March Crochet Along Squares

Happy March and happy new Block-a-Month crochet along squares! I usually like to try to get right on the squares when they’re listed. It feels like I’m starting the month off on the right foot getting these done and being productive. But February was full of the flu, all around in our family, and I didn’t realize until it was too late that I was out of one of the yarn colors (Persimmon) and short on two others (Light Country Peach and Cypress). These are all from Caron’s Simply Soft line. So I went to order them online. Well, it turned out that the Peach was out of stock, and Cypress had been discontinued! Why do they do these things when they discontinue perfectly lovely colors? I know I complained a year or two ago about Lemonade being sold out, and then they brought it back, so I’m hoping that the Cypress will come back around again. It’s such a lovely shade of olive green. In the meantime, I’m scouring online for some extra skeins and crossing my fingers that the few small skeins of it that I have left will last until I find some more!

Anyway, since I didn’t get the yarn until a few days into March, I just got around to finishing them up this weekend. So here they are, and once again, they were a pleasure to make. There have been some months in previous BAMCALs that the squares chosen for the month are patterns that I am just not enthusiastic about whatsoever. Those are the times I try to challenge myself to make it as beautiful interpretation that I can, either by color placement, or by adding a few rounds here and there, etc. But luckily, the squares this month all were beautiful and I think turned out pretty well.

The first one is Spiro Square found free on Ravelry here. This is such a gorgeous square; I’ve decided that I may make another for the Sprouting Hues swap. It’s fun to make squares a second time with completely different color schemes and different yarn weights and hooks, because they come out so differently! This one was made with the Simply Soft colors I listed above, along with off-white and pistachio. There were a lot of bpsc in the pattern, which sometimes makes my wrist a little numb, but it’s worth it, as it is such a lovely pattern. My Ravelry project page is here.

The main square this month is Emmalyn, another free Ravelry download. I made this into a 9” square instead of 12”. Since I use a G hook for all the BAMCAL squares, they often turn out much smaller in patterns that call for an H or I hook. Sometimes (like in the Spiro Square, above), I add a bunch of extra border rounds to reach 12”, but some squares just feel finished as the pattern states it. This was one that I didn’t feel needed to be enlarged to a full 12”, so I added one or two sc rounds to bring it to 9”. I plan to put this blanket together in a manner similar to my BAMCAL blanket from last year, so I make a variety of 6”, 9”, and 12” squares without worrying about it too much. Anyway, this square is so pretty! I just love how it turned out. The color scheme I’m using is perfect for garden-style squares, and with spring right around the corner (hopefully!) I’ve got seeds and flowers in my head anyway! My project page is here with the few variations I made on it and the free pattern can be downloaded here.

(yes, I do realize how different the colors look according to what time of day I took the photographs!)

I was looking for the post on my Bobbly Flower hexagon blanket that I started some time back, and I realized that I never even posted about it! I’ll have to get that up soon. It’s a gorgeous puff flower that is really pretty (check it out here). I mention that because this month’s 6” square is the variation of the hex – Bobbly Flower Square (found as a free Ravelry download here). The pattern was already familiar to me, so I had a lot of fun making it again, and while there were more back post stitches, I ended up making dc instead of hdc just to ease the pressure on my wrists for a bit. Plus, it was much easier that way to bring it up to 6”. My project page for this one is here.

I know I’ve been MIA for most of February, but I’ve been working on a fun new pattern and have found so many wonderful squares that I want to make, so I have a lot coming up to share in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you want to join in the BAMCAL, by all means join the group and start wherever you like.

Hope you have a great Monday!

~Mellie ★