Crochet For Kidneys Part II is almost at an end. This is the last week and boy you guys know how to rally at the end! Last week I received 229 and this week I received 209! The 209 include 61 hexagons given to me at today’s hookup at Court Farm Garden Centre cafe. It’s crazy! Like John says: “Crocheters are so cool”.

I am going to do a separate blog post about today’s hookup. It was such a great morning it surely deserves its own blog post, so here are the 209 hexagons I received this week:

Yes you read right. Liz gave me the hexagons you see above, as well as a whole blanket! She made it in purple and white hexagons, the perfect mix of Crochet For Kidneys Part I and Part II. I will show you her blanket when I post photos of all our blankets a bit later in February.

As you can see I had to put some hexagons to use before I could take the photos because they fitted in so perfectly with the blankets I was putting together. My method of making these charity hexagon blankets is to group colours together so that the blankets are not a total mishmash of crazy colours (I love me my crazy colour combos but it might be a bit much for a dialysis patient. Hey, it might be a bit much for most people).

As I open the  parcels of hexies I could see the colour themes developing. For instance I put together a teal, yellow, orange & purple blanket. I also have a blanket in dark tones and one in autumnal colours. There’s a pastels blanket and a pink & orange one too. But the strange and totally amazing thing is that whenever I was short a few hexagons in a certain colour group, the Gods Of Crochet would send me exactly what I needed to complete the blanket!

Then there’s the red and green blanket… Up to today I received almost no hexagons that were worked with red yarn. That all changes with Pauline and Ann’s parcels. Not only did I all of a sudden have red hexagons, they both combined the red with green and the two of them had made enough between them for a full blanket. It’s as if Pauline and Ann worked together to make a blanket! I just love it!!

I packed out a design for the red & green blanket on our living room carpet and it worked! (None of the other blankets follow a specific pattern, they’re arranged randomly.) When I started arranging the hexagons (the green at the top left corner was the first one) I didn’t know whether I had enough or whether I would be able to keep up the pattern. It was one of those “close your eyes and hope for the best” moments. As I reached the second to last row I held my breath and when I got to the green hexagon in front of my feet (yes, I’m wearing red tipped socks too. Crazy!) I could finally exhale. I also did a little happy dance. Of course.

At last count it looks like we will have 11 blankets to give to the Royal London Hospital.   Eleven! That’s so much more than I could have hoped for. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed.

For the moment I don’t need any more hexagons. (If you have made hexagons but not posted them yet, then of course please still send them to me.)

John and I are planning to deliver the blankets to the dialysis unit on the 28th of February.  That gives me three weeks to join up all the hexagons and for anyone out there who has been working on a whole blanket, to post the blanket to me – that’s you amazing ladies Gill, Jane, Tammy and San.

Thank you again for each and every hexagon that I received from all over the world. You really are the best an I can’t thank you enough!