A Masterpiece For A Princess

I just read my 2021 knitting goals I wrote at the Coastal Condo. WOW! Ambitious and exciting! One of the goals was about finishing a TBFL project. I have a project and a story to tell.

Last spring, maybe May, my dear friend and knitting buddy Michelle announced she was pregnant. If you remember, Michelle is the Mom of the adorable Rosie.

I started looking for the perfect pattern to make for the new baby. Once I learned the baby was a girl, I was on my way. I love knitting with pink.

It’s my very favorite technique, double knit, and I chose Cascade 220 Superwash in deep, bright pink and dark gray and I hit the ground running.

Isn’t it beautiful!?!? My vision was this would become the blanky that would be used to wrap, swaddle and drag around when she was old enough. It would be that one thing she couldn’t leave home without. It would be a comfort when cutting teeth or going to sleep at night. It would be the constant companion. So off I went!

These pictures show how cute Counting Sheep is but it doesn’t show how huge it was. It was 406 stitches across, 203 stitches in each color. Well, that didn’t seem daunting as I was casting on. But the chart was another thing. The color used to mark the squares was blue which showed up on the white but not on the black. I learned early on to place a stitch marker every 10 stitches in pattern BUT the beginning and end sections of the chart used a different count than the rest of the chart. 😡😤😡😤 I finally started but between the width and the difficult chart I was only completing 2 to 4 rows a day. I decided I would finish it at the Coastal Condo in January and February. About January 1 when I set my knitting goals, I decided Counting Sheep was not bringing me joy. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. The blanket was much bigger than I wanted, a child would never carry it around and something had to change. I decided to change the pattern making it about 1/2 as big. Was I frighted? You bet! Was I convinced I was doing the right thing? Absolutely not! I just knew I would never finish it like it was. I am proud to say my most significant TBFL is finished and here it is.

As I knit the smaller version, I loved every stitch. It is a Masterpiece and here is the Princess.

Isn’t that the sweetest picture ever!?!? I loved every stitch. I loved that I persevered. I loved that I changed the pattern I loved that I made lemonade out of lemons.

I must admit I haven’t been able to frog the HUGE blanket. I keep thinking I’ll find a way to convert it to a scarf.

When I look back, I loved everything about this project. I loved the struggle, I loved the challenge and I love the outcome. I loved making a Masterpiece for a Princess.