2012 BAMCAL, crochet

six more BAMCAL blocks

by thornberry

Had anyone noticed that there haven’t been any BAMCAL squares on the blog for a while?  I somehow let the last three months slip, but have finished them in a burst over the last couple of weeks.  As usual, they are all worked in various shades of Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply wool, with a 4.5 mm hook.

The first October square is called Winterslace:

2012 BAMCAL October - Winterslace

and the October filler square is In Treble.

2012 BAMCAL October Filler - In Treble

The first November square is Shining Star.

2012 BAMCAL November - Shining Star Square

I wasn’t terribly enamoured of the November filler square, so worked the Impossible Hexagon instead.

2012 BAMCAL November filler alternative - Impossible Hexagon

Cherries Jubilee was the main December square.

2012 BAMCAL December - Cherries Jubilee

And my alternative to the December filler square was the non-bullion version of the April Whimsical Wonderland CAL block by Donna Kay Lacey, Spring Rolls. This square still needs blocking, and will probably need another row worked to bring it up to size.

2012 BAMCAL December alternative filler - Whimsical Wonderland

So that is it – 30 squares worked for a blanket for my bed! The next tasks are:

  • count the number of stitches on each side of the square, and work another row if needed to keep them of a similar number. From experience, I can fudge a variation of about four stitches along each side at the most, but no more.
  • work out the final placement of squares and photograph it
  • decide on a joining colour
  • join the squares
  • decide on a border design and colours (the colours are most likely to be the three largest balls of yarn I have left)
  • work the border
  • weave in ends.

Let’s take a guess as to when this will be finished! In the meantime, a little mosaic so that you can see all the finished squares and get some idea as to how the finished blanket may look.

2012 BAMCAL - all squares done!

The BAMCALs are a lovely way to pace yourself and end up with a useful result. I find it much simpler to crochet a blanket in this modular way than to just start at one end and work to the other. Which is why I still haven’t started a ripple blanket, or finished Clare’s Wool-Eater (although I have started working on that one again). I won’t take part in the 2013 BAMCAL – I’ll still be finishing this one – but maybe in the future I might be tempted to do another!