URL mysteriously added to hyperlink in Text and Custom HTML widgets

Using Twenty Sixteen theme, php7

This is the code I wrote and put in a Text widget and tried in a Custom HTML widget:
<a href=“https://blahblahblah.com/garter-stitch-hat/”>Garter Stitch Hat</a></center>

After saving the code in either widget the hyperlink changes on the actual page the widget is display on to:
https://blahblahblah.com/"https://blahblahblah.com/garter-stitch-hat/"

For some reason the main url for the site is being added at the front of the link, and quotation marks added to the actual link.

Trying code in a Text widget or a Custom HTML widget does the same thing. What the heck am I doing wrong?