I’m still getting into the groove on this one. This is my first project to require color changes-- and there are lots of them. I think this pattern would be much easier if it were all one color, but that would also be make a much less interesting afghan.

I’m enjoying this project-- choosing the colors and watching it all come together, one hexagon at a time-- but I think I’ll have even more fun with it once I get further along and see (I’m hoping!) that my imperfect crochet is still yielding a passably attractive afghan…

(I’m estimating on the start date. I only really got going about Jan. 12th.)

February/March 2010--
I’ve put this aside after running into a snag or two. Now I’m working on my Procrastination Afghan instead, but that’s going pretty quickly, so sooner or later I’ll have to come back to this and figure out how to proceed…

Mid-May 2010--
I’ve picked the project back up again-- or to be more precise, I’ve totally restarted it. I chose to restart because I hadn’t gotten very far before and I saw ways to improve my work (such as not turning the hexagon motif after each round). I’m also just more experienced now than I was last time, so it was worth a little extra effort to start from scratch. (I unraveled my old hexagons and was able to salvage almost all by working it into new hexagons, which satisfies my thrifty side.)

From the original batch of yarn, I decided to set aside one color (the fern/sage green) that just didn’t feel right with the others, and I’ve replaced it with 2 new skeins (peach and a bright christmas green) I bought in the meantime. With the present mix of colors, I think it’ll have the look of a true “scrapghan”.

My color-change method is better this time around, which is making the project much more enjoyable. (Yay!)

My least favorite parts of the project: working slip stitches into too-tight spots and making sure, when crocheting over my tails, that said tails are arranged so that only the “right” color peaks through.

My favorite rounds: dc clusters and the final round. I really enjoy connecting each hexagon to the rest of the blanket. It’s very satisfying!

Late May--
I’ve removed the yarn info/links I originally had above. Took too much room. Suffice it to say that I’m using a mix of brands & colors of acrylic yarns-- mostly Loops & Threads and Simply Soft.

July--
I’m finished! Or at least I’m counting this as finished, because the only thing left to do is weave in the (eleventy billion) loose ends. I don’t consider that crocheting. It’s just tidying. ;o) I’ll probably be working on that for quite some time, but that’s ok; it’s good TV-time, keep-you-hands-busy work.

I finished the border just today-- three rows of single crochet, then a final scalloped shell edging. I based the shell edging on the one Lucy used on her hexagon blanket. I couldn’t find a description/pattern of it, so I did my best to copy it based on how it looked. It’s essentially this, in US terms: sc, skip a stitch, 4 dc in next stitch, skip a stitch-- as many times as it takes to work your way around the afghan.

I’ll try to take (and post) photos soon. Woo! So excited to have finished this afghan! It was sheer pleasure to make, once I got the pattern straight.

P.S. Oh, and I ended up deciding to “fill in the gaps” with KnittingNonni’s “half hexie” pattern. Though I didn’t really enjoy having to crochet that first border round into the half hexagons, I think it probably cut down on the edging work in the long run, and I like having the sides even. (The jagged edge can look nice, too, though. It was a tough choice.)

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