Finishing Up 2015 Crochet, Part 1

So now that things have settled down enough for me to start this year in a calmer fashion (yes, I know that it’s already April, but that’s truly how behind I am!), I’m finally finishing up my crochet blanket from the 2015 bamcal. 
I went back and forth a few times checking the 2015 bamcal master list of squares to note the ones that I had missed, and put them on the top of my priority list.  There was a bit of motivation there to get these last one completed, knowing that the blanket is pretty much done, save for assembly and border.  So these crocheted up quickly.

Since there are a few squares that I want to share and go over, I thought I’d split it up into two posts so that I don’t overwhelm anyone’s bandwidth with all my huge photos!

Popcorn and Winter Nights Crochet Square

  
Popcorn and Winter Nights was really fun to crochet.  I was a little stumped with the original pattern, and tried to place the color in a way that I felt kept with the garden feel of the rest of my squares.  So I decided to use tapestry crochet, carrying three colors of yarn underneath each other.  It definitely took a bit of concentration and a lot of untangling of yarn, but the end results really paid off, I think.  The front posts in the dark green emulate stems and leaves, and the popcorn stitches look like blossoms.  I know it’s supposed to be a wintery scene, but I really am pleased with the summer variation that it turned out to be. 

This was the final main December Square for the 2015 Block-a-Month Crochet-Along on Ravelry.  It can be found for free as a Ravelry download here.  

Will’s Weave Square

This next square is called “Will’s Weave Square” and the pattern is by Jennifer Bregg.  This was the user-nominated square for the November filler.  This square took an awful long time to make and used up a lot of yarn, but the results are very pretty, and the resulting square is actually reversible.  I try to use a mixture of 9″ and 12″ squares in my bamcal blankets, mostly because I always use a G hook with my DK weight yarn (Caron Simply Soft) and instead of adding what felt like a hundred borders around the edge of each square like I did for the first couple of bamcals that I participated in, I started to simply end them at 9″, which not only saved me some time, but also lent a great pattern placement to the finished blanket (like my 2014 blanket).  Since the 6″ squares are already a permanent part of the bamcals, and there are some squares that I made up to the full 12″, the 9″ seemed a good in -between square that would proportionally fit with the other sizes.  

However, this weave square is one of those that I decided to bring up to the full 12″.  It took a lot longer, but I think the finished effect is definitely worth it.  I improvised just a little, including the last four rounds of back loop sc’s, but I love how it turned out.  

The free pattern can be found as a Ravelry download here.

Carousel Crochet Square

The final square that I thought I’d share today is the Carousel Square.  This was the 6″ square for December, and is a free pattern written by Priscilla Hewitt.  I made a few small modifications on this square, again, for the floral, garden effect purely.  Mainly, in order to have the petals stick out more and keep their shape, I connected the round immediately after the flower petals were done to a back loop, rather than the entire loop.   (You can kind of make that out on the light green one, above.)

I like how these squares turned out because of the simple color placement.  Sometimes I can get so into my colors that I feel like I’m changing every rounds.  Those usually turn lovely, but there’s something to be said for simplicity as well, and it adds a pleasant contrast in the final blanket to have some areas of blocky color adjacent to the truly colorful rounds  So these will be a nice accompaniment.

This is another free pattern and can be found here.  (You’ll need a Ravelry account.  The actual pattern is a pdf on the linked page.)

So, except for a few more squares that will be up tomorrow, these are the collection of squares that make up the 2015 crochet-along.  If you follow my Instagram, you’ve seen this already (and if you don’t , come follow me!).  Now I’m just messing around with square placement and layout and getting ready to complete this project!  And then, to catch up on the 2016 BAMCAL, which I’m already a bit behind on.  Onward!

~Mellie