2019 was a relaxing year for me, I decided to slow down on designing and catch up on some of my own making (and use my stash as much as possible).  This is reflected in my published designs – fewer than recent years but all a joy to me.  Here’s a snapshot of my key designs in 2019:

 

There are a number of designs on my hook still, including 2 shawls and my CAL blanket (due for February release); and a few in the pipeline that will be released from March.  However, 2020 will be another year when I carry on making for myself (and friends and family) and reducing my stash – my aim last year was to get down to 80 skeins but I missed that target by 1 skein.  This year I aim to get down to 50 skeins by the end of 2020 – wish me luck!

I hope you have enjoyed a great year of making in 2019, and I wish you all happiness and good health in 2020.

Happy crocheting  xxx

Part 6, the final part, of the CAL has been uploaded to the pattern on Ravelry.  This has been an exciting time for me, checking in regularly to see progress, helping a few with their crochet techniques but most of all enjoying the brightness that mandalas bring to grey days of winter.  I hope you have enjoyed this CAL as much as me.

Here are the final 2 photos, Part 5 from yesterday:

And the full reveal:

This isn’t the end of CALs, my next one will start in February and is a blanket CAL.   It is made of hexagons with a gentle texture and they are a relaxing rhythmic make.  More details will follow soon, meanwhile here’s a reminder of the colours I chose for the blanket:

Happy crocheting xxx

Part 5 of the CAL has been added to the pattern on Ravelry.  Only one day to go to completion!

Here’s Part 4 reveal:

Happy crocheting xx

Part 4 of the pattern has been added on Ravelry.   We have just passed the halfway point!  I have seen many hooks have been itching to do a couple of rounds each day and I’ve seen some lovely mandalas emerging.

Here is Part 3 from yesterday.

Are you joining the fun?

Happy crocheting xxx

Part 3 is now uploaded to the pattern.  A couple of rounds of easy crochet today……

Here is my Part 2:

 

Until tomorrow, happy crocheting xxx

Part 2 of the pattern has now been added to Ravelry.

I won’t share that today, but here is Part 1 from yesterday:

Are you joining the fun?

Happy crocheting xx

 

Part 1 of the CAL is now live.  This has been added to the Ravelry pattern and if you  purchased it you should have received an email giving you a link to the new pattern.

There are 3 rounds to this part, and I used 3 different colours for mine.  I won’t reveal the completed part here until tomorrow, so as not to spoil the fun!

Share your progress on Ravelry.

Happy crocheting xxx

 

 

This year my seasonal CAL is called Twixmas Mandala 2019.  The CAL starts on 26th December when I release the first 3 rounds of the mandala pattern, then each day up to New Year’s Eve I will add a new part with the next 2 or 3 rounds.  So on New Year’s Eve the mandala will be complete.

The introduction to the pattern is here, parts will be added to this as they are released.  It is on sale until midnight GMT  on 24th December at 75% off, no coupon code required.

The CAL is for fun, a few bright rows of crochet each day during the holidays.  The best fun is choosing your colours!   The pattern includes the colours of yarn that I chose but that is a guide, the beauty of mandalas is how they can look completely different in other colours.

Join in the CAL on Ravelry.

Happy crocheting xx

 

 

 

 

It’s mid-December and all of a sudden I feel like I’m losing the race, or several races!

First there is my Twixmas CAL.  I started doing Christmas CALs back in 2014.  It was a moment of madness when I started – I decided on a blanket!  How on earth I managed to do it so quickly was unfathomable – but I did it!   I posted a new square every day from Christmas Eve to New Year.  But it was exhilarating, not least because I didn’t realise just how many people would enjoy picking up their hooks every day during the holiday season.  For some it was a welcome project because they had an enforced holiday, for others a lovely respite from the hectic family time, for me a challenge in discipline!

More recently I have been less ambitious (aka more sensible) and my Christmas CAL (or Twixmas CAL) has been a mandala, a few rounds added to the pattern every day over the Christmas season.  But Twixmas 2019 is behind, I have only just finished it (a callout for some last minute testers is on my Ravelry page).    A few days ago I thought I had lost the race….phew, I think I’m back on track.

This is one of my Christmas Mandalas:

The second race is my annual blanket CAL.   This won’t start until February but it takes a lot of preparation.  I was beginning to think I wouldn’t finish it in time.  But somehow I managed to grab the bull by the horns (or is that the blanket by the hook?) and I plan to finish the entire blanket by the end of the year, as I have only the border to complete.  In fact, a large part of the blanket is now in testing.  Another sigh of relief, perhaps I’m not losing it?

But then I am losing it, because at the start of the year I challenged myself to have another stash busting year.  I have been following Lynn Rowe’s Use it or Lose it campaign for almost 2 years and it has really helped me get a grip on my yarn addiction. I even confessed to how much stash I had way back in May 2018.

This year I set myself a target – to get down to 80 skeins in my stash.  I have been making the odd purchase, even splashing out a bit at Yarndale, and at one point I thought I was winning but I now know I am losing.   Currently I have 86 skeins in my stash and I will be lucky to get down to 85 by the end of the year, especially as there is a skein in the post to me.   This is one race I really wanted to win and I’m a poor loser, I spent some time yesterday searching my stash for some heavy weight yarn so I could use it quickly!  But I am pretty certain I will lose this race.

So I need to think hard about my next target, and I need to be realistic.  Maybe next year I should write a diary – Confessions of a Yarn Addict!

Do you have any stash targets?  Come on, I’ve confessed surely you can too?!

Happy crocheting xxx

 

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