I just finished my first, ever, commissioned crochet project. A friend at work asked me if I would be willing to make a blanket for her friend's new baby boy due in March. She had remembered that I had made a blanket for a mutual friend many years ago. She said she wanted something special. I said sure I thought I could do that for her, but I had a few other things to finish first.I did a little research on line to see what other people were charging for hand-made baby blankets. Some people charged by the hour and up to $10-15/hr, some just charge 3X cost of materials, while others just covered cost of materials. Prices ranged from $30 to $300 or more.
The blanket I made before this one, for a different friend of mine that just had a baby, took me about 15 hours to make and 7 skeins of yarn (cost: $33). For the 3X cost model, that would have been about $99, but ND and I agreed on $110 and I would pay for the yarn. I think that was fair. I didn't want to gouge her, and she wanted to pay a fair price for the work.
I didn't keep track of the hours and I only needed 6 skeins (and still had enough for the bonus hat). It took about 3 weeks to make, working on it when we were watching TV ("I Claudius" helped a bunch), and a little before going to bed, but otherwise no real rush. The baby was due on March 5th, so I had plenty of time (except that babies being babies, he decided to arrive 2 weeks early. Oh well.)
I brought it in for ND on Monday. I worried while I was making it that she would be disappointed in it, or she wouldn't like the colors I picked or whatever. I guess I shouldn't have worried. She flipped out when she saw it, absolutely loved it. Especially the hat. I'm glad. Today she handed me $120 and said keep it, it's worth it. Um.. OK. Thanks.
Hope the new mom and dad like it. I hope it's something they will cherish. And I hope, really hope, the hat fits, cause I have no idea how big this little boy's head is.
