As easy as ABC - The Pioneer

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away -- well, it was in the previous century -- I walked into the Ben Franklin store in Tawas and fell in love with the sample of a crochet project hanging in the craft section.

Fellow knitters and crocheters will understand; the rest of you, please bear with me.

It was an ABC baby blanket. What could be cuter?

I asked to purchase a copy of the pattern, which turned out to be free. After one glance at it, I could see why. It was one page. A picture of a grid with alphabet symbols on it. Specific directions were given for the cast on and the first row. After that, follow the grid. And count.

Needless to say, I succeeded in making an ABC blanket. And I was pretty proud of myself for having constructed it with only minimal directions.

I don't even remember who the first recipient of that ABC blanket was, but it was the first of dozens that I have made over the years. Blankets for relatives, blankets for the babies of colleagues at work, blankets for charity raffles. Blankets in pink, blankets in blue, blankets in green or yellow, blankets in multi-pastel yarn. Pretty early on, I got so I didn't even need to look at the pattern grid. All you really have to be able to do is count.

One of my biggest ABC challenges was presented by my oldest niece, who married a Serbian immigrant, and when they started their family, they announced that the children would be bilingual. So, I searched out the Cyrillic alphabet, and luckily, its number of letters fit on the blanket perfectly.

There haven't been a lot of ABC blankets made in the last few years. The last one in my Ravelry project list was 2018. So when my youngest niece announced that she was expecting, I knew that another ABC blanket was in my queue.

But in our current stay-home status, I couldn't just pop into the yarn store and get the fiber I needed. So I did what any self-respecting crafter would do. I went online and ordered it. And as soon as it was in my possession, my hands felt the need to get it started. I thought I remembered how many stitches to cast on, but just to be sure, I looked it up. Yup, 140.

Here I go. Another ABC blanket. Another new life to be cuddled and treasured. It's June, and the baby is due in September. I have plenty of time.

But now that I have begun, the need to finish the job is strong. And it's amazing how my hands seem to remember on their own how to make the special stitches that create the letters. The rest of it is just counting. And knowing the alphabet. As easy as ABC.

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June 08, 2020 at 12:02PM
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As easy as ABC - The Pioneer
"easy" - Google News
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