Serendipity...

A little over a week ago a friend sent me a sweet text telling me she was cold, and asked if I would be willing to crochet her a lap blanket and she would pay me for doing so.  

Anyone who's been reading along here for more than a minute, probably knows that I have a pretty firm policy of not crocheting (or doing any of the handcrafts I love) on commission.  I say it's a "pretty firm" policy because occasionally my resolve gets tested.  

That said, my resolve held firm, but because this is someone I've considered crocheting a blanket gift for in the past, I was pleased to know she would like something I've made.  

While I was happy to gift her a blanket, the problem was that it could take me weeks to finish even a lap-sized blanket, depending on what she wanted, if I had the yarn, or had to order it, if the pattern was easy...  and any number of other factors that could pop up before the thing was done.  I started to wonder if I had anything already made that she might like.

So... I went looking through the tubs I store finished crochet blankets in and I was tickled to find at least two that I thought she might like.  I packed them up with several other blankets, thinking if she was willing to take one of the lap-sized blankets, that would be amazing.  And if she truly wanted something else, it would buy me some time crochet that up.  As a gift.

She loved one of the blankets immediately.  It was light purple/lavender, very gently used, and as she took it to look at it more closely, she cooed that she loved purple. 

Wow.  Could this be that easy?

I also showed her other blankets, knowing they were too large for what she wanted, but thinking if one of them pleased her, I'd eventually make one the size she wanted.

I think it was only as my friend started looking through all the blankets, she got another idea. I didn't see it coming when she asked what I would charge for a blanket if she wanted to buy it as a Christmas gift for a family member.  Not prepared for that, I thought for a moment about how much the yarn probably cost to make it, and quoted her a price just a little over that.  Then she shot me a price $10.00 higher than that.  What, are we bidding on a blanket I have made?  lol

Truthfully, both of our prices were low if one considers the time spent on crocheting a blanket (and all that that entails).  But because I don't crochet with the intention of selling (because there is no way I am willing, with a straight face, to actually ask a price that would take into account the labor), I was pleased with the offer.  

I started folding up the blanket to put it aside, and my friend mentioned that she had three tall (adult) nieces she would love to give a blanket to if any were large enough.  Since I often crochet blankets extra long, I had a few contenders. 

She really liked the green border on my most recently finished Granny Goes Large blanket, so that got set aside for one niece.

And she thought my bright and cheerful Dahlia suited another niece:

But she had a third niece, and the other blankets I'd toted there were nowhere near long enough to cover someone six-feet tall.

Then I got the idea to open up my Ravelry project page and scroll through to see if I might have another blanket at home that was as long as these.  I came up with two and offered to run home and bring them back to see if she'd like them.

I'm so glad I did.  She loved the Moroccan Afghan I had crocheted years ago, and had completely forgotten about it.

And evidently, during the 20 minutes I was gone, my friend figured out the rest of her "shopping list".  

She wanted the Moorland blanket I had originally thought of as a potential child's blanket, she wanted to give to someone she employs.  She thought it would make a nice lap blanket in this person's new study that was done in blues and grays.

And I can't remember who she mentioned she'd like to give the lavender Leaping Stripes blanket to, but it got put into the "sold" pile.

Most of this time, she had the Bertie blanket (below) on her lap, and just as I was thinking it would go back into a tub to take home, she told me the colors were so happy she wanted that one too!  

In the end, I believe all the above, except for the Happy Blanket (the Bertie blanket), got wrapped up as gifts for people on her Christmas list.  So my friend has a lap blanket of cheerful colors to keep her legs warm, and I have some unexpected dough in my wallet, and time to hopefully finish another blanket, made just for her, before winter is over.

She liked the Granny Goes Large I'm working on now and is just about lap-sized already, but I know she also really liked the Granny Goes Large (above) that is bordered with a bright green.  It was just way too large for what she wants.

When I finish this one, we'll see how she feels about it.

What a great way to end the year.  Hopefully, this week several people will have smiles on their faces as they open their gifts of colorful soft blankets.  And just as I'm getting back into my crocheting groove, a boon like this comes along.  

It's serendipity at its finest.