You probably have some blood in you, Cherokees mixed quite a long time with the locals. Sometimes you can pick up on your ancestry just by gut feelings or personal traits you chose to follow.
I didn't get these exact colors either, I was going to go with shades of green, but I couldn't find the colors I wanted. I considered blues too but eventually settled on shades of brown, tan and orange.
Oh wow, that's fabulous! I got the pattern from Etsy, I can send you the pattern if you wish?! I am slowly making headway, (I have so many other things going on lately :p) I am on row 12 or so? It's an easy fun pattern to make and yes you can definitely make changes to create another look...
There are lots of how to videos on YouTube. Watch them do a stitch and you repeat it. Start out very simple making a pot holder or a washcloth using a very simple stitch like the "single crochet". Very easy to do and just keep repeating the same stitch. You can then work on tension of the yarn...
I love making Christmas crochet gifts, I did that many years in a row. Post yours when finished!
Right now I am about to start working on this blanket...