My Largest Crochet Project

A little back story: When my sisters and I were all born, my Mom made us each our own crocheted blanket. About 3 years ago, she taught me how to crochet with just a basic stitch. Well, last summer, I asked her if she would teach me how to make a blanket like the ones she made for each of us. She had said it was the first pattern she ever learned how to crochet, and probably one of the more difficult ones. So, she taught me the pattern and I made a small baby blanket for one of my nieces. While making that blanket, my Mom mentioned that she would love a blanket like that, but using brown and turquoise. I took that as my cue to make her a blanket. I started the blanket last fall to give to my Mom as a Christmas present.
Well, for Christmas she got half of a completed blanket, with a promise that I would complete it. Well, fast forward 1 year, and it is finally done. This is, by far, is the largest project I have ever undertaken. While working on it, I timed myself to see how long one row took to complete. I am a pretty fast crocheter, but each row took 30 minutes! And there are 56 rows of brown and 56 rows of turquoise! That is 112 rows, times 30 minutes = 56 hours! That is a lot of time and love put into this blanket, but it was all worth it, because my Mom loves her blanket. The finished size is 6' X 4'! I gave it to her on Friday for her birthday. Yes, the same blanket for two gifts, almost a year apart. What can I say, it was big enough to count as two gifts. After I was finished, I wished I could have kept it for myself, it was so warm and comfy. If I start now, by next Christmas I could have one for me.