The Rise of Crochet-Alongs

Posted in Designing by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

I was delighted to be asked recently, by Simply Crochet magazine, if I wanted to talk about crochet-a-longs for an article they were putting together for issue 114.

If you are new to crochet, a crochet-a-long, or CAL, might be a unfamiliar term; well a crochet along is usually a project where the pattern is released in stages so that people can crochet along the individual parts at the same time.

Blankets are often featured, though it could be anything from a shawl to a cushion, though there are many projects out there for amigurumi fans too. Anything where the crochet community can come together and work in tandem can become a wonderful CAL project.

I’m not going to go into everything I talk about (on pages 65 – 66!) because I’ll let you read it yourself – there are also many other wonderful designers that talk about their CALs too.

I did think however that it might be a really nice opportunity to talk about what I like about CALs and I’d love to know your thoughts about them too!

I’ve been running a variety of CALs since 2015, although I had a little break in 2019 / 20, there’s pretty much been something for us to crochet together for the last 5 years – which seems crazy when I stop to think about it! And I know I’m certainly not through with CALs just yet…

Everything is Cool and Groovyghan – KCACOUK Crochet-along 2016

Without a doubt my favourite things about CALs are how social it feels, I get such a lovely sense of the crochet community when everyone is working on the same pattern together. I am totally astounded and grateful of the camaraderie of the thousands of participants world wide that have joined in with the various CALs.

As a designer I love getting engrossed in a big design idea and seeing it through from concept to finished tested design. Over the years, I’ve been getting steadily more adventurous with my designs which I hope you will enjoy!

Filet Fantastic – KCACOUK Crochet-a-long 2021

So I’d love to hear your thoughts!

What are your favourite types of CALs; blankets, shawls, cushions, amigurumi?
How long do you like them to be? 12 weeks, 8 weeks, 4 weeks?
Do you like them to be a mystery or do you like to see the finished design?
Do you like to have a yarn kit available? Or do you like stash busters?
What are the best bits you’ve experienced with a CAL?
Is there something you’d love in terms of a future CAL?

Stitch Story – KCACOUK Crochet-a-long 2018

There’s absolutely loads of different CALs out there, many are free, or even are run in parts in your favourite magazines. They also often start at different times of the year so you should always be able to find one for your next project.

And of course you don’t have to do the CAL when it’s running if you have other things you need to do, you can always save it until later to work on it at your own pace. And if you are looking for a new project all of my CALs are free here on the blog and you can find the links to them here (or under the CALs and MALs page on the top menu).

And is there going to be a new CAL next year from me? Well watch this space…

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

Please note that some of the links in my blog are affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase via these links, but the price you pay is not affected, thank you for your support.

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4Mar2021

Free Crochet Mother’s Day Card

Posted in Crochet, Free Patterns, Getting Crafty, Pattern Release by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

There is less than two weeks to go until Mother’s Day here in the UK and, as many of us haven’t been able to see our mums in recent months, it got me thinking about how nice it would be to pop something handmade in the post this year!

Butterfly-Card — © Intermediate Publishing – Issue 81 / February 2019

You may or may not remember that back in February 2019 I took part in the Simply Crochet magazine ‘Hook to Hook Challenge.’ This was a fun mini competition between two designers to come up with a unique pattern for a Mother’s Day Card using the same yarn – my design was the ‘Wings of Love’.

The rights of the pattern have now returned to me and I thought I would share the design here on the blog in case you would like to create your own crochet Mother’s Day card this year.

Mother’s Day in the UK this year is Sunday 14 March and in the US it’s Sunday 9 May so hopefully I’m giving you plenty of time to hook up your own cards, but as the butterfly motifs are small they really don’t take long to hook up!

Pattern

The pattern below is written in UK crochet terminology.

Yarn: Scheepjes Catona (100% Mercerised Cotton) 10g/25m) I used the following colours for my new card:

10g x Lemonade (403) – Yellow (A)
10g x Fresia (519) – Pink (B)
10g x Cherry (513) – Dark Pink (C)
10g x Kiwi (205) – Bright Green (D)
10g x Apple Granny (513) – Green (E)

Hook: 2.5 mm (US size C/2)

Notions and Accessories: 21 x 15cm embossed card, PVA glue (or glue gun), washi tape or sellotape

Tension: Tension is not critical for this project

Measurements:

Small Butterfly 2.3cm (0.8in)
Medium Butterfly 3.3cm (1.3in)
Large Butterfly 4cm (1.6in)

Small Butterfly | Make 2.

Rnd 1: Using Yarn A / C, make a magic loop, 6dc into the ring, sl st to the top of the first dc to join. 6sts

Rnd 2: (Ch2, 2htr in the same st, ch2, sl st to the same st) sl st into the next st, repeat ( ) once, sl st into the next 2 sts, ((ch1, 2dc in the same st, ch1, sl st to the same st)) sl st in the next 2sts, repeat (( )) once. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Using Yarn B thread a small section of yarn through the middle loop and tie in a knot between the two larger wings, snip off ends to form antennae.

Medium Butterfly | Make 2.

Rnd 1: Using Yarn B / A, make a magic loop, 6dc into the ring, sl st to the top of the first dc to join. 6sts

Rnd 2: (Ch2, 2htr in the same st, ch2, sl st to the same st) sl st into the next st, repeat ( ) once, sl st into the next 2 sts, ((ch3, 3tr in the same st, ch3, sl st to the same st)) sl st in the next 2sts, repeat (( )) once. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Using Yarn C thread a small section of yarn through the middle loop and tie in a knot between the two larger wings, snip off ends to form antennae.

Large Butterfly | Make 2.

Rnd 1: Using Yarn C / B, make a magic loop, 6dc into the ring, sl st to the top of the first dc to join. 6sts

Rnd 2: (Ch3, 2tr in the same st, ch3, sl st to the same st) sl st into the next st, repeat ( ) once, sl st into the next 2sts, ((ch4, 3dtr in the same st, ch4, sl st to the same st,)) sl st into the next 2sts, repeat (( )) once. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Using Yarn A thread a small section of yarn through the middle loop and tie in a knot between the two larger wings, snip off ends to form antennae.

Embroidering on Card

Your blank greeting card should be made of a fairly heavy, sturdy cardstock. You’ll be handling this card a great deal as you stitch, so you need something that will withstand bending without tearing.

Sketch your design, of grass and heart, onto the card lightly with a pencil.
Then using a sharp needle punch the holes (about 0.4cm / 0.157 inch apart) along the lines.
Rub out your pencil marks before you start stitching
Using Yarn D embroider the grass onto the card, then repeat with Yarn E for the heart, use a bit of washi tape or sellotape to secure into place

Finishing

Leaving a space at the top of the card for any message with PVA glue add the butterfly motifs around the card.

Thank you for crocheting along with me – I can’t wait to see the cards you make. Please tag me @KCACO.UK on Instagram (or use hashtag #kcacouk) as I always love to see your makes. You can also share your projects photos by linking them on your favourite social media sites: Ravelry, Facebook page or Facebook group and Pinterest if you aren’t on Instagram.

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

Please note that some of the links in my blog are affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase via these links, but the price you pay is not affected. You can read more about my affiliate links here.

24May2019

Simply Crochet Magazine | Jewellery Set

Posted in Crochet, Crochet Accessories, Designing, Magazine, Pattern Release, Tah-Dah by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

I recently had the pleasure of designing a fun jewellery set for Issue 84 of Simply Crochet magazine (which is on sale now). On page 69 you can find the lovely bright set which includes a long necklace, a bracelet and some stud earings.

I have to say I’m quite in love with how they’ve turned out – crochet jewellery just has such a lovely tactile quality to it that I think you can’t fail to love.

These pieces are easy to make even if you have never crocheted jewellery before and especially if you crochet amigurumi as it uses the same technique. The only difference is that it’s working on a much smaller scale, which can take a little getting used to, and there is a bit of a knack to crocheting around beads – but working on this design you do get a lot of practice!

I used Scheepjes Maxi Sugar rush which is 2ply yarn and from a 1mm to 1.25mm hook and different sized wooden beads from 15 to 30mm. It’s the first time I’ve used Maxi Sugar rush but I think it would be great for other projects like adding a crocheted border to a plain outfit. It’s available in 87 shades so there is tons of choice and it’s a 50g ball so you can make LOADs of beads with that much. I wanted colours that were just really bright and kind of clashed when put together but that also worked too (if that makes sense).

Working with such tiny hooks certainly makes a change from what I normal use but actually I got a bit addicted to making the beads! There is something really soothing in the repetitiveness of it all.

Not to help with any yarn enabling (who am I kidding!) but I will just say that Deramores are doing a 10% discount on orders over £20 (with code: DERAS10) until 31 May 2019 if you did want the yarn I used to make the set.

The nice thing about making your own jewellery is that it can be fully customisable and can give an outfit a real blast of colour. I think make great gifts for friends too. Funnily enough my mum saw the set and said she wanted one too so I’m sure I’ll be making more in the future. As she wears a lot of red I might try the set in a block colour too as I think that would also look fab.

SAVE JEWELLERY SET ON RAVELRY HERE

There are actually loads of great patterns in Issue 84. I particularly love the C2C giraffe blanket by Hannah Cross (I can see me making that at some point!) and the cute and fluffy Orangutan by Ilaria Caliri. I’ve also added the amazing Summer Wrap by Ellen Deckers (aka Polevie) to my to do list (sooner rather than later hopefully) because it’s just so awesome!

If you hook the jewellery set I hope you’ll tag kcaco.uk on Instagram or share your projects in my Facebook group as I love to see your finished work!

Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

14Feb2019

Simply Crochet 81 | Hook to Hook Challenge

Posted in Crochet, Designing, Getting Crafty, Magazine, Pattern Release by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

If you are a fan of Simply Crochet magazine then you are probably familiar with their ‘Hook to Hook Challenges’ where two designers compete to come up with a unique pattern, to a given brief, using the same yarn. I always love seeing these challenges as the results are always so different! So I was super excited to be asked to be one of the challengers for Issue 81. And this is what I came up with…

The theme for this challenge was ‘Mother’s Day Card’ and I was given five 10g mini balls of Scheepjes Catona and some card with which to design some motifs suitable to create a card to give on that special day.

I actually came up with a few different ideas for card designs but in the end I settled on creating some butterfly motifs. I love butterflies, I just think they are wondrous creatures and always delight in seeing them so it was fun to come up with some small designs in keeping with my card idea.

I also decided to add an extra handmade twist of embroidering with the yarn directly onto the card. That was really fun to do and it produced exactly the effect I was looking for with the card.

As it was my mum that taught me how to crochet this Mother’s Day card would just be perfect for her!

I did laugh when I saw that my competitor was none other than Eleonora from Coastal Crochet! You may remember that I’ve met her a couple of times and interviewed her here on the blog too (read that here). It’s so fun to be up against someone I know and I certainly wouldn’t mind if she won. I love Eleonora’s cat and floral motif card – it certainly is purrrfect for Mother’s day too!

One of the fun bits of the Hook to Hook Challenge is that YOU can vote for your favourite of the two designs on the Simply Crochet Instagram page. To vote, simply double tap and comment on the design you prefer, and one lucky reader will win all the yarn that you need to make the project.

A winner will be announced on Wednesday 20th February 2019 at 1pm (GMT) on the Simply Crochet Instagram page, the competition is open to UK entrants only and T&C’s will apply.

So please, go check out the challenge, vote, and then I hope you’ll pop to the shops to pick up your copy of Simply Crochet Magazine for both Mother’s Day card patterns so you can have a go at making them yourself!

Until next time folks! Happy hooking and keep calm and crochet on my friends xx