I crochet too! I'm still a bit fumbly reading some patterns but I've gotten pretty good at "sculpting" little critters and things without patterns. :D

I think it's a good idea, when you're first starting out, to do a few smaller projects before tackling something that's going to take a long time. So I'd pick the scarf over the blanket, probably. :) I suffer from creative fatigue sometimes though and wind up not finishing huge projects, so that might just be a way to mitigate my personal failings. :)