My own personal CAL
So, is a crochet-a-long really a crochet-a-long (CAL) if no one else is crocheting with you?
When I saw news of the Lion Brand CAL pop up in the blog-o-sphere I knew I wanted to participate, especially since most “A-Longs” are for knitters. The pattern selected was for a sampler afghan, which is cool because it might have kept my attention. Of course I don’t have much of a yarn stash so I had to wait to get yarn until the spouse was in an agreeable mood. I decided on using a Bernat Berella “4” in a nice heathered gray. Typically I steer very clear of acrylic yarns, but it was on clearance. By the time I had everything together I realized that I was already weeks behind on the CAL.
The original pattern turned out to be 10 blocks each of three different patterns. Meh. I decided to venture on my own, so I picked up Basic Crochet Stitches — 250 Stitches to Crochet by Erica Knight.
The book is well written and displayed. It gives a brief introduction to several basic stitches and how to read crocheting diagrams. It doesn’t cover every stitch used in the book, so I have had to go looking for some of the more obscure ones. But so far so good. As I near the end of a current square, I become anxious to start and learn a new one. With 30+ squares in this afghan it’s essential that I keep interested.
This color is more true to the actual color.
I definitely want to get my hands on more of the Harmony Guides, such as The Harmony Guides: Edgings and Finishing Stitches: 250 to Crochet,
and The Harmony Guides: 101 Stitches to Crochet.
They even have some interesting looking knitting books — The Harmony Guides: Cable & Aran Stitches: 250 Stitches to Knit. I do love a nice cable.
I figure that if it comes out nicely I can give it away as a Christmas present, and if it doesn’t… well, the boys wont mind a few wonky squares as long as it’s warm and snuggly.
Oh! And what post is complete without pictures of my helper?
Thanks for reading.
What projects are you currently working on?
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Tags: Acrylic Yarns, Afghan, Aran, Basic Crochet Stitches, Bernat, Blog, Breif Introduction, Cable Amp, Cal, Christmas, Christmas Present, Erica, Harmony, Knitting Books, Lion Brand, Longs, love, Obsure, Pop, Sphere, Squares, Yarn
I found this page through StumbleUpon, and wanted to say thanks for writing a post with these book titles…they look incredibly helpful. I’m just starting to learn to crochet, so I was happy to find this. Thanks again!
Right now I’m working on new winter hats for the kiddos. Not crochet, though. I’m doing spool-knitting this time. I’m also trying to figure out how to bend some old wire hangers into flowers for a butterfly costume with some old muslin. They’re not looking too sharp at the moment.
Check out cchiovittis last blog post..Clearance Sale on Kid’s Craft Kits
Just wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday…100 things and being saucy was a lot of fun!!
I may have crochet envy now…
Those are some good looking kids!