning, the putting it
together. I embrace all aspects of it.
Except the bit where something goes wrong. I was almost stitching together the last square when I realised that the blanket was unravelling – almost every square was falling apart in my hands. I panicked, I berated myself for not doing it correctly and for allowing this to happen. And then I picked myself up [and the blanket] and I set about trying to find out what had gone wrong. It was very simple and had a lot to do with the differences between functional items made to be prodded/poked/stretched/'used' and objects that are made for their aesthetic value and are designed to hang on a wall or sit on a desk and to be looked at, not touched.
Where crochet is concerned my experience so far hasn't been
about making functional items. I didn't allow for the
prodding and poking when I made the squares. Lesson absolutely learned for next time.