It’s My Party and I’ll CAL if I Want To – Year of Projects Update #10

I got started on the Tiny Cables Throw Crochet-Along (CAL) last Sunday on the drive up and back while helping move my older daughter into her apartment. (She starts her first post-college job tomorrow, Monday!) The Tiny Cables pattern was written in a very confusing way and looking at the PDF on my phone in the passenger seat of the car was probably not the most effective way to decipher it. Just as we crossed the MA/NH border, it clicked well enough for me to really get going. I’ve been working on this a little bit each day (as I expected, it is a bit tiresome) and I am making steady progress. I’d like to finish it a week early, by Sept 30, since I have some new projects I’d like to start (a little foreshadowing there), but we’ll see. Here it is at row 47 out of 160 or so.

Last week I had started the first square of the Wrapped in Jamie CAL but concluded my yarn choice wasn’t the best. I’ve since frogged that one and I’ve re-done it in Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran and I like it much better. (Can you see the Highland cattle in this design?) The border pattern was released last night (in purple here, though in reality the color is more pink). It took a little more than an 85g ball for the border! I only bought 4 of each color so I’ll need to buy one more of each it seems. The final round was supposed to be in the border color but I’m going to do join-as-you-go with the cream. This square really needs to be blocked, at which point it will be 18″ across.

This week, I also frogged the start of my first Rusc hat and re-did it in another yarn that I had more of. This Vanna’s Choice was the recommended yarn in the pattern and I like the hat though it’s definitely adult size. Hopefully the Caps for Kids folks will have a big-headed kid to give it to! I finished this hat at a meeting of the Crochet Crew which met at a local library.

And, as planned, I frogged the start of my Lane Cardi and returned that yarn to stash since I wasn’t happy with my tension and yarn choice. I’ll probably make this again in the future since my issue was all me and wasn’t with the pattern.

My friend Carolynn knows I like crochet cable designs, so she sent me a link to the work of Briana Kepner. Briana has a technique she calls Infinity Cables and it did sound neat, so I worked up a swatch following her YouTube tutorial.

Fun! I need some practice on my tension for the cables, but it’s an interesting technique. I used the yarn I had frogged from the first version of the Rusc hat. I’ll have to give one of Briana’s cable patterns a try soon. She also has some gorgeous crochet colorwork patterns — check out this afghan, for instance!

And finally, on Friday, Jen Tyler released part 1 of the Golden Tea Floral Block Mystery Make-Along over a week early! I’m still waiting for the last few colors of my Premier Yarns Everyday to arrive in the mail, but I did do the beginning few rounds up until the first where I needed one of the teals. This will be a 20″ square when done in DK but I’ll be using Worsted so it will be larger. I’ll probably do a plain back to make it a cushion, rather than do the Riebeck-Kasteel Weekend Block (another of Jen’s) for the other side as I had previously said. The R-K is 24″ (in DK) so they wouldn’t make a good front/back pair. I still plan to make the R-K but we’ll see what I turn that into — maybe even a throw since I have plenty of yarn.

Incoming

Speaking of plenty of yarn, I now have more than plenty. As mentioned above, I bought still more Premier Yarns Everyday for C’s cushion(s) to match her Holiday Cables Throw. I bought three shades of teal that will complement the purples and grays well I believe. They should be here on Tuesday which is good since I’m itching to continue that block!

And, as I hinted last week, I ordered more Paintbox Yarns Aran in Vanilla Cream for the Wrapped in Jamie CAL. Like the yarn for the cushions, I could also kind of justify this since it is to finish an existing project.

And then, Scheepjes and Lilla Björn announced their Rozeta CAL, and I caved and ordered the yarn pack in the Twilight colorway (Scheepjes Colour Crafter) from Wool Warehouse. I am weak.

Add to all of this some random yarn from my Mom’s downsizing (five skeins of pretty old Red Heart plus some Aran wool in lovely shades of pink). My yarn cupboards runneth over.

(There was more, but it won’t come for a while, so I’ll save that confession until it arrives.)

Upcoming

The title of this week’s update is It’s My Party and I’ll CAL if I Want To because I’m about to start a whole slew of new CALs! (Not to mention the three I’m doing right now.) Yes, my YOP Year 9 List has basically gone out the window.

First will be the Shameless Cowl CAL by Becky Dirlam using some sparkly yarn from deep stash. This one’s short (Sept 16 – 26) and I’m making it for myself.

Then I plan to do the Bláithín (Blaw-heen) CAL by Carmen Heffernan (also starts the 16th) using Stylecraft Special DK scraps. I’m just going to make one of the 10 squares as they’re released every other week, probably ending up with a cushion instead of a blanket. (But we’ll see. Maybe I’ll make this a long-term stash-busting project like my Grandma Nora blanket.)

Next, I’ve been sucked in by the Nature’s Walk Blanket CAL by Sandra Paul that I will make from my Stylecraft Special DK stash. It was just announced this week and will start on the 24th. This one looks so pretty!

Finally, as mentioned above, I’m going to do the Rozeta Scheepjes CAL 2019 by Tatsiana Kupryianchyk. But that one doesn’t start until October 9.

I would like to join the BIPOC MAL as well and I’m currently on the search for a pattern for that.

So, this week’s plan is to move right along with my existing projects so I can finish them off (or be caught up) before all these new CALs start. To wit:

1. Add at least 35 rows to my Tiny Cables CAL blanket (then post a picture in the CAL giveaway thread).
2. Wait impatiently for the yarn to finish Part 1 of the Golden Tea Floral Block MMAL (which hopefully will arrive before Part 2 is released on Friday). Finish Part 1 and start Part 2 if I have time.
3. Make a Divine Hat for the hat drive from the single skein of Red Heart Unforgettable I’ve got in my stash. (So far I’ve done 5 of the 8 hats I’d like to have done by Oct. 3 when they need to be turned in to my local yarn store.)
4. Go stash diving and choose SSDK for the Nature’s Walk blanket. Sandra used 7 colors (2 100g skeins each) plus the border color. I may need to use more colors than that.
5. Block square 1, and start on the square 2 pattern for the Wrapped in Jamie CAL when it’s released next Saturday night.

The timer is about to go off to take my son’s birthday cake out of the oven. My “baby” is 18! Here he is with his big sister last week outside K’s new apartment. Love to all and I hope you’ve had a wonderful week.

~ Maria

P.S. This is an update for the Year of Projects blog-a-long group on Ravelry. At the beginning of the YOP year, starting on July 1 for most, participants make a list of goals for the coming year (here’s mine) and then post weekly updates on their progress. Visit the Ravelry group to see posts from other participants and to find out how to join us.