April BAMCAL blocks
We spent the Easter break with my parents. I took yarn and hooks of course, and finished off the two April BAMCAL blocks and a couple of extras as well while chatting and watching TV in the evenings. All blocks are crocheted in a combination of Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply, which is a machine washable wool with a crepe construction. I used a 4.5mm hook for all of them too. First up, the main April block, called Lion’s Mane.
The filler block was Schoharie Spring Square. I was very pleased with how this one turned out.
And just for fun, Lucky Charms:
and More V’s Please.
My plans are to make a blanket big enough to go on our Queen sized bed, so I’m going to do 30 blocks rather than 24, and assemble them into a 5 x 6 layout. That means six extra blocks over and above the BAMCAL ones – which is not difficult at all considering how many wonderful 12inch blocks are out there. My blocks are not turning out the same size at this stage. I plan on counting the number of stitches on each side and adjusting them with extra rows to match (or fudging things a little if the difference is minimal). Here is how the blocks are looking so far:
I am doing the “right” thing and weaving in the ends after I complete each block. With all those colour changes it would be very painful to do them later! I also haven’t yet decided what colour I will join them with or what edging I’ll use. Plenty of time for that! All blocks are on my Ravelry project page.
Beautiful! Would do a great mixed and crazy afghan….
They look great. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this next year. The colours you picked are lovely
gorgeous. i think my first favourite would be the heart square, followed by the one diagonally above it to the right 🙂
They are all beautiful. Easter is a great time to get ahead with projects isn’t it? I wish I was better at crocheting. I like the heart and lucky charm squares the best, though they are all charming.
Very nice, I love how all of your blocks are turning out. Mine unfortunately aren’t quite as nice. I decided to do some stash busting so I’m only using two colours of yarn one of which is a varigated so the patterns get lost in the colour changes. Next time I do this I’ll stick with solids and more than two colours. Love the two extra blocks you did.
Thanks so much! I think yours is coming along quite nicely really; variegated can be difficult to work with ini my opinion. You’re doing well! One of the great things about this CAL is that you learn as you go about what works for you and what you can do differently.
I love them all! I like your color palette – it’s muted but still very powerful.
I love your colors and color changes! They’re so beautiful; I’m using some of them as inspiration for my own. I’m glad I’m not the only one whose blocks are not turning out a uniform size. This is my first afghan, so I’ll be watching what others do to try to figure out how to join them all together and compensate for the different sizes. Looking forward to the challenge, however.
Are you doing a smaller-than-normal queen-size afghan? A chart I checked said 48 12-inch squares would be needed for a queen, so I’ve been trying to do two blocks of each monthly selection. Plus 4 baby blocks for the baby afghan, but that’s another story. Wondering if perhaps I’m doing too much.
My blocks are smaller than 12 inches; they’re probably closer to 9 inches. I’m using 8 ply yarn. But the joining will add to the size a bit, as will the edging. I will actually count how many stitches I have per side for each square and then add rounds where needed to get them all similar. My afghan will go on our queen sized bed, but it probably won’t be overly large. I’ve done the CAL twice before; the first time I used 8 ply yarn and did 25 blocks and it’s an okay size (probably single bed). The next time I used thicker yarn and did 24 blocks, and it is definitely big. So I hope that 30 blocks this year will work out okay. If it’s on the small side once I join the first 30 I can always do another row or two – or else I can do some very fancy edging! Good luck with yours – we all learn as we go along!
Wow! These squares are beautiful! I just discovered these on your blog. Is this some kind of crochet along or are you doing it on your own? They will make an incredible afghan! Thanks for sharing!