Stardust Melodies Afghan Ta-Dah

* This post contains affiliate links which if you use for any purchase, may yield me a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
Namaste friends, Happy Republic Day.

Today India celebrates its 70th Republic Day and it is a proud day for every Indian. As per the tradition started by my Dad, I watched the Republic Day parade on TV. I love watching the parade, the spirited marching, the tableaus and the dances performed by school children. 
Don't patriotic celebrations and the National Anthem leave you teary-eyed? 
No? Only me?... Okay, never mind. 

On a side note, I don't understand all this controversy about (not) standing up for the National Anthem when it is played at the beginning of movies, at the theatres. 
Young men are giving up their lives at our borders so that you can relax, live a normal life and watch a movie whenever you want to. And you cannot stand up for 52 seconds while the National Anthem is playing! Disgusting!!
Worry not, that is the end of my rant :)

Now, on to the crochet front, I am going to share my most favourite project till date - the Stardust Melodies Blanket.

The Pattern:

This pattern was a CAL on Every Trick on the Hook by the super talented Polly Plum. 
It consists of 24 squares and 2 different types of borders. The CAL ran for 13 weeks with two patterns being released per week.

Now for the best part! Twelve of the squares were free (still free on the blog) and twelve were paid patterns on Ravelry. I decided to make only the free ones and repeat them to make my blanket. 
But two weeks into the CAL I was in love with the patterns and decided to make all the squares. :)

As you can see it was totally worth it!

Yarn:

The reason I was excited about this project was that it gave me a chance to get out my favourite yarn which I had been hoarding for years viz: Stylecraft Special DK.*

I had purchased the yarn from Deramores over the years, in small lots. Mainly because the cost of yarn along with shipping fees made it a bit expensive. And I was going to use it only for a very special project. 

The shades I chose are Apricot, Citron, Meadow, Pomegranate, Sherbet, Shrimp and Turquoise. I wanted a bright nursery theme and a mix of colours that would make the blanket lovely enough for a girl or a boy. :)

Hook:

I used a 4.50 mm hook* for the blanket, which was the recommended hook. It has given a lovely drape to the blanket.

I was going to block the blanket before posting it, but as "done is better than perfect", I decided to proceed with the blog post and not succumb to procrastination.

Each square was a delight and while some squares were a bit difficult, the ebook has charts for all squares. Polly has even added how-to videos on Youtube.

I joined the squares by holding them wrong sides together and sc into the back loops only. Since the squares were textured, I liked the ridge between the squares.

In spite of all that texture going on, on the front, the back of the blanket is really neat making it just right for little ones!

Can you tell I am in love with the blanket!

While it is all fine to say "Age is just a number", I think nature always catches up. I am now in my early fifties and while making this blanket I got a sudden and real urge to have little grand-babies playing around me.

Since that is a few years away I will just keep this blanket safely wrapped up, in anticipation. :)

In the meanwhile, my hexagon blanket is still in the WIPs basket waiting for a border and hopefully, I can reach a decision soon.

I hope you are following me on Instagram as I share my progress pics and crochet experiments there, before posting on the blog.

Another bit of news is that all my patterns are now available on Ravelry 

See you soon with some more crochet goodness. :) 

* This post contains affiliate links which if you use for any purchase, may yield me a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you.

The Ultimate Crochet Calendar

Namaste friends. How are you today?

If it is vacation time for your kiddies I hope you are enjoying the vacation. Summer holidays mean picnics, movies, water parks and best of all ice cream...loads of it! Can you tell I am a big fan of ice cream ;)

On the other hand, for us mums it also means more cooking, more laundry and more cleaning-up, right? Nevertheless it is still fun. Holidays are all about the kids which means very little time for crafting for the mums. So here is something just for you.

CAL Calendar 2016

I was browsing the net to make a list of the CALs going on, when I came across this fantastic calendar. It is chock full of crochet projects for the whole year! It is a CAL calendar for 2016. While I have no idea who has filled in the details or even how it is done, a million thanks and hugs to the person/s who has done this. It lists all the crochet-along projects for the year and clicking on the name will take you to the relevant page or blog post where you can get all the details. 

HERE is the link to the Calendar. 

A few pointers;

• Most of the time the crochet-along patterns are free forever, but sometimes the patterns are free only for the duration of the CAL, after which they are listed as Paid patterns on Ravelry or the websites. So if you like a project be sure to download the pattern right now and keep it for future use.
• Go through all the details of the project carefully. Some projects require purchase of the pattern or a magazine, or may be available only as a kit.
• For my Indian readers:- While we cannot get the yarn brands mentioned in the project (sometimes we cannot get any kind of branded yarn!!...terrible, I know) pay attention to the hook size mentioned in the project and just find a yarn that is suitable for that hook size. 
• Gauge is not  important for items like blankets, scarves or cowls etc, but if making a wearable item like sweaters, gloves or hats, buy a small quantity of yarn first to test the gauge using the hook size mentioned in the pattern. It will save you a lot of time, lots of frogging and heartache. :)
• Bookmark the main project page on the blog so that you can easily visit the page and download the updates as and when they are released.
• Use the "Week" view on the calendar to get a complete list of projects for that week - day-wise, especially when there are more than 3 projects on that particular day.
• The events are listed as per Eastern time (US) so consider the time difference with your time zone when looking for updates. I usually visit the sites on the day after the CAL update, as we are around 10 hours ahead.
• If you missed any project in 2015 you can also find them via this calendar.

I am sure you will find a project to your liking and this calendar ensures that you will have something to work on all through the year.

I am extremely delighted to have found this CAL calendar and I hope you benefit from it too. Do let me know if you find anything exciting.

I have started one more project - Mandala Madness which is simply fantastic. If you want to take your crochet to a totally new and advanced level this project is for you. More details and pics in my next post.

Until then, Happy crafting.

Have you found your CALing?

Namaste friends, so have you found your calling yet? Don't worry I am not asking about any deep life calling or purpose of life etc. :) What I mean is crochet CALs.

My crochet Word of the Year 2016 is CAL and there seem to be so many just CALing (ahem) I mean calling out to me. I am having a tough time making up my mind and choosing between them. Some of the projects are from 2015 and some are new while some are yet to be released but definitely scheduled for 2016. So here goes;

1. Lydia Blanket

This one is not exactly a CAL but a new pattern just released by the lovely Dedri at Lookatwhatimade. It is a gorgeous granny square blanket and the rose border is to die for. I am in love with the border and i suspect that is what is spurring me on. 

2. Sophie's Universe

This is an amazing project once again by the very talented Dedri. It is huge and will be the largest project I have ever attempted and completing it will be a challenge. I am not sure about my colour choices but I am also on a stash busting spree.

3. Queen Mandala
This CAL is a gorgeous mandala for which you have to join THIS Facebook group. New instructions are released every week and the CAL is on week 10. I have just reached week 4. What do you think, do the colours go together?

Yarn: For all the above projects I have used a yarn brand called Ruby from Ludhiana. The yarn comes in gorgeous colours and has a mohair like feel but the yarn is thicker than DK weight.

Hook: I am using a 5.00 mm hook for all these projects.

Some more CALs I hope to do this year:
Sunny Log Cabin blanket by Attic24. I plan on busting my Stylecraft yarn stash for this blanket. You can see my stash HERE.

Lily Pond Blanket - Beautiful blanket by Jane Crowfoot, with huge gorgeous flowers. May have to order yarn for this one. Yay!...an excuse to buy more yarn. (Happy dance...happy dance)

AND a few more that are soon to be revealed!!
Frida's Flowers - once again by Jane Crowfoot, from 5th April. Once again with ginormous flowers and I am sure lots of new techniques. I am so curious about this one!
FRAN Mystery CAL - a manghan. Part 1 was revealed on 7th March. Maybe something special for sonny boy.
Mandala Madness CAL - a circular blanket with 18 weekly parts, beginning on 17th March '16.

In my next post I am going to list some more CALs 2016, which I came across while doing research for this post. So if you are tempted to start one but none of the above appeal to you, worry not. But do start something after all it is NatCroMo!  :D

Until then, ciao.