Neil's Blanket Blues

I put my other projects on hold this week to make a blanket for my father-in-law, Neil, who is going through chemo and is always cold. I finally found a pattern I wanted to use to I just went for it. It's been working up really quickly. I am half done with it now after just 4 days. :) Here has been the progression so far, starting with a picture of my father in law :)

That last one is the most current photo but I worked on it a lot more tonight and it's now half done (which is three pattern repeats)... well, half done according to the pattern. But when I get to the "done" point, I need to see how tall the blanket is and decide if I want to make it a little bit longer. I want it to cover feet to shoulders comfortably on him. I should have this done in just 4 more days or so though, assuming the extra yarn I ordered arrives quickly!