New project: Hand made blanket

A few weeks ago I had this crazy idea that I wanted to make a blanket. On my own.
And like any woman in this day and age who wants to make something, I headed over to Pinterest where I decided that I really wanted a grey, crocheted, granny blanket. Like this one:

Or this one, only in grey and white:

I went and bought grey and white wool and a crochet hook.
And I wasn't going to let the fact that I have never really learned to crochet stand in my way.
I got home and Googled how to crochet. I made my first chain. I moved on to slip stitch and double crochet.

I don't really know what stitch this is. It looks complex. But it's from the Dummies series so I'm sure it's not impossible.

I sat hunched over my work for days. Every now and then my boyfriend would walk into the room and see the tiny practice square I was working on and burst out laughing.
"Is that a blanket for ants?" he'd ask.
"Oh just you wait and see," I said to him in my head. "When it's winter and I'm sitting wrapped up in this blanket and you're cold, then you'll see."
In my mind's eye I waved my fist at him too, my crochet hook gleaming malevolently in the light.
In reality, I just hunched over further. Determined.
Truth be told, things weren't looking good. My squares were taking on a distinct triangular shape and it took me forever to do like 4cm.
Then on Monday I saw that Ideas magazine came with a crochet booklet. Teaching you all the stitches step by step. I practised them all a few times and googled "granny blanket patterns."
I was ready.
Only the pattern made no sense to me. None. I had been defeated.

Que?

I made myself some tea, sat down with one of my secret cookies (the recipe is a few posts down) and started to flip through the magazine.
I saw this:

Blanket of awesome from Ideas Magazine

I loved it. And it didn't require crocheting. Only knitting. Which I know how to do.
I immediately went looking for knitting needles. I needed them right then and there. I had to go to four stores in a mall, and two in another suburb before I found them.
But, I have a 30cm by 30cm square of grey beauty on my needles as I type this. It may not seem like much-but this is the biggest this blanket has ever been.
And I am determined to finish it before I turn 30 at the end of this year. And yes, I am aware that it will be Summer then. I will wear my blanket like a sweaty cape of pride.
And just to make sure I do it, I will be updating my progress on this blog.
Feel free to send me words of encouragement and hampers of chocolate to keep my strength up.