Happily I can announce to you a brand new CAL that I will be making video tutorials for, Stitch Story designed by Heather Gibbs from Keep Calm and Crochet on UK. During the 13 weeks of the crochet along we will be making a blanket consisting of 15cm (6in) and 30cm (12in) row-based, textured squares and if all goes well we will be finished before Christmas.
Resources & Materials
- Add this pattern to your Ravelry library
- General information about Stitch Story on Keep Calm and Crochet on UK
- KCACO-UK Facebook group hosting the CAL
- Scheepjes River Washed yarn
- 3.5mm to 5.0mm (US size E to H) crochet hook, dependent on yarn used
- Social media tag: #SSCAL18
About Stitch Story CAL
During this CAL we will be making 12 row-based textured squares, one design each week. You can choose to make only 15cm (6″) squares or only 30cm (12″) or a combination of both. You can choose to make your blanket uni-colored or make each square a different color, all up to you. Depending on how many squares you choose to make, in which color(s) you make them and which layout you choose, you can make a blanket that fits your personality perfectly.
I believe Stitch Story is well suited for beginner crocheters, and can be a welcome and relaxing project for experienced crocheters.
About my River Washed yarn
I am making my Stitch Story out of just one color of Scheepjes River Washed yarn. This yarn is the younger brother of the very well known and much loved Scheepjes Stone Washed yarn. River Washed is exactly the same (sport) weight and composition as Stone Washed, but the difference is the core color of the yarn. Stone Washed has a white cotton core with a colored fluff around it; River Washed has a colored core with colored fluff. The colors of the core are blue or cherry and the fluff comes in a variety of colors; hence you can mix and match to your heart’s content. The River Washed can be used on its own like I am doing or combined effortlessly with the Stone Washed.
Yarn amounts
Depending on how many squares you make and which size the squares are you yarn amounts will vary accordingly. I am making 2 squares each week, one 15cm square and one 30cm square, totalling 24 squares which I will arrange in a 5 x 3 rectangle when I join them to complete the blanket. I estimate my blanket will be about 90cm x 150cm (36″ x 60″) when finished.
I estimate that I will need 20 balls of Scheepjes River Washed to complete my square blanket. Each ball is 50g and contains 130m of yarn. I say estimate because I am still working on my blanket. I am using River Washed Wheaton (950), a soft shade with blue fluff and a cherry core.
Scheepjes River Washed is available from Wool Warehouse (UK/Int), Black Sheep Wools (UK), Knotty House (CA), Caro’s Atelier (NL/EU) and many other Scheepjes stockists worldwide. Thank you for supporting my work by buying your yarn through the links on my blog ❤
If you are making a large blanket you will need at least 1800g of aran, light worsted or double knit weight yarn. You can estimate how much yarn you will need by making an estimate of how many 15cm (6″) and 30cm (12″) squares you want to make. The 15cm (6″) squares use about 30-40g of yarn per block and the 30cm (12″) squares about 60-70g.
Color Crafter and Soft Fun samples
Below you see two sample blankets made by Heather and her mum to show you what the end result can look like; I say can because how you make your blanket is up to you. The larger sized finished blanket shown in the photographs measure 1.8m long x 1.2m wide / 6 foot long x 4 foot wide, so very suitable for a single bed.
The multicoloured blanket is made from Scheepjes Color Crafter, a double knit premium acrylic yarn, and uses the following shades and amounts: 2 x Hasselt (2010), 2 x Vlissingen (1723), 2 x Ermelo (1710), 3 x Veenendaal (1064), 3 x Haarlem (1054), and 3 x Breda (1029).
The solid blanket is made from Scheepjes Soft Fun Demin, a cotton/acrylic double knit mix yarn, color 507. This yarn with its faded denim look gives the blanket a unique look and feel.
Starting date and logistics
Stitch Story CAL will start on Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 and is hosted in the KCACO-UK Facebook group, a great place to ask questions and show your work. A new pattern will be released every two weeks, so this is a relaxing project. No rushing and feeling that you don’t have enough time to finish the squares before the new part is released.
Each time Heather releases a part of the pattern on her blog I will release a video on my YouTube channel and share my progress with photos here on my blog. More details are as follows (I will update this post with new links to each square as they become available):
- Week 1 – Gauge square
- Week 2 – Irish Moss square
- Week 3 – Diamond Pop square
- Week 4 – Pilgrim’s Pathway square
- Week 5 – The Institution of Marriage square
- Week 6 – The Ladder of Life square
- Week 7 – Blarney Bobbles square
- Week 8 – Garden Trellis square
- Week 9 – Fisherman’s Basket square
- Week 10 – Cabled Ropes square
- Week 11 – Six Stitched Braid square
- Week 12 – The Bee Keeper square
- Week 13 – 21 December 2018 – Joining squares and the border
See you soon for the start of this new CAL.
With love,
Esther
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Oh Esther , this makes me giddy. I will be gathering my supplies and waiting anxiously for the CAL to begin. Thank you for your generous time offering to tutor this for us.
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The square size is right, the yarn is right, the schedule is right. What’s not to love about this CAL? I hope your videos also introduce a lot of people to Heather’s blog and designs. What a great team the two of you make, and I’m thrilled to participate in this CAL.
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Woo hoo! I’m excited to start the CAL! Thank you for your always wonderful tutorials:)❤️❤️
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Reblogged this on Pink Cobwebs and commented:
Fabulous!!
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awesome, cant wait! Thank you Esther for all the effort you go to so we can all make another stunning blanket 🙂
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I would like to do this CAL so I need to get crackin on my WIP”s.
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What will the difficulty be on this cal, I am a beginner but was thinking the videos migh make it,work for me.
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The squares are well suited for beginners
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I am also planing to make a small and a large square each time but cannot figure out what the layout will be. Any hints you want to give me? Pretty please?
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I will make a square blanket. The small squares i will combine 2×2 to make a square equal in size to the large squares. Then I will have 4 of these combined squares and they will go on the diagonal in the blanket which will be again 4×4 lay-out
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I couldn’t figure it out with 12 of each but love your design (if I understand it) of 12 large and 16 small. Thank you!
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As we get closer to the end of this lovely CAL I am wondering about your layout as well Esther. I can’t see how to make a square layout with only 1 each of the small and large designs. Will I need to do four extra small squares to put it together as you plan to?
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Yes, I made a thinking error at the beginning. Nu blanket will be a rectangle with 3 x 5 large squares
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When is the video tutorial for Part 6 going to be available please?
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It is now available
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Hi, I hope you can help, I am a bit confused. In the photo comparing the coloured and solid blanket ( solid blanket made from Scheepjes Soft Fun Demin,color 507. ) the top left square visible is the braid, but the top right square visible… well it does not seem to be covered in any of the tutorials or written patterns. Could you please let me know what that stitch is, as I woudl like to make those squares for my blanket.
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The braid is from week 11. On the photo you see the large square, which looks slightly different from the equivalent small square. I think that is what may have caused the confusion.
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