Last year I ran my traditional Advent CAL a little early and this was much appreciated as it gave everyone more time to make some gifts, which is what the Advent CAL is all about.   So this year I’ve decided to run it early again as a “pre-Advent” CAL.  There will be 5 designs in this CAL, each can be made in a couple of evenings or less – so they are perfect for gift making.

The designs will be released two weeks before Advent – the first on Saturday 14th November, the second on Tuesday 17^th November, the third on Saturday 21^st November, the fourth on Tuesday 24^th November and the last on Saturday 28th November.   As well as individual patterns, which will be available to purchase on Ravelry and LoveCrafts, the 5 designs will be added to a collection/book on Ravelry and for one day only (first release day plus a few hours) the ebook will be on sale at a bargain £1.

Previously I’ve treated this CAL as a mystery CAL but this year I thought you’d like an idea of what to expect as I suspect this year we will want to make more gifts than usual whilst we are ‘grounded’ and there’s nothing like preparation!

I design a snowflake every year and this year is no exception – so Snowflake 2020 will be released as the first pattern of the CAL, this could be used as a decoration or as a gift tag or a small thank you present for those who have helped keep some normality for us this year.

The other 4 designs would all make fabulous gifts –

a cowl made in DK or worsted yarn with a quick and simple pattern and an interesting feature join

coasters – always quick to make; make a set or 4 or more as pretty gifts or to adorn your festive table

a set of 3 washcloths – in quick and simple seasonal designs and a lovely eco gift

and a gift/toiletry bag – made with beads for sparkle.

Want a sneak peek? Here are a few tempting close ups:

These designs use all the normal crochet stitches, but the snowflake also uses picot and the bag uses some back post stitches and some beaded stitches.

More details will be posted in my Ravelry group here.

Don’t forget there will be a Twixmas Mandala CAL from 26^th to 31^st December (in DK or 4ply yarn) and starting at the end of January a wrap/blanket CAL using broadly the same motifs but different yarns and colour schemes.  Just to whet your appetite here’s the yarn I’m using in the dual CAL:

Stylecraft Special Chunky for the blanket:

And some luscious 4ply for the wrap in some gorgeous muted colours:

So dust your hooks off and get ready for CAL season! It starts in two weeks!

Happy crocheting xxx