Warning: Project in picture may turn out better than it appears

So there's a saying that goes, "Never judge a book by it's cover." In the knitting world, it would be, "Never judge a pattern by its picture." I would have to say that is my BIG lesson this month.

Everyone seems to be having babies. I recently completed my first baby blanket which went ok, my gauge was wacky, but I my friend won't even notice ;) . Last week, I realized I have to begin the blanket for my husbands cousin, and soon, seeing that she's due in less than TWO months. AND another friend of mine asked if I could make a blanket for her sisters baby (thankfully, I can put that one off for awhile as she JUST found out she was expecting) So I jumped on Ravelry and began searching for baby blanket patterns. After two hours, I went to bed with a headache. I logged on this morning to look at a project someone had made and saw a blanket she had completed a few months ago. It was gorgeous. What's funny is that, the pattern she used was the one I was going to originally use to make the first baby blanket. I changed my mind after I found a pattern for a "cuter" blanket.

How wrong I was to base my cuteness scale on a picture. You would think I would know by now that there are three factors that determine the outcome of any knitting project: yarn, needles, and the hands that make it. So OF COURSE my project would look much different than a picture of the same project someone else made. From now on, I will definitely keep this important lesson in mind when searching patterns. As I type this, I realize this epiphany of sorts doesn't make my life any easier. In fact, it does the opposite, because NOW, when I search patterns, I will envision how different it can look with a different type and color yarn!

This is why I need to just create my own patterns...