A couple of weeks ago I had talked about teaching myself to crochet. As I was starting on this crocheting journey, I noticed a friend of mine posting this lovely crocheted mandala on her Facebook page. It looked so beautiful and I asked where she got the pattern. She pointed me to a Facebook CAL (crochet along) group she joined, Hooked on Sunshine, patterns and CALS. After checking out the group for a bit I found that they had been working on a blanket pattern which had been preceded by another similar blanket. I of course decided that I had to do both of them and started reviewing the first part of the first blanket pattern (called “Atlanticus” – you can still find it on ravelry.com).
I know this was quite ambitious of me, but I decided to push forward and give this a whirl. I decided to go with a warm red, brown and greenish blue color palette with yellow thrown in to brighten it up a bit.
The yarn I bought was a cotton/acrylic blend from Yarn.com. I feel a little guilty as Hooked on Sunshine does sell yarn as well as complete kits for their patterns on their website, so I may look into buying some there next time. For now, thought, I’m going to stick with what I bought probably for both blankets so they have the same feel.
I have to say, the pattern is written extremely well and I’m finding it way easier to follow that the patterns in the book I bought to teach myself in the first place. Each round is written very descriptive along with tips, hints and reminders to keep you on track. I am learning so much about how diverse crocheting can be and how to play around with different combinations of stitches. This continues to be an amazing and fun journey.
This particular pattern starts out with a mandala and then starts to square off after round 28.
It’s been so amazing watching it grow and seeing how the colors I chose play off each other.
If you look carefully, you can see some of the imperfections as I’m still quite a newbie and still learning. My mandala is a bit “wavier” than I’d like and I made a few minor mistakes along the way. I’ve also learned the meaning of “frogging” (slang for ripping out stitches because you have to “rip it, rip it, rip it”). I also learned about “blocking” where you dampen and stretch out the work to correct and straighten it out. I may still do that, haven’t decided yet.
Meanwhile, the longer I’m a part of the CAL group, the more I love it. I’ve found it to be the most warm, friendly and accepting group I’ve pretty much ever been a part of on Facebook. Everyone has so much fun enjoying and sharing all their projects and the owners/admins very often offer their words of praise and encouragement and engage really well with their followers. If you are into crocheting, I very highly recommend this group. I am thoroughly enjoying it. Not to mention, their patterns are absolutely beautiful and I’m very much looking forward to making more of them.
My blanket is still a work in progress. I just completed part 4 of 12. While trying to take photos, my little dog, Muppet, decided it belonged to her (common hazard of yarn crafting around dogs).
She apparently approves.
I still consider myself quite the newbie and have been very humbled by all the talented folks in the group. I hope to continue and get better. I actually got an amazing compliment the other day from my daughter’s preschool teacher. She asked if I sold the hat and scarf I had made for my little girl. I mentioned that was literally just starting (those were the first two real things I had ever made) and her response was “I’d buy it”. She’s got me thinking….. 😉
You can keep up with my Crochet Adventures by following my Crochet tag here on the site. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon!
