u/bogbodyPositive

Hello lovely knitters, I have an urgent plea for you. How would you extend this pattern (https://aabharcreations.com/falling-leaves-knitting-stitch-tutorial/amp/)?

I'm trying to make a recieving blanket for my son but I can't for the LIFE of me get the math right. Ive started and frogged this thing 4 times because the stitches never matched the math I did before. I'm embarrassed how badly I've bungled this.

2nd picture is a swatch I made (to test out which pattern I liked better) but I wanted to have the finished pattern be approximately 11/12" wide. My latest math estimate made this 71 stitches but after following the pattern (I BELIEVE correctly) I came up one stitch short (3rd picture). I'm trying to have the left and right side have 6 plain stockinette stitches and the lace leaves patterning in the middle.

Do you have a program that can extend charts? Or a YouTube video that explains it? Is there something you see that I've done wrong that I can fix? Absolutely any help would be so lovely TIA

Ok so I feel like I *must* be in the wrong but I can't for the life of me truly believe otherwise.

I knit, spin, weave, and sew. I've tried oodles of other crafts but those are the ones I know and do frequently. I know a lot of crafty people, most of whom are extremely talented! But there are some...

They learn to crochet, because knitting is scary and "too hard".. ok wtv, usually people have a preference between knitting or crochet and that's normal.

They start making acrylic headbands and plushies with thick yarn double crocheted and gifting them to people. I see the kindness and the reaching out for connection, plus we all started with easy projects.

But then they don't move on. And I keep getting gifted ass "plushies" in a yarn I physically hate to touch. Then they start trying to sell them on their "Etsy store". Then they complain about sales being bad and them not getting paid for their art.

And I've had conversations with people of course and it always goes the same way. I can't afford nicer yarn, it takes too long to make other stuff plus they look hard. But I SEE YOU with a new sweater from the tiktok shop every month. I've been to your houses and you have BAGS and BAGS of yarn. You're always shopping at Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx but it doesn't have to be this way!

And while I champion natural fibers for the planet, I know I'm not perfect! I use plastic ziplocks and solo cups and drive a gas car. There's plenty of non environmentally things I do, but I just can't shake this annoyance. And the annoyance is usually not if you do just one of these things, it's the combo of all of them together. The "I'm too poor for good yarn, not like you" when I know we make similar money. "that's too hard" I know you're not stupid! Just say you don't want to do something that's so ok! "There's no ethical consumption under capitalism" that's kinda true but that doesn't mean you don't have any choice at all! It doesn't mean just give up!!

Bonus: here's how I use only natural fibers for almost all my crafts on a tight budget bc the economy IS bad.

1. Join a guild. 90% chance there's one within an hour of you. Go as much as you can but especially when they're having "swaps". Getting to know other crafter's will mean free stuff All. The. Time. And higher chance it's better stuff bc the weirdos who join guilds (affectionate) usually get quality. If there isn't, join online or over the phone and get the email newsletter. Frequently people are giving stuff away (bc there is definitely a shopping/hoarding problem in crafting spaces.) I'm part of 2 and the amount of stuff we've traded is immense. whole looms for free and garbage bags of yarn are not uncommon. You don't have to be good at these crafts AT ALL to join! Everyone loves spoiling new crafters there!

2. Thrifting. Wool and cotton sweaters can be unraveled, men's dress shirts are almost always cotton with nice buttons. Look for bedding, table cloths & curtains for cottons and linens for sewing. Old leather jackets and bags for leather too!

3. Estate sales. Not garage sales, estate sales because usually the people died and no one is keeping the good stuff back. Use estatesales.net with your zip code. the sheer amount of yarn, fabrics, sewing notions, sewing machines, you name it. You won't hit every time but going once or twice a month when I see a hint of a crafty sale has kept me in yarns and machines for years. It's sad but usually no one in the family wants craft supplies and the sale employees don't know how to price them. I got a lap loom, bags and bags of wool and alpaca yarns, cotton quilting fabrics sewing machine parts, etc. If you grab more than you need then trade at your guild or on Facebook!

4. Libraries & YouTube. Most of us know this, but libraries have soooo many books with patterns in them for all sorts of crafts. Some libraries have crafting clubs too!! Sometimes they're not advertised well so make sure you ask. And YouTube of course has everything (Reddit too!)

Basically just, please if you like to shop just say that. And if you're not worried about the environment I get it, we all live in suck city rn. Just stop insinuating that I must be rich and special bc I only knit with wool.

Tldr: I don't think you're too poor to find nicer materials, you just like to shop and that's ok just be honest please.