The music is fading into the sunset as our Last Dance on the Beach comes to an end. It has been 14 beautiful weeks and the time has come to be proud of what we have made. It is with joy that I show you my two blankets; Last Dance in the Sea in Color Crafter (left) and Last Dance in the Sea in Merino Soft (right).
Resources
- Written pattern in English (UK Terms)
- All RIGHT HANDED English video tutorials in one YouTube playlist
- All LEFT HANDED English video tutorials in one YouTube playlist
- Written pattern in Dutch
- Garenpakketten bij Caro’s Atelier
- Alle RECHTSHANDIGE Nederlandse video tutorials in één YouTube playlist
- Alle LINKSHANDIGE Nederlandse video tutorials in één YouTube playlist
Yarn kits
We are at the end of this project, but maybe you are still at the beginning. If you have fallen in love with this blanket there are kits available in two yarns and in three color ways. You can choose a base kit with Color Crafter yarn or a luxury kit with Merino Soft yarn. The three color ways are Dance in the Sea, Dance in the Rain and Dancing under the stars. Both kits have yarn and a special edition label to add to your afghan. If you choose for the luxury kit you will also get lots of other goodies. Kits are available from Caro’s Atelier (NL/EU), Wool Warehouse (UK/International), or your local Scheepjes stockist.
- Color Crafter – Dancing in the Rain
- Color Crafter – Dancing in the Sea
- Color Crafter – Dancing under the Stars
- Merino Soft – Dancing in the Rain
- Merino Soft – Dancing in the Sea
- Merino Soft – Dancing under the Stars
Looking back on 14 beautiful weeks
We started this special project by making 12 squares designed by 12 talented designers in loving memory of Wink; a young designer who could not find the light she was looking for and decided to leave this world for a better place.
Esther from Happy in Red started week 1 with a kelp square, Kirsten from Haak maar Raak continued in week 2 with a star stitch design, week 3 was designed by Tatsiana from Lilla Bjorn Crochet and had the sun setting in the waves, after which Atty from Atty’s Blog made even higher waves in week 4. Nerissa from Miss Neriss had the cutest seagull walking over our squares in week 5 and in week 6 we learned C2C from Carmen from Crafty Queens. Week 7 was all about drawing big hearts in the sand with Maria from 50 shades of 4-ply and week 8 we broke the water with big boulders designed by Jellina from Jellina’s Creations. We had more animals walking over our squares with Dedri from Look at What I Made as she had crabs walking in the sand in week 9 who we happily walking through the ripples from the faux knit stitch in week 10 designed by Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch. The end was coming near with the squares from week 11 as Annelies from Vicarno designed stones stacked up high on the beach and week 12 designed by Tammy from CanaDutch were the waves washed up against the shore. We joined the squares in week 13 and in this final part we are making a border around our blanket.
One more time, how it all began….
Last Dance on the Beach is a special project for many people for many reasons. Some see the blanket as a tribute to someone they have lost, others see it as a recognition for those struggling with mental health difficulties. Personally, I look at Last Dance on the Beach as coming full circle; I would not have started making crochet videos if it were not for Wink.
Almost two years ago I impulsively joined my very first CAL. I had only been crocheting for a few months and I saw lovely autumn colored Scheepjes ROMA yarn to accompany the Scheepjes CAL 2014. I bought it because I fell in love with the warm colors; I had never used Scheepjes yarn before so I had no idea that it would be such a delight to work with. With great excitement I looked forward to the release of a new square each week. I enjoyed making every square and I posted my completed squares in the Facebook group weekly. I noticed that there were women who were struggling with the squares and some were even giving up. Some blamed themselves for not being competent enough, others blamed Marinke for writing bad patterns. I thought to myself: “If only they could see how to do it, where to put the stitches, what to watch out for…”. The idea grew in my head to make video tutorials that would show how to actually make the squares and because the idea did not want to go away, I decided to act on it!
I contacted Marinke and asked her permission to make videos that would support her designs and illustrate how to make them. To my amazement she said “yes”. Remember, at this point I was a total stranger to her, I had nothing on my crochet-CV and I had no references whatsoever. She trusted me with her designs and let me create my very first set of videos. And the rest as they say, is history. Looking back, Marinke started me on my journey of video tutorials.
I met Marinke only once, during a meet-and-greet of the CAL she designed for Scheepjes in 2014. Here are some photos from Marinke’s blog at the meet-and-greet sessions. If you look very closely, you will find me in one of them.
Video tutorials
Each week I made 4 video tutorials to show you how to work the squares, join them and make the border. The videos are available in English and Dutch and left and right handed. All videos are to be found on my blog or my YouTube Channel.
- All RIGHT HANDED English video tutorials in one YouTube playlist
- All LEFT HANDED English video tutorials in one YouTube playlist
- Alle RECHTSHANDIGE Nederlandse video tutorials in één YouTube playlist
- Alle LINKSHANDIGE Nederlandse video tutorials in één YouTube playlist
Joining your squares
You will be using my favorite method to join your squares, the so-called zipper join or flat joining method. The great thing about this join is that it is totally flat which gives a very professional and aesthetically pleasing finish. The main thing you need to pay attention to is making sure that all your stitches are of the same size.
The two most important things for joining a blanket are consistency and tension. Make sure your stitches are all the same size because this will make your blanket look its best and check carefully that your tension is loose enough so that your squares do not pull inward. If you are struggling with tension, go up an extra hook size if needed. I worked my Color Crafter join with a 4.5mm hook and my Merino Soft join with a 5.0mm hook. For the rest, joining an afghan is always a lot of work. So take it slow, two squares and one join at a time.
Color list
I have made two blankets; a Dance in the Sea in Color Crafter and a Dance in the Sea in Merino Soft. Each week I played with color in my Merino Soft afghan, resulting in a lovely mix of 48 unique squares; no two squares are the same. Also my border I made using two colors for that finishing touch. All information regarding my colorway for each square as well as the hook size I used is given in my color distribution.
With my Dance in the Sea in Color Crafter blanket I followed the colors listed in the pattern. Also this blanket is just beautiful.
Finished but not the end
We have come to the end of this project, but I sincerely hope that this will not be the last project that we do together. I hope to see you again for a new project soon. And in the mean time, dance like no one is watching!
#itsallinanutshell
If you are making something with one of my patterns or one of my videos, I would love to see your work. Use the hashtag #itsallinanutshell on Instagram to help me find it, share your work in my It’s all in a Nutshell Crochet Nuts group on Facebook or tag me in one of your posts.
With love,
Esther
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Well.. you danced like no one was watching and now you dance for us all!! Marinke may have been the starting point but you have soared since. M
thank you 🙂
Esther, what can I say! Without you I’d not have come so far with this project, I’d never have learnt overlay as I have with Circles of the Sun, I’d never contemplate a Sophie or Mandela Madness and I would not be stalking Wool Warehouse right now waiting for the Peacock bag kits to come on sale. I learnt so much through Wink’s blog, and it was that which kept me sane after my Mum passed in November 2014. Then to lose Wink too was another form of grieving, Thank you for having the courage to approach her, Thank you for your unending generosity in teaching so many people the world over. With much love to you xx
<3
Dag Esther, bedankt voor al het videowerk dat je gedaan hebt voor Dance on the beach ! Als het patroon even niet duidelijk was, dan haalde de video me er wel door ! Zou het kunnen dat video 14 nog niet actief is op You tube ? of is er geen video 14 en staat er alleen een tekening ? zal vanavond nog eens kijken of er intussen iets veranderd is. Ik heb de deken gemaakt in een andere soort garen ( omdat Scheepjes bij ons in de buurt niet zo bekend is en omdat ik niet wist of ik het zou “volhouden”) en mijn vierkantjes zijn wat kleiner, dus ik ga er gewoon een rij meer maken en dan komt dat ook goed, duurt alleen een beetje langer
nog eens een dikke dankjewel en maak er een fijne dag van Ann
>
Hallo Ann, als het goed is zijn alle videos in de lucht. En graag gedaan; ik ben blij dat het een goede hulp voor je was.
Dear Esther
I thought I could crochet but now I know I couldn’t. You have taught me so much and for that I am very grateful. Your blankets are both beautiful and I intend to carry on until mine are as lovely. I have become hooked (pardon the pun!) on CALs and your videos and will enjoy doing many more. Thank you to Wink and all the designers who have put so much work into this one.
Julia
<3
Where do I buy that beautiful label??
Risa Diamond
The label is part of the kit when you buy the yarn for this CAL. It is both in the lux and base kits.
Oooh this is the first time I noticed the label from the kit!
I am now considering to order the kit and put my plan on making this blanket on top of my list.
All because of the label. It is part of my motto
Work like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ve never been Hurt
Dance like nobody is watching
that is a good motto 🙂
Thank you so much for your help with this awesome CAL! I honestly couldn’t have done it without you?? I’m a little behind on mine as I am making stars and sea and hoping to finish them soon. I hope they turn out just as beautiful as yours!
Thanks again,
Kathy?
yours will be beautiful too, I’m sure. And there is no rush, all in due time <3
Oh Esther I adore your blankets both are gorgeous. I have learned so much from you the past 3 months I can’t thank you enough. I hope to “see”. you on Tatsianas new CAL the peacock tail bag. I Feel like I have a crochet friend sitting there all the time waiting to help. I love this blog post and I hope you done mind if I print it. It sums up the CAL perfectly and I would like to keep it in my folder with the patterns.
Hi Margaret,
Thank you for your kind words 🙂
And off course, feel free to print this post. There is a print-friendly button at the bottom of the post.
Thanks again Esther 🙂
you’re welcome 🙂
dear esther, my english is not good, i like all your videos and your blog, i learn with you crochet and english. i made with your help circles of sun, crochet around dase and sophie … i would like to ask you, if it is possible to crochet this blanket with cotton yarn?
Hello Eva,
Thank you for your kind words. I am so happy that I can help you learn crochet.
Yes, you can make this blanket with cotton also. Your squares will be a little smaller most probably. I expect about 15cm or 16cm.
Dear Esther, thank you for you incredible videos. I am a new crocheter and learned so much from you. I am fast becoming addicted to this new hobby of ours. I started making squares for Dancing on the beach and watched your video of how to crochet the blocks together. I have one question though – why do you skip the first stitch when you join the blocks each time? I made squares for a granny square blanket and would like to know if I should skip the first stitch in each square there as well.
Kind regards
Jeanne Marx
I skip the stitch because the pattern says so. In my videos i follow the pattern. If i were to do it on my own i would not skip that stitch
Hoe kan ik deze dekens bestellen?
Hello Esther ..
I am currently still busy with the TLC blanket which of you send me the video tutorials..
Would you be so kind in sending this lovely Seaside video tutorials as well..i would appreciate it..
Enjoy your day..
Blessings..
Marianna
Under resources are all the links you need, just click on what you need.
At the bottom of this post there is the option to send the post as an email to yourself.
Thank you ??
On Sun, 13 Sep 2020, 10:20 It’s all in a Nutshell Crochet, wrote:
> It’s all in a Nutshell Crochet commented: “Under resources are all the > links you need, just click on what you need. At the bottom of this post > there is the option to send the post as an email to yourself.” >
I can’t seem to order last dance