Hexagon Baby Blanket

I've had hexagons on my mind for quite a long time, ever since I first came across Moonstitches blanket and all the wonderful blankets here. I knew these would work out really well with the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino I have left over from other baby blankets I have made.

I didn't have the pattern for the blanket, but thought I could figure it out. After a couple of attempts and a little maths (or rather the realisation if you want 6 sides you need to have a number of stitches divisible by 6!) I managed to come up with a hexagon I was happy with.

I had 19 colours of Cashmerino plus the ecru for the borders, they are all listed on the Ravelry entry for this project.

I crocheted an inner circle from each colour, then randomly picked a second round colour. Once all the second rounds were completed I added a third circle. I only changed my random choice if it came out as the same colour as the previous round or, when completing sets 2 and 3, if I'd already got that colour combination in that order.
There are 3 "sets" of circles in this blanket - 57 hexagons in total - each colour has been used to make 3 inner, middle and outer circles. I tried to work out a total number of colour combinations, but my maths failed me (and really it wasn't that important!)

I've also been using Moonstitches joining technique, which eliminated the sewing up. I crocheted most of the ends in as I went. It did take a return train journey to London to trim off the ends and sew in those I didn't catch.

I filled in the "big" gaps down two of the edges with half hexagons in cream. The border is made of a round of trebles in ecru followed by a round in apple green and then a row of double crochets in apple green along the straight sides.

As ever, I can't resist a mosaic. You can see how much the hexagons opened up after blocking in the bottom left photos.

The blanket was gifted yesterday, 11th September, the day my colleague left to start her maternity leave. She was delighted, I've been trying to talk her out of buying a blanket for the last few weeks, without making it obvious why! The baby is due in a month. Fingers crossed they like their snuggly soft hexagon blanket as much as I do and that Sue gets enough time to enjoy the last month of her pregnancy before they decide to arrive.

The stats
Started: 23rd August 2008
Finished: 8th September 2008
(Wow, that is only just over 2 weeks!)
Pattern: A "copied/modified" version of this from this Japanese craft book.
Hook Size: 3.5mm
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. 19 shades for inner circles, using left overs from previous projects. 4 (or possibly 5) balls of ecru for the borders
Comments: I love how this worked out. I love most of the colour combinations, I was a little worried about some but they don't stand out in the finished blanket. I'm glad I decided to make it as random as I could. The joining technique was breakthough for me, and saved so much time that would have been spent sewing up. It also makes the blanket completely seamless. I'm itching to try crocheting some different shapes how. Triangles maybe?