Odds and Ends, Those Infernal Ends!

How do you like this little beauty?

I love it! The pattern isn’t complicated; it’s the Spring Stripes Blanket by Emma Potter of Potter & Bloom. (I was able to nab the pattern while it was still free.) And it’s not a big blanket either; something more along the lines of a lapghan. I didn’t use the recommended yarn or colors exactly, but I like how it turned out—and so does the friend for whom it is intended. It isn’t quite finished yet; I still have to put the border around the edge.

Care to take a guess at when I started it?

Imagine me blushing furiously here: I started it last June.

Care to take a guess at why I haven’t finished it yet? Well, I’m sure you know, based on the title of this post. It’s all those ends!

As per the pattern, I did two stripes each of five colors, plus the neutral shade sandwiched in between, and I did not weave in ends as I went along! 

I really wish I had, because I’m certain this pretty blanket would have been in my friend’s hands long ago had I taken the time to do so. I’ve really only got about twenty ends left, but I keep procrastinating. Based on funny memes I’ve seen on Pinterest, I know I’m not alone when I say that weaving in ends is one of the parts of knitting and crocheting that I dislike most. (See also yarn barf, knots in skeins, rambunctious pets, etc.)

I actually liked making this blanket, and yet it has taken me almost a year to complete it! Do you think I’ve learned my lesson about weaving in as I go? To answer that question, here are a couple snapshots of some sunburst centers for a sunburst granny square blanket I’m working on.

(In this case, I use the fairly valid excuse that if I don’t like the color combinations, I can just pull the sunbursts apart and reconstruct them. Tee hee. 😉 )

I really do need to get better at this. I think it will save time and frustration in the long run.

So what’s your record period of time for having put off ends?

-M