What makes a good crochet along? Thinking about the Stylecraft CALs

If you haven't yet heard, the days are quickly counting down to the brand new crochet along (CAL) with Stylecraft Yarns - and they've secured the design talents of the very lovely Jane Crowfoot yet again, with another tempting blanket design. Introducing Frida's Flowers.

A photo posted by Frederica Patmore (@freddiepatmore) on Feb 23, 2016 at 1:31pm PST

You probably remember Jane's design for Stylecraft's 2015 crochet along and if not, you'd know a Lily Pond if you saw one. Recognise this? I thought so.

Last year's Lily Pond CAL was designed by Jane Crowfoot and hooked crocheters everywhere with it's addictive design

I guarantee that if you are a knitter or crocheter, you or someone you know has posted something somewhere on Intsagram, Ravelry or Facebook about progress on a crocheted Lily Pond.

The online chatter with last year's blanket was phenomenally noisy and people are still making them, finishing them and talking about them (including me, I'm hooked!).

A photo posted by Lonneke (@bitterkoekje) on Feb 28, 2016 at 3:05am PST

I know crochet and knitalongs are really popular on Ravelry but I'd never witnessed such a huge community form around one particular design. Something that we all forget was a completely alien concept if you asked us 10 years ago! Makes you realise how far we've come.

Mine continues to grow - slowly!

All of the buzz seemed to center around Facebook which I think is really clever - if there's one social media site you use, above all others, it's probably Facebook.

Annabelle Hill, Sales Director of Stylecraft Yarns thinks that, 'Crocheting can be a solitary occupation, so it is nice for crocheters to feel like they belong to something and can access help and advice if needed', much like a knitting group, right? Just online.

Technology now allows you to talk about what you are making from the comfort of your own bedroom instead of venturing out to a physical knitting club

Stylecraft created a dedicated group where people could chat about the project and share their progress. It now boasts nearly 10, 000 members and a year on, people are still posting about this pattern (which is free and still available by the way!).

It's completely fascinated me and got me thinking about exactly why Jane's blanket was such a massive hit - people start crochet alongs all the time but a good design doesn't necessarily make you jump on your computer to post pictures of every tiny amount of progress you've made.

I decided to make mine much much bigger than the original, which of course takes much longer

Anticipating that Frida's Flowers will encourage even more social interaction, I stopped to ask myself just why that is. What is it exactly that got everyone talking, where others have fallen flat?

There's a few answers that I can think of and although they sound pretty obvious, in practice it's really difficult getting all of this stuff together - there's a huge amount of work gone into bringing these CALs to you, for sure!

1. Each square is more tricky than the last

Although many of the flower squares are similar there are subtle differences

It sounds pretty obvious but building up the technique as you go to me is much the same as working on any challenge - a video game, a puzzle - things get harder towards the end. It helps to keep you interested, too.

The fact that each square is so different makes them easy to identify at a single glance when you post pictures to the net, so people can get on board with exactly where you are.

2. Patterns are delivered in regular, manageable chunks

Patterns for the 2015 CAL arrived once every two weeks with four squares to make before the next arrived. Now four squares in two weeks is not much at all. CALs start to fall flat when nobody can keep up.

The progress tool on Ravelry is a handy way to keep track

As soon as people start to fall behind, that IMHO is when they stop interacting, and the project ends up in a box under the bed. To dig myself out of a similar slump, I created a very dorkly spreadsheet to track my progress - or you could use the progress tool on your Ravelry project's page.

I built myself a complex spreadsheet to help measure my progress in tangible figures. It's whatever works for you.

3. The yarn is available everywhere

And I do mean everywhere! There are a couple of options for yarns you to choose from depending on your budget - which come in a ready-made pack so you can order it in one click (dangerous!). All the good stockists had them [and promptly sold out, I might add].

People are already lining up for their Frida's packs....

4. It's pretty

It's not just pretty, it's STUNNING.

A photo posted by Jacqueline Holden (@topstitch_fleetwood) on Sep 20, 2015 at 12:34am PDT

We're all proud to show off something this beautiful and say we made it. It's interesting to look at while you're making it, and it looks good in the room it ends up in.

Not only that, but you're proud to show it to your friends and most importantly, your social media community!

You know what I mean by 'proud', we've all had that one project we'd rather not show anyone!

5. Every miniscule stage is broken down with pictorial instructions

This is a HUGE task. The lucky person has taken 8 different squares and stopped to take photos of each individual step. And then written a small paragraph to accomapany each photo. Some of these go on for >5 pages. Huge, huge job. Bearing in mind the pattern is free. We've been well and truly spoiled!

A photo posted by @shazzeth on Feb 16, 2016 at 12:24pm PST

This means that there's no getting stuck and therefore no major obstacles with this constant pictorial resource to have to hand.

Even if you do get stuck, there is someone in the Facebook group who will be able to help. There's so many of them there, it doesn't even take very long to get an answer. And they're there to encourage you to keep going and get the thing finished, too.

This is the first CAL I've ever really had a go at - I've done sock knitalongs before, but a blanket is a bit of a bigger commitment. I have been trying to understand the mentality behind blanket-alongs for years - they've really taken off and now that I've joined in with one, I completely understand.

If you are like me and you're new to crochet-alongs, now's the perfect time to have a go.

Inspired by Mexican Artist Frida Kahlo, the finished blanket is constructed from hexagons

This blanket will be more rectangular at 110x90cm, and is crocheted using Classique Cotton DK (a yarn I'm really looking forward to trying). Jane decided to use Classique Cotton because of the extensive colour palette and the way the yarn really captures the folkloric embroideries of Mexico.

I've just ordered some to design a garment with, too - watch this space!

Keep your eyes peeled on Facebook and the Stylecraft Website for more info and how to get involved. If you're on Instagram, make sure to watch out for the right hashtags so that you can be part of the community too.

The Long And Winding Road - my Beatles journey with my Dad

I am now a very proud Beatles fan and joined my Dad in a life-changing trip around Liverpool Last September. But I wasn't always brave enough to share my Beatlemania with others.

I think Dad introduced me to the Beatles when I was 13. It was one of the Christmasses where I'd asked for stacks of CDs, one of which was the Beatles' 1 album which had come out that year.

Dad has always been a huge influence on my music tastes [Strawberry Field, Liverpool]

I forget why I'd asked for it never having been a Beatles Fan before. But it came from Dad.

My new CDs came upstairs to play in my discman on Christmas night (I was staying in Uncle Bob's room with my Mum) and listening to it from start to finish. And then I listened to it again and again , and again until eventually, I fell asleep.

Beatlemania quickly took hold [The Beatles Story, Liverpool]

It was a good Christmas.

Beatlemania quickly took hold and before I knew it I was 'borrowing' dad's CDs and started to become a bit obsessed. I kept most of these - sorry Dad, we can work it out!

My music tastes didn't exactly help me to fit in at school - I remember working on my maths coursework while getting to know The White Album [now up there with my favourite albums of all time] but was never really brave enough to discuss my fandom with my school peers.

A very beautiful, and very rare print of The White Album which I spotted at The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool

Knitting was weird enough to them (and I was a prolific knitter as a teenager) but 'old' music too? I'd never admit it. But I was desperate to express it somehow.

I found an outlet eventually, joining a band with some older kids from another school who were a bit more open-minded. We jammed out a bit to Beatles songs from time to time.
I couldn't keep up with the older kids and as is the way with teen bands, it didn't end well.

My teens were a tricky time anyway and to escape it all I seemed to develop a love for what I can only describe as 'all things psychadelic'.

I adore my amazing technicolour bedsheets which I comissioned and had made especially for me.

 I took up painting bold Andy Warhol inspired prints of celebrities and making bracelet after bracelet in colourful beads. I don't know what possessed me to take up oils though - the mixers I used meant the damn things never dried, and ended up in the bin!

I'd feathered my nest with this completely pointless box of acrylic yarn without noticing over the last few months - I don't even remember doing it!

For a few years, everything I owned just had to be electric blue or as brightly coloured as scientifically possible - it's a sensory comfort I still fall back on today (I only made this connection of colour to stress on a sensory therapy training course years later).

I was gutted to discover recently that the band don't voice themselves in movie Yellow Submarine though [The Beatles Story, Liverpool]

So in retrospect it's not at all surprising that around that time when I was introduced to the film Yellow Submarine, I was hooked!

Somewhat irrelevant - David Bowie with a very similar cutout of the animated Yellow Submairne Beatles (I just love this picture!)

I'm still bonkers about it today although, having shown it to the fella, he's convinced that the film is too 'off it's tits', and could be considered terrifying to small children.

I don't agree.

The Blue Meanies in Yellow Submarine [The Beatles Story, Liverpool]

Having bagsied first class seat from Euston, Dad and I enjoyed a 'festive' journey and were three sheets to the wind (at least!) when we arrived in Liverpool.

We soaked up some of the booze with a Wetherspoons fry-up and dragged our luggage to The Hard Day's Night Hotel. We had arrived.

The print in our room showed Brian Epstein with George Harrison

We parked our bums just long enough for a cup of tea and then headed out on the town for a bit of a wander, starting with the very famous Matthew Street.

 

We stopped for a pint at a pub called The Grapes where this very early, very famous photo of the boys was taken. Then we stuck our head around the door at a few of the shops...

Each and every store along Matthew Street is stuffed from floor to ceiling with an ecclectic mix of Beatles collectibles

....before finishing up at Albert Docks at dusk for a bit of a stroll. It was a really beautiful evening.

We'd timed it well though, having walked straight into museum The Beatles Story, which had an hour until closing. We figured we'd make the most of the day and end the afternoon there.

It was an excellent museum with some increcible exhibits for fans - do go if you can!

There were some incredible sights in the museum including John Lennon's glasses [bent from an argument with Yoko when he'd slung them into a bin in a rage] and a bizarre banned album cover which shows band members covered in slabs of meat and plastic body parts.

If you have a copy somewhere, it's worth a fortune. Also, yuk.

The museum does seem to cover the very early and very late period in the band's career with a disappointing 20 years [or so it seemed] skipped in the middle.

It did have an excellent, excellent gift shop though.

Albert Docks looked particularly stunning at sunset.

The next morning, The Magical Mystery Tour was waiting to take us away! 

We were driven around Liverpool for two hours by a very charismatic northern guide and enjoyed stopping at fascinating Beatley sights, including Penny Lane, Strawberry Field (did you know this was a children's home?!) and the band members' childhood homes.

Nearing the end of the tour, we got off the bus and walked up the road on an unseasonably warm day for that part of Liverpool, for that time of year. 

We had stopped at John Lennon's house.

I couldn't really put my finger on it but it moved me to stand there.

I think it was thinking about his mother who after a long absence in his life, had died in a car accident nearby. Julia is one of my favourite songs and was written in her memory after she'd passed away.

That pretty much ended the tour - we drove back, grabbed a bite and jumped on the famous Mersey ferry.

We boarded the ferry just next to the Liver Buildings - see the bird on top? Hence the term, 'Liver Bird'!

Before we'd even boarded what was set to be a very placid and relaxing boat ride, just outside waiting were this colourful array of dancers - some of hundreds of people crowding the banks of the Mersey celebrating a Hindu festival with drums and festivities.

All 800 boarded the ferry with us, drums in hand. It was a noisy roiund trip!

After our very noisy ferry ride chatting to friendly locals (which was all very enjoyable, I might add), we headed back to the hotel and got ready for an evening at the famous Cavern Club.

Situated entirely below ground, it takes three flights of stairs just to get in!

It's not the famous early Beatles venue as you might think - it's actually a replicated version which is slightly larger [and safer] situated across the road from the original club which was great, great fun. We didn't just 'go', we had tickets to see the resident Beatles tribute band who were EXCELLENT!

You'd never tell, but the George is actually a stand-in. The first time I'd ever seen a stand-in imitation George and he was awesome! We decided that Paul looked a lot like my Dad's brother, Edd - but that won't mean a lot to you (although for us, slightly distracting!).

 

It was just so much fun - I sang my heart out and danced around like a crazy person, and although you could tell that the hardcore Beatles fans like us were not the majority (lots of tourists, I suppose), the atomsphere was full of energy.

The band even get the mannerisms of each band member down to a tee - they're total pro's!

Whilst we'd been out seeing the sights during the day, Matthew Street had started drinking heavily from about 3pm with their rollers still in (I always thought this was a northern myth!) so you can imagine what it was like out there when our show finished (and I was gutted when it was - it was soooo good!).

I scurried back to the hotel room and left my Dad went to buy himself some chips and take in the atmosphere (rather he than I!). I'm glad I did though because we had an early train the next morning and still wanted to take a trip to Crosby Beach. I'd never heard of the place - it was Dad's idea.

When we both woke up bleary-eyed on Sunday morning I could tell we were both feeling reluctant, but we made a train and hiked it to the beach. I have to tell you, I was completely awe struck the moment I laid eyes on the view over the grassy knolls.

Artist Anthony Gormley has created something I'd never before encountered, in this piece on Crosby Beach entitled Another Place.

100 unfeeling, corroded sculptures all stare directly out to sea (which, when the tide is out you can neither see nor hear, so the place is totally silent). All of the sculptures are identical, modelled on Gormely's own body.

Having rushed there first thing on a Sunday morning, there was no traffic noise, no fellow beach-goers, just the sound of ourselves and adistant hum of large machinery. It was quite frightening actually, but I am struggling to envoke exactly why.

If you walk out too far to sea, the sand becomes slicks of oil and pretty pink jellyfish.

I couldn't help but ask my 6-and-a-half foot father to stand amongst them although I think he probably thought I was mad. In trying to describe it? It almost felt as if we were sensorily deprived for the entire time we were there - almost as if we'd opted to seal off the vibrant colour, music and excitement of the previous two days with this eerie silence, cold and calm.

It was a surprising amount of activities to have fit into the three days and I do mean it when I say it was the trip of a lifetime - I couldn't bare for it to end. Coming home deeply depressing.

I think if anything ever happens to my life in London, I will be looking for flats in Liverpool, no question.

...I don't think Dad would need asking twice to come visit.

5 gorgeous sock yarns I really think you need in your life!

I think my beading phase is slowly fizzling out. In London, the weather FINALLY turned icy for the best part of two weeks (nearly all over now, though) and it got me itching to knit.

Usually that's a bad thing, because when I feel like doing some knitting, I usually feel like buying lovely knitting things.

This week's yarn spends set me back a cool 50 squids!

Perhaps I'll find joy in squishing. Introducing last week's @Ravelry stash buys 💙 #Wollmeise #laughingyaffle #yarn pic.twitter.com/OjqP2emssQ

— Freddie Patmore (@FreddiePatmore) February 2, 2016

I often ponder this unhealthy thinking pattern of mine that is, the inability to do a thing without thinking of buying more materials to do the thing.

I liken it to the bizarre consideration that people can't put pants on in the morning without thinking about new pants. Is that a thing? No, right?

A good start is knowing how to put your pants on in the first place

For now, let's call it Yarnoholism.

Yarnoholics like myself (that's you!) may be interested in the following eye candy that I've come across this week. In advance of your enabling, fellow yarnaholics, you are most welcome.

Just don't buy it all before I get a chance to.

I really can't wait to get hold of some and have a good old play - although far more likely, it will probably sit in the pile of lovely things under the bed.

Meh. Still pretty.

1. Violet Lynx Dyeworks

I found Violet Lynx thanks to Wendy who I follow on Instagram (hi, Wendy!). How did you come accross these guys, Wendy? Marvel at the awesome gradient with me! Oooooohhhhhhhh....

A photo posted by Wendy D. Johnson (@wendy_knits) on Feb 3, 2016 at 5:25pm PST

I think the real seller for me was seeing it next to Wendy's cat, Loki. Who, in this picture, just so happens to be upside down. Loksided.

A photo posted by Wendy D. Johnson (@wendy_knits) on Jan 30, 2016 at 8:11am PST

There's a slight kinked look to the surface of the knit (just me?) that implies a floppy, airy fibre - I do have some in my etsy basket ready to land, though. It's a lesser known brand with tiny quantities appearing on Ravelry stashes. Let's change that, shall we? Find them on etsy, here.

2. Opal Sweet And Spicy 3

I am deeply aggrieved that I was not emailed by each and every one of you to tell me that Opal have added a third reincarnation of their Opal Sweet & Spicy range.

My Jaywalkers from Opal's Sweet & Spicy 2 range, are among my favourite pairs of hand-knitted socks.

I knit socks all the time. All the time - in between projects I just pick 'em up and do a few rounds here and there. Before you know it, BOOM! Sock. KABOOM! Another sock.

Opal has always been one of my favourites because the colours do their own thing and I don't really have to look at what I'm doing. All I need to do is to tune in at the beginning, heel and the toe - to make sure the colours are matching up with the first sock. Easy!

The new shade range includes some more unisex shades (bar the fruity cocktail on the fair right, of course!)

Irritatingly, pretty much all of the Sweet And Spicy 1 & 2 ranges were far too adventurous for the fella to wear. Remember - he's mister black and navy blue.

In between each pair of socks for me, I do him a pair, so it's nice for me to be able to use the yarns I like. I'm eyeing up licorice while I write this with him in mind. I think I'll get away with that one.

I am guessing 9126 is 'Poppyseed' although it does look a bit virus like?

Saying that though, the poppyseedr (above, second from the right) is suitably mannish aswell. Surely there are only so many blue pairs I can do for him, though.

For Fredsocks, I'm fancying the fruity cocktail (9123) and the jelly sweets I'm probably too old for (9127). Worryingly, I can't ever remember buying a fruit colourway. Meh. Unhealthy knitting indeed.

3. Mothy & The Squid

Another insta-find - all you've got to do is take a look at my background on this page to see why I've gone gaga for the stuff. See any resemblance? Err... YES?

A photo posted by Jillian Gabrielsen (@jillian.gabrielsen) on Jan 28, 2016 at 2:40pm PST

Apparently Mothyandthesquid are quite well-known in the indie knitting community, with quite a few Ravellers having stashed their stuff. I just adore the colours - bold, bright and clean shades for awesomely psychadelic socks.

Unsurprisingly, fellow fun sock fan Louise Tillbrook seems to feel the same. Let's have a look at how Louise's Mothy socks knitted up, shall we?

A photo posted by Louise (@louisetilbrookdesigns) on Aug 7, 2015 at 2:30pm PDT

Just lovely, Louise! They really put a smile on my face.

If you're stuck for lovely sock patterns, check out Louise for those too. A girl after my own heart, she is - thinking of her projectsleaves the words 'happy' and  'feet' in my mind at all times.

4. Laughing Yaffle

I don't know what 'Yaffle' means, but it sounds like fun and I LOVE this name. I bought this ball from a fellow Raveller this week (I KNOW - I spoiled it with a picture at the beginning of this post!).

The ball called to me from a fellow Ravellers stash - and now it is mine!

 A smaller company, this yarn knits up in solid stripes and carries a little stellina sparkle (which although I love to stare at, have never actually made a pair of socks in it) much like Easyknits' Twinkle yarns, but with the fun stripes dyed in and for a few pennies less than Twinkle prices.

A photo posted by Miss Elle (@miss_elle_knits) on May 11, 2015 at 11:53am PDT

5. Lang Jawoll Magic Degrade

I have had a rainbow ball of this yarn floating around for years. At least five.

I bought it on a trip to Newcastle to teach a toe-up sock workshop at my friend Anne's shop, The Knit Studio.

The partly knitted sock was still attached when I pulled it from my stash the other day

I headed up there on an evening after teaching a beginner's sock workshop at JL Sheffield for the lovely Rowan Consultant, Bev (at least, I think it was beginner's socks...) so had a full weekend of teaching in the north. It was a great trip overall. Lovely memories.

I stayed with Anne and her awesome cats which was really, really nice.

She showed me the Newcastle night life on my arrival (once was enough), and in the morning before the workshop she kindly drove me around some of the sights. It was really thoughtful because it was my first time in Newcastle.

I had a cold at the time, and had a cup of lemsip on the go by the time the workshop started. It was a small group of participants, 5 or 6 I think - but one woman sticks out in my mind because she would never show me her knitting, letalone let me touch it - for the entire day.

It was a long old day.

Each time she was stuck, it was as if I were blindfolded in answering her queries. I've not met a lady quite like her ever since and will never, ever forget her.

Needless to say that by the time the workshop finished I was exhausted. I'd definitely earned myself a little treat, so bought myself the above ball of Lang [amongst other things] in the hope of casting on a sock, on the train back to London that evening. A pleasurable journey of knitting. Picture it.

When I got to the station, the train was cancelled.

I stood on the platform for over an hour waiting for another train back to London, on a Sunday night, and now with no seating reservation. It was not a good end to my lovely trip up north.

I ended up sitting on the floor in between carriages, by the bog for four and a half hours. I'd started feeling all snotty again and it was bitterly cold in there.

I did cast on, and knitted the stub of a sock you see above. But the associated memory of the horrendous journey put me right off going back to it (I do have very strong emotional attachments to my knitting projects), so for many years, until last week, it was buried at the bottom of my knitting basket.

A photo posted by Frederica Patmore (@freddiepatmore) on Jan 20, 2016 at 8:16am PST

It was only when I bought this book on a Facebook recommendation that I felt it time to dig this poor, forgotten ball, out. Poor thing. Unloved. Not anynmore - I intend to cast on the front cover socks, soon.

You don't have to be sock-obsessed like I am, to want to use all these yarns. But it does help.

Remember, yarnoholics - knit responsibly!