Easy Crochet Baby Blanket Gone Awry {Mistake to Masterpiece}

I was so excited about this easy crochet baby blanket; I couldn't wait to get started. I had seen the free crochet pattern a while back, and I knew I wanted to make it at some point. This past week, I had a real desire to pick up my hooks - we've been so busy it had been ages since I'd even touched them. Finally, on Saturday evening, I grabbed some yarn from my ridiculously huge stash and sat down for some crocheting. 

Things were going along great (or so I thought). The pattern is easy to read, it was moving quickly, and I was pretty happy with my color selections (though I was torn whether I should include the gold). That night, I started noticing a tiny bit of ruffling as I worked. I pressed on, hoping it would flatten out as the blanket progressed. The next day, I stole a few minutes here and there to add a couple extra rounds. The gathers only got worse. I took it to church to ask a crocheting friend if she thought it would flatten out. 

Long story short, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the pattern. There was also absolutely no chance of my blanket flattening out. I had been adding two extra stitches on each row since the first round of white. Stupid mistake. Silly me for not realizing it sooner. 

I had put several hours into the project by this point and didn't want to "frog" the entire blanket. So, I decided to make a little lovie out of it. I crocheted an elephant head this afternoon, and intend to put it on the blanket tomorrow. I'm trying to decide at this point if I'm going to include arms. I'm thinking that would be a cute touch. 

The moral of this story is this: even a botched project might be able to be saved. You might even find that the end result is adorable. While I don't think I'd make the blanket part so big next time, I can definitely see myself making more of these in the future. I think they'd make great baby gifts (this pattern also makes a fantastic baby gift!).