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Star Blanket Perfection

As I mentioned last month, I rolled the dice to decide on what my first crochet project for July would be, and I got this Bernat star blanket pattern, which will actually end up being my fourth go at making a star blanket. The patterns I made for the first three were all problematic, so I was hoping this one would not be.

Before jumping on the project I decided to crochet the first seven rows of the pattern to see if it's going to be a problem like the other patterns (in which case I would start to believe I'm the problem!)

I got through those first seven rows with only one problem: I made a mistake near the join that carried over in each row and created gaps, this time absolutely my fault, so I frogged the entire thing.

The next night I started over, corrected my error and got a total of 11 rows done before I called it quits. Not a single problem with the project or the pattern, which is beautifully, simply, and (most importantly) accurately written. I've already memorized the pattern's stitches and increases, too, so I don't need to reference it any longer.

How does it feel to finally find a star blanket pattern that works up without issues? A big relief. I was starting to doubt myself, honestly. To find a pattern that is written in the exact way I was taught to crochet is nice, because I will use it for all the star blankets I want to make in the future.

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