Adventures in Crochet ~ Craft-a-Long and FibreShare

I really have been enjoying deepening my interest in crochet. I have found it is very peaceful to be able to sit with my family and crochet. I also LOVE yarn. It's so colorful and squishy! Finally, I like the challenge of following a pattern and creating something from it! Because of this, I have decided to take my crochet hobby up a notch. I decided to enter a YEAR LONG craft-a-long project, as well as participating in a FibreShare swap!

The Craft-a-Long.

I decided to do the Moogly CAL2018 this year. The craft-a-long itself idea is simple--A group of crocheters all work on the same pattern at the
same time over a course of a year to create an afghan. Every month there are two 12" granny square patterns released. These have been designed by some of the top crochet designers out there and are at all different skill levels. The people participating can use whatever yarn they want for the squares, which gives a uniqueness to each afghan! When the year is over, each person will have made 24 squares measuring 12" (approximately) which can then be attached together to form a nice bed sized afghan. It spaces the project out which keeps is from getting overwhelming. It ends up using over 4000 yards of yarn, so it's also a great way to get rid of yarn inventory you may have.

The first square was released last week, so I printed it off and after looking at it and some examples, I decided to make a practice square before using my *good* yarn for the real one.I haven't done any blocking on these two squares yet, so they are a bit twisted. But will be straight once I block them.

As you can see my practice square is quite lovely--so I think I will continue to make a practice square AND a real one which will give me TWO blanket's worth at the end of the year! Once I worked the practice square out, I made note of how I wanted to do my colors and then used the same pattern for my "real" square.

As you can see, I used only 3 colors in this square: wine, cobblestone heather, and dove heather. My afghan is going to actually have FIVE colors in it. I will be added celestial and hunter for the other hues. I think every square will include cobblestone heather and/or dove heather to keep it coordinating. But these colors really all go well together. I think this is going to be a simply lovely afghan when it is completed! Now I just have to twiddle my thumbs until the next square pattern comes on February 1st!

The FibreShare.

I have my friend Amber to blame thank for this one. FibreShare is basically a ginormous group of fiber penpals! Every quarter of the year you can pay $7 and join the fibreshare swap! It's simple--you fill out a questionnaire about your fiber background, your likes/dislikes, your wishes, your social media information---and then the FibreShare administrators match you to someone who has the same fiber discipline. So crocheters are put with crocheters. Knitters with knitters. weavers with weavers, etc. And then the fun starts--you get to put together a package with at least 200 g of yarn to send them! Most of the people who participate include more than that--some include little doodads or gifts from their area. Because this is INTERNATIONAL some even get connected with fiber lovers in other countries! My friend Amber is sending to someone in Poland, and is receiving a box from someone in yet another country. Doing this binds the fiber lovers around the world together as we share in our love of a hobby! I am excited to put together my box.

My match lives near Hollywood, CA! Her favorite yarn is a brand I never ever heard of before, but learned it's quite reasonable and very easy to find online. It was fun to search for *just* the thing I wanted to send. I am adding in some other odds and ends. She's a tea drinker and loves herbal tea...well you can imagine I was thrilled to learn this, since I make my OWN herbal teas! It's exciting to think someone else is putting together a surprise for me too! I'm also going to pull a few of my favorite patterns, as she seems to crochet in a similar style as I do. Anyways, I can't wait to see how it all plays out and I hope she loves her package as much as I'm sure I will love mine!

If either of these things sounds interesting to you, you really should check them out! I will continue to share the MooglyCAL blocks as they get made. And I will show you a peak into the package I send my FibreShare partner before I ship it out.

***** I have a double order for a new scarf style that I tried out last earlier this week. It worked up quickly and made a delightful infinity scarf for me to wear with my jean jacket. I am now trying the same design--but the shawl/wrap style with a thinner yarn that has metallic threads running through it. I'm thinking about using it as a Mother's Day present for my great-aunt, but we shall see how it goes.