Over-sized baby blanket

I had a co-worker request a blanket for her baby (probably not quite 6 months) that she would be able to use as old as five or six. To me that called for a blanket a bit bigger than normal baby blankets. She looked at patterns and found a few she liked certain things on. I tried to combine those elements in a blanket for her.

Two of the most important were the colors, softness and that it be a tight pattern....no "holes" she said.

I used Caron Simply soft (one of my favorite yarns). I chose to use HDC for the blanket. I find that stitch more visually appealing than the DC. As a hide sight, I believe it would have looked better as an offsetting shell pattern but I didn't give it the thought I should have I imagine. I heard what she wanted and envisioned something one way off the top of my head and that's what I stuck with. Shell patterns that I've worked with in the past have had what I felt she would consider holes. Since making this, I've revisited shells and I am even now making a scarf with a shell pattern that I feel would have been tight (not as tight) but more pretty.

Experience teaches me as I go along. Though I've crocheted for many years it is only within the last year that I have ventured to make my own patterns. I expect this may happen to me on more than one occasion. That I later think of how I could have improved something.

Anyway, here's the blanket.