WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CROCHET-ALONGS?

Have you ever participated in a CAL (crochet along)? Neither have I. Oh, a bunch of readers will have participated in them. I can’t really determine how I feel about them. The Mystery CAL’s seem like they might be more interesting than a ‘regular’ CAL. I’m not quite sure what benefits there might be for a CAL.

This is the first motif in a Lion Brand CAL that I just received information about.

Aside from the fact that I don’t want to join motifs, I find this hexagon to be quite pretty. Don’t know where this CAL is headed – if it’ll be an afghan, scarf, or garment. I’d have to sign on every Thursday to find out.

Therein lies the rub. I won’t remember on Thursday. Will you? Yeah, I know I could maybe figure out how to use the calendar feature on my browser and have it remind me – but I’d probably have piles of other work to do on Thursday and would overlook the reminder.

My friend Ronnie has made several interesting things on CAL’s. The latest of her projects that I’ve seen turned out a unique, very smart cardi-wrap that I would like to make. But, it was a Mystery CAL, so since I didn’t know which way it was headed, I woudn’t consider joining.

So, what are the pros and cons of CAL’s. Let me here from YOU!

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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