I found out late about friend's advanced pregnancy. The baby is due in the middle of March. I wanted to give her something handmade, but didn't have time for anything complicated. I looked through my commercial pattern books and also asked my SO's opinion about which would be nice. We decided on this one (Set 3's blanket from Coats and Clark's Sweet Baby Crochet, which isn't listed on their site anymore, ISBN 073650773303), in a different color than pictured in the pattern.
I was concerned about the bobbles -- would they bother a baby? My SO assured me they were fine. They're not too lumpy (and even a little hard to see in the pictures).
Speaking of pictures, I need to start taking full-blanket pictures. There are nine bobble panels in the blanket, but each is rectangular the long way, as is the blanket itself. I need to start measuring finished blankets, too, so I can give some idea of the scale. It's sometimes hard when you're just seeing a photo.
It took about a week of evenings to finish. When I was about a third of the way through, I noticed that I'd pulled bobble panels too tight, so the blanket wouldn't lay completely flat. I hoped a washing would even things out a little, but washing doesn't help acrylic yarns too much in that way. I should have done a bigger gauge swatch, including the bobbles, but I wanted to get it done and mailed as soon as possible.
I used acrylic, machine-washable yarn because it's cruel to give a new parent something that requires handwashing. That's fine if it's an heirloom item, not meant to be used by the child (and the parent understands that), but it still needs to come along with a usable blanket. This isn't a time to be messing around.
I wrapped it up with a wide ribbon and had the presence of mind to take a picture of the wrapping. Go, me. Then I nested it in a box with some white tissue paper and washing instructions (always give these with gifts), and off it went.
I know it'll be appreciated and I hope it gets some good use.