Makings - Scheepjes 2016 CAL blanket progress

I've been managing to keep up with the Scheepjes 2016 CAL - Last Dance in the Sea - remarkably well.
Up until week 7, that is, when I realised that the deadline for gifting another crochet project I am working on was looming ever closer, and so I decided to put this CAL to one side until I made better progress on my other work in progress!
Here are the Scheepjes CAL squares I have made so far, in the order that the patterns were released.
Week One. The pattern for this one was inspired by seaweed.

Week Two.

Week Three. 

This was a time consuming square, and took around an hour and a half to make each square!

Week Four. 

This pattern is very obviously inspired by waves in the sea.

Week Five.

This one is meant to look like seagull footprints.

Week Six.

Week Seven. 

This bobble heart square pattern was one of the reasons I decided to make this blanket. I love how it looks.

And here are the week 1 - 6 squares all together so you can see how lovely the colours are together. This won't be the final arrangement for them, it was just my non random way of seeing how they looked laid out together. 

Aren't the colours lovely together? 

My other WIP, and the reason for pausing work on this CAL for a couple of weeks, is going to be a gift and so I don't want to share it here until it has been gifted. I can, however, give you all a peek at the colours I have chosen for it, which are equally as gorgeous as the ones above, but in a much more subtle way.

They are Stylecraft Special DK in (clockwise from top left) Storm Blue, Duck Egg, Silver, Sherbet and Cloud Blue. 
Stylecraft Special DK and the Scheepjes Colour Crafter that I am using for the CAL are both similar weight yarns, and while I have seen people in the CAL group online saying how much they prefer the Scheepjes to the Stylecraft, I have to disagree with them and say that Stylecraft Special DK is still my favourite of the two. The Scheepjes is indeed softer to touch, but the stitch definition is not as good and I do find it much more 'splitty' than the Stylecraft.
Hopefully it won't be too long before I can share the other project with you all too, and then get back to finishing off Dancing in the Sea, maybe even taking a square or two with me to the sea if we get beach weather in the summer holidays!

Makings - Scheepjes CAL Weeks 1 & 2

The Scheepjes Crochet Along (CAL) began two weeks ago. For the next 14 weeks there will be a pattern released each week - the first 12 weeks or so the patterns will be for squares and the final couple of weeks will be all about the joining and border.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I have chosen the 'Dance in the Sea' colourway for the blanket as it reminds me of the beaches back home.

I also mentioned that I didn't have any illusions about managing to keep up with the weekly releases, as there are four squares to be made each week. I did, however, promise myself that I will try not to fall more than 1 or 2 weeks behind.

So, since the last couple of weeks have been quite busy - with me working making my Gaelic cards for a craft table at our local Mod a couple of Saturdays ago, and then my poor husband going down with Pneumonia around the same time, although he didn't get the official diagnosis until last week - it wasn't really until this past weekend that I was really able to get started on my CAL.

This is where I'm at now.

Week 1 squares are completed and I'm now on the second of the week 2 squares.

The first square was quite straightforward, and includes a popcorn stitch motif in the middle.

Week 2 is a solid square of star stitch, a really fast working and hypnotic stitch!

I do love the shade of this green. It reminds me of sea glass.

This is my first time using Scheepjes Colour Crafter yarn, their equivalent and competitor to my usual DK yarn Stylecraft Special DK. I've seen many crocheters who are taking part in this CAL saying how much they love the Scheepjes yarn and prefer it to the Stylecraft. It is really lovely and soft, but I'm not sure if I prefer it to the Stylecraft yet. I'm going to reserve my judgement until I've made quite a few more squares, and maybe even until I see how the finished blanket feels.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I am on a mission to finish at least one more of my week 2 squares before the Week 3 one is released tomorrow!

Makings - Crochet Blankets and a new CAL

During the Easter holidays I was working on two crochet projects, both of them blankets.

I took this photo in our holiday cottage in Cumbria, but the lighting wasn't very good and doesn't show the true colours properly.

The ripple blanket is one that Calum (13) asked me to make for him. He chose the colours himself and I started it some time ago but it keeps getting put to one side when something else comes along. I don't know why, because every time I do some work on it I remember how working all those ripples, and getting into the rhythm of them, is somehow so relaxing and soothing.

It's about half way done now, although I haven't a chance to pick up a crochet hook since we got back from our holidays!

I did manage to get a daylight photo that shows the colours a bit better, but the darker turquoise colour still isn't showing up right. It's not as dark as it looks in photos.

The other blanket in the first photo is one I started making on Mother's Day, with the aim of using up some colours from my stash basket. I'm calling it my Mother's Day blanket and it's just for me. I love a granny square blanket as you can just work up a square or two here and there, and I never go on the school run (which is by train) without having some yarn and a hook in my bag, just in case I get the chance to rustle up a square!

I'm also using the join as you go (JAYG) technique for my Mother's Day blanket, the first time I've used it. I never understood what all the fuss was about it before trying it out, and the times I had read tutorials about it I didn't really understand them. But then I stumbled on a YouTube tutorial by Bella Coco for the continuous join and it all made perfect sense. Now I think it's a fabulous technique! I still think that when making blankets for children I would stick to my original joining method of single crocheting every square together as it gives a stronger join, but for an adult's blanket that isn't going to get the same wear and tear as a child's one then I do love the JAYG.

Moving on to the new CAL that I'm hoping to follow.

A CAL, for those who might not have heard of one, is a Crochet Along, where a pattern is realised a little bit at a time and then you follow along at your own pace. The only CAL I have done before was the Attic 24 Cosy Stripe blanket that I made last year, although by the time I started making it the CAL was all finished, so it doesn't really count.

The new CAL is run by Scheepjes yarn and the first pattern is released tomorrow.

There are three colour schemes for the CAL, which were all released at the start of April. I couldn't decide between two of them.

I liked the neutrality of the Dance in the Rain colours...

But I really loved the colours in the Dance in the Sea colour scheme and always found myself drawn to them...

Then last week it dawned on me that the reason I loved them so much was that they reminded me of this, the beaches back home!

Don't the colours look just like those of a Hebridean beach?

So that's the colours I've gone for.
Given how long it has taken to get my current two blankets done, I'm not holding out much hope of keeping up with this new CAL, but it's always good to have something to aim for, isn't it?!