Very early on in my pregnancy.... maybe 7 weeks? I decided I was going to stop into our local yarn store to "just feel and look at the yarn" which sounds odd, until you do it and then you finally get why people always walk out of pet stores or shelters with a new puppy.
I walked out with four skeins of thick, (machine washable!) gray and white yarn and size 15 circular needles. The brand is Plymouth Encore Mega and is truly some of the softest (but still easy to care for) yarn I've felt. The baby was going to get his or her first blanket. When I walked out the lady said, "your baby will love it!" which I thought was crazy because I hadn't told her it was yarn for my baby's blanket and certainly wasn't showing yet. I took it as a good sign.
This blanket came together in 48 hours. Knitting with mega yarn and huge needles is a dream come true.
I cast on about 70 stitches to start and then knitted two full rows (so back and forth - not sure if that should be called four rows?) of gray before alternating to white. And then of course continuing to alternate back and forth.
I ended up buying another four skeins to finish it off (so much for my "not too expensive impulse project") and the finished dimensions are about 40x40 inches.
I LOVE it. It's super thick and soft and I just know it will photograph so much better with a baby laying on it. ;)
Next up for the tiny one, I am recovering rocking chair cushions and then, once we know gender (mid-January), I'll be starting the baby's first quilt. I am more excited for this baby quilt than any other project I've attempted.
