I'm getting an early start on my December afghan

Last week, a friend posted on Facebook that she was looking for a "peppermint candy"afghan. I thought that looks a lot like the pattern I wanted to make for December. It's close, but not exact. The pattern I'm making is on redheart.com. It's called peppermint throw and pillow.  I'm not going to make the pillow. I think the afghan by itself is strikingly pretty. It's marked as expert skill required. At first, I thought that's just because it's big and will take a lot of time. Then I started it! I had to rip out several rows 3 times before I understood the instructions. That was so frustrating. I did finally get it. The pattern said to make all 42 of the big circles and all 30 of the little squares before sewing them together. I want to see progress, so I'm sewing them as I make them. So far, I have 4 big circles and 2 little squares made and sewn. Yes, this will take a while to make.