I’m not gonna lie — it’s absolutely beautiful.

Remember when I signed up for that Annie’s Kit Club sampler? OK, probably not. It was quite a while ago. It was great back then when I had more money than time. They picked out the colors. They sent me the yarn. The patterns were well written. It was really expensive, but for me, at that time, so worth it.

I gave it to my daughter as a wedding shower gift. (The finished afghan I mean.) Pretty soon a family member or two hinted subtly (or not so subtly) for one of their own.

So I started on one for my brother not long after that. I loved the idea of a crochet sampler, and there were a few squares from the kit I wanted to use, but I also wanted to make my own design.

So there was choosing colors with him. Setting up the layout. Finding and buying yarn. Finding more yarn when that wasn’t quite right. Reworking the layout. Looking for stitches I wanted to include. Working squares. Frogging and re-doing in a different yarn. Tossing a square and replacing it with another stitch. Lathering, rinsing, and repeating.

It turned out to be about a three year project. With pauses for making gifts here and there. With pauses for doing something easier when life was hard. With pauses for… life.

But it’s done! It’s really, truly, finally done. He’ll pick it up when he comes to visit this summer. Until then… it’s mine. Don’t worry, I’ll take really good care of it for him.