Border Blues

Or should I say "Pinks"? Either way, the border of the baby blanket I have made to match this sweater set......
.....is positively giving me the berries. I don't know what I was thinking when I started it. There is no pattern, and I NEED a pattern. True, I used the stitch pattern from the body of the sweater, but I need someone to tell me "Cast on ______ stitches and blah, blah, blah." I can read. I can follow a pattern. I cannot make decisions on my own. I know this about myself. Why I ignored this defect in my understanding, I cannot say.

Anyway, I cast on 360 stitches, thinking that would make a nice size blanket. Wrong...360 stitches makes a honkin' huge blanket. I used a provisional cast-on, thinking that I could worry about the border later. Well, later is NOW. For weeks I've been looking through my meager library of stitch dictionaries, flipping right to the edgings and borders, made a few samples, and promptly frogging them. My problem is the corners. What to do with the corners. I don't want an awkward break in the border pattern.

Last night, I did this little sample:


It's a simple picot edging that I have used on socks before, and I experimented with doing increases and decreases to go around a corner. Not bad. Not bad at all. Then I read Jennifer's blog today, and saw the border on her alphabet blanket. Wow. Look at the corners - they look great. That border is so much better than my piddly little picot edging. Last week I ordered the Debbie Bliss book with the pattern in it, and am anxiously waiting its arrival. If I can make that border fit, wouldn't that be so much better? Plus, I would have a pattern! In truth, if I hadn't spent so many mind numbing hours on the endless pink blanket, I would frog the whole thing and make the alphabet blanket. Thanks for the post Jennifer - you are a lifesaver!

Now for an update on the pets - Mellie is doing good. She ate maybe 6 or 8 chicken nuggets this morning. Whenever she eats, and it stays down, it's a good day. When I went home at lunchtime, she was wiggling and waggling that little tail of hers, and barking at people who have the nerve to walk by HER house. Both excellent signs! Joey is doing great, too. His wound looks much better, and he doesn't mind the taste of the liquid antibiotic (it smells like ripe bananas - yummy).