I did this afghan over several evenings and it was not 4 1/2 hours long (took me more like 12-16 hours). The pattern is pretty, but it is hard to keep the ends lined up as the yarn hides the loops on the end of the row. The HDC2TOG stitch is new to me with working back into the already worked loop and the next loop. It makes a pretty puff like stitch, and is lofty and light when done.
I might try it again. The Q hook is a bit awkward to manipulate, which might be why it took me longer to make it than the pattern describes.
It is also a good way to use up a lot of Homespun yarn since I didn't have 6 skeins of all one color, I mixed a dark grey with a medium purple to make my afghan. It looks nice that way.

I recently completed this afghan as a Christmas gift for my grandfather and it turned out beautifully. I used the homespun yarn in Baroque which is a heathered solid medium violet and dark rose, and seriously considered keeping the warm blanket for myself! However, the pattern claims this project can be finished in 4 1/2 hours and I think this may only be true for a crochet expert who has worked with boucle yarn in the past. I would say that I have an intermediate skill level and it took me closer to 8-12 hours to complete. Even still I would recommend this to anyone looking for a beautiful and easy weekend project.