Reconsidering

I think I may not be someone who crochets. I started this blanket for the parents-in-law and I'm not sure if I really want to do it this way. I like the yarn, I like the pattern, I just don't like that I can't ever seem to count it right and there's no way to tell if I'm off until I get to the end of each row. It's rather frustrating. So I think I am going to scour Ravelry to find a pattern I can live with. The picture is what I've done so far. It looks good, but is totally frustrating to count right. I'm worried the sides are going to be all slanted and the blanket will be some sort of amorphous shape.  I already have a blanket about 1/4 of the way done that I gave up on because the sides started to slant in and I didn't have the will to fix it. so it has remained in my bag for years. Poor sad unfinished blanket.

In other news I took my snake basket of knitting with me camping and ended up not getting to work on any of it. First I brought the wrong needles for the afghan panel. Then I forgot my stitch counting board for my wrap. I probably could have figured it out, but I decided I didn't want to undo everything when I got back. I am really antsy to start on the duster jacket for my sister and I want to get these projects done before I start!