HRYC
Summary of 2015 Blanket CAL patterns
Although links to each month's patterns are still available in the Ravelry forum, the older ones can take awhile to find. Here is a handy list of the CAL patterns to date:
(To see all our participant versions of these squares, check out our Facebook album)
February (patterns using only basic stitches)
March (patterns include back loop only and/or cluster stitches)
April (patterns include post stitches)
May (more patterns with post stitches or with slightly complicated/unusual constructions)
Bonus square (pattern includes spike stitches; original pattern in French):
June (patterns include crochet diagrams)
July (patterns include stitches worked multiple rounds below)
August (patterns include spike stitches and picots)
September (patterns include puff stitches and more advanced construction)
October (patterns may involve more complicated color work)
November (generally advanced patterns or patterns that were published mid-year and didn't fit anywhere else)
This last option is a bit of a challenge. The pattern is no longer available, but between the notes on Kate33wlu's project page & the other project photos you could still make it:
Sampler Square Blanket CAL
As I've been a bit remiss in blogging about our Crochet Blanket CAL, here's Kate with the down-low. It's been so fun watching the projects grow (and thanks a million to Kate for taking this on!). - Tash
Our Sampler Square Blanket CAL is running all year – it’s only May, so it’s not too late to join in!
Pattern options for 12” squares are posted each month, focusing on different techniques. These squares are a great way to challenge your crochet skills and try out new things. If you want to start with more basic patterns, check out the February and March options; otherwise, just pick the ones you like best from any of the 21 patterns already posted.
Basic stitch pattern options:
Block Stitch Square by Ana Benson (Rachel’s version)
Double-Framed Lace by Chris Simon (Amie’s version in Vintage DK)
Carré Sacha by GrannyMania (Kate’s version in Cascade 220).
Ready for a little more of a challenge? Try the Catalina Afghan Square by Julie Yeager to focus on clusters or the Yarn Clouds Square by Amelia Beebe to practice back-post double crochets.
Catalina square
Yarn Clouds square
All of the patterns were designed for 10ply yarn, but we have participants making squares in 8ply and 12ply as well. You can make the squares in a single colour, combine a few of your favourite colours, or use up your stash.
Bridget’s Crochet Clusters Afghan Square by Julie Yeager in a single colour of Silver Lining 8ply.
Claire’s Ribs and Lace Afghan Block by Joyce Lewis in Ashford Tekapo 12ply.
We’ll be aiming to join our squares together in November and December. If you’d like to make a small throw, aim for 12 squares. For a full-size afghan, you will need 24. If you just can’t stop making squares, go for 30!
Mel’s fabulous first six squares (in Vintage DK)
It’s been so exciting seeing different interpretations of the same square! Here are some participant versions of the Spring Fling 12" Square by April Moreland:
Amie's version
Bridget's version
Claire's version
Mel's version
Rachel's version
Kate's version
We’d love to have you join us! To participate, join here and post comments and/or photos in our Ravelry forum (full list of patterns available here).
Crochet Blanket Addicts: Progress
The next edition of Crochet Blanket Addicts is this Saturday, 18 May. It will be our fourth meet-up - and I think it's the perfect time for everyone to bring along their progress so far for a bit of a show-off. I haven't had as much time to work on my blanket as I would have liked since the last session, but this week I was determined to add the only bit of yellow on the giant blanket.
It has about 8 stripes left to go and is officially much too big to haul around the place to be worked on.
The cake for this month's Crochet Blanket Addicts will be an Orange Almond cake. MMmmm. If you want to join us with your hook in hand, feel free! These sessions are open to all. Our resident crochet expert, Sofia, will be there if you have any crochet questions. See you on Saturday from 11!
Crochet Blanket Addicts is a monthly meet-up at Holland Road Yarn Co for those addicted to making crochet blankets. We cheer each other on, consider colour combinations, mull over problems and eat cake. It's free to come along, just BYO project.
Crochet Blanket Addicts (anonymous): the second
The second session of Crochet Blanket Addicts (anonymous) is tomorrow. Already! So soon!
Since the last session, our addicts have been busy. There has been talk of spreadsheets to plan colour arrangements, obsessive pinning of finished circles and squares and hexagons. I've also been witness to some very tricky colour decisions.
I, too, have turned into a crazy crocheter. The lack of large knitting project on any of my needles means that some serious work has been done on my granny stripe blanket.
From small beginnings
to
a selection of grey, blue and green tones
to
obsessive colour planning
to
wanting to work on it so desperately I took it to the pub
and now
it has seriously grown.
Crochet Blanket Addicts (anonymous) meet in the shop once a month to blabber with delight over hooking blankets. If you want to join us - please do! This month it is on Saturday 23 March (tomorrow at the time of posting) from 11am - 1pm.
Hooray!
Holy Tardis Batman!
Below is the first in a series from a person many will call crazy. I do. When Awilda first messaged me, I thought 'Awilda, YOU CRAZY!'. But i'm all for crazy and ridiculous plans, so how could I turn her down? As our discussions progressed, we agreed that this absurd project needed to be shared with the world.
Here you are: the first in a series on Awilda's epic project.
It all started with an act of kindness—a group of friends and I were putting together an auction to raise money for a friend who was having a hard time around Christmas. I have always enjoyed making things for other people, so I decided the best thing I could offer for the auction was myself as a knitter for hire: the winner could chose any pattern they’d like, and I would make it for them. The winner chose the Doctor Who TARDIS Afghan, a colourwork blanket of epic proportions. It was a bit intimidating, but I do love a challenge, so I enthusiastically agreed to take it on. Not make it—take it on.
I had a pattern, a recipient, and unlimited time… all I needed was the yarn. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn to make a bed-sized afghan. My recipient didn’t want something that big and heavy, and if I was going to spend half my life knitting something, I wanted to do it in a yarn I love. Something that would stand up to months of being carried around in my bag and life as a well-loved and well-used blanket, and still remain as bright and gorgeous as it was in the skein.
For me there was only one choice—I would make it out of Knitsch. The sockweight size would allow for a more manageable lap blanket size, and allow me to make it out of a yarn I love. After some excited Ravelry messaging with Tash, we decided on a colour palette and how much yarn would be needed to take on the TARDIS blanket: Five colours (Tennant, Silver Lining, Pencarrow, Dark Side, and two skeins of undyed base for white), 40 skeins, 6680 meters.
The afghan is 569 rows of pattern; I’m currently on row 45, and that’s not even to the base of the TARDIS yet. That doesn’t start until row 87. The only change to the pattern I’ve made is adding a 10-stitch seed stitch border to the edge, to give it a bit of texture and keep it from rolling. So far, the only real difficulty has been keeping the balls from tangling, which I have been successfully managing by separation: I leave one ball in the project bag and putting the other in a yarn bowl. We’ll see how well that continues to work when I’ve got five going at once!
