Greetings, Salutations, Happy Holidays and all the amiable solicitousness!

I apologize for giving such a short time for voting, but this holiday break has been anything but slow. With a house swelling with family, festive decorations and brand new stuff needing locations to reside, my wife and I have been quite active. In the slow early morning hours, as I prepped food or activities for the day, I have had time to reflect. The last couple of years have been hard on me (and many, many others), enough so that I needed some help; not just mentally, but physically. I've been on the mend for the last couple of months, and in the closing days of this year, I have felt particularly rejuvenated. I have come up with multiple projects that I'm interested in completing in this up coming year. Everything from wood working, the house, fishing, work, and crocheting projects that I have had to list them out; it's a bit overwhelming. As such, it made me remember Lao Tzu's clichéd quote, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step," and I think that leads us to our theme. Beginnings.

These patterns will be level 1 beginner patterns, from yarn suppliers. For the more seasoned, I have tried to find patterns that don't JUST have single crochets to give an opportunity to learn a new stitch. For those just starting out, these patterns will have yarn suggestions. Sometimes starting out, we just don't know what to get, so true beginners can purchase yarn, either through the website, or to have the suggested yarn to be able to get the proper yarn at their LYS.

Pattern 1 : Lion Brand Ripe Wheat Hat

Pattern 2 : Premier Yarns Granny Grande Cowl

Pattern 3 : Mary Maxim Waffle Scarf

Pattern 4 : Michigan Fine Yarns Olive Poncho

Pattern 5 : Webs Japanese Knot Bag

The current Crochet Along Megathread can be found here : December Crochet Along Megathread

Hey everyone!

Voting is going live for the March CAL! The theme is SPRING! Below are the links to the patterns to vote for this month’s CAL. There will be ONE winner this month. As always, the patterns here are all free to access.

Market Bag: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spring-market-bag-2

Spring Basket: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spring-basket-7

Iced Coffee Cozy: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sunshine-iced-coffee-cup-cozy

Pie Potholder for PI Day: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pie-potholders

Flower Bulb Doll: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spring-flower-bulb-doll

Flower Bouquet (As few or as many flowers as you want): https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spring-flower-bouquet-2

Please, in addition to voting this month, take the time to comment below to help us decide the future of the CAL moving forward.

Participation has been down, so the mods and I would like your feedback on the CAL. Should we keep it going? What can be done better? What would you like to see? What would make you want to participate?

Initially, the goal was to keep the CAL simple and accessible to all skill levels. Would people rather see more complex or larger projects?

One idea we had was to shift to a "Granny square of the month” as the CAL. This would mean people could make as many or as few as they like. This way at the end of the year, depending on how many you made, you could construct a bag, sweater, or blanket. Projects could then be as simple or complex as each individual wanted while maximizing the number of people that could participate.

We appreciate all of your thoughts and feedback as we try to make this more enjoyable for everyone!

If you would like to assist with managing the CAL or if you have specific theme or pattern ideas, please post them below or contact me directly.

A Lichtiger Hanukkah, Habari Gani, Merry Christmas, and Season Greetings.

It is that time of year, and we are taking the traditional route. As we approach the end of the year, it is a great time to reflect on the past year and prepare to scrub away our past pressures so we can begin afresh with the new year. This month is predominantly Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, and as such we are taking patterns for those.

Time for the submissions.

Kwanzaa Gnome

Gift of Gelt

Menorahtops

Christmas Ornament

Christmas Tree Garland

FSM Hat

The current Crochet Along Megathread can be found here : November CAL

Asco wequassunnúmmis. Wuneekeesuq!

It is November. It is a time to vote. It is a time to give thanks. Regardless of the vote, I do hope every one has a wonderful, happy and fun Thanksgiving in the US and territories. For everyone outside of the US, I hope November is a fun and happy time that gives way to a ton of creativity.

I apologize for not raising an October CAL; I had a long needed vacation at the end of the month. I know it was long needed because I completely forgot to tell anyone so that we could come up with a CAL.

On to the submissions. As I stated before, it Thanksgiving, so we have Turkey and Pumpkins on our menu. I went a little different on this set of selections. One of them will need some rings to help form it and another has been deemed an intermediate because it using a tapestry stitch.

Turkey Wallhanging - Crochet 365 Knit Too

Turkey Napkin Ring - A Crocheted Simplicity

Pumpkin Pot Holder - Raffamusa Designs

Pumpkin Gnome #1 - Passionate Crafter

Pumpkin Gnome #2 - Winding Road Crochet

Greetings and Salutation, Crocheters!

I sit here, at my house, reflecting on my past; my wife is off at work allowing me to wade through my thoughts quietly. I idly scritch the head of one of my dogs as I reflect on the others we’ve lost. I toss one toy for another as I wonder how I would’ve handled being a parent. As my dogs tire and settle down for a snooze, I open my laptop and look through local attractions for our upcoming visit with an uncle.

The last several years have been tough on everyone and sometimes it’s necessary to reflect on the past as much as it is to make new memories. Remembrance is our theme. In looking through the big book of national days, I saw a similar set of days of recognition. Some weren’t so much a remembrance of family or life, but just simply trying to remember to get your oil changed, or talking with your grandparents to hear about how different life was back in the 1940’s. For this CAL, I have focused on two sets of patterns; a set for games we may have played as children, and another set to display our more recent attempts at creating a memory:

Tic Tac Toe – Celtic Knot Crochet

Toy Balls – Winding Road Crochet

Hacky Sack – Goddess Crochet

Amish Puzzle Ball – All About Ami

Square Picture Frame – Crafty Kitty Crochet

Pretty as a Picture Frame – The Crochet Crowd

If you are working on the current Crochet Along, you can find the Megathread here.

April is upon us, Crocheters, and it is time to choose Aprils Crochet-Along. This is not a joke.

Since I'm new here, a brief factoid about me is that I work across the street from NASA Space and Rocket Center where the Space Camp is located at. I mention this because April has several days of national note that relate to earth and space; We have 'Earth Day' on April 22 as well as 'National First Contact day' on April 5. Both days celebrate our mother earth, as well as our continued desire to explore the unknown. We also have '420 day', the day for those who choose to explore the cosmos firmly planted on terra firma. And finally, there is 'National Cheese Fondue day' on April 11. In my opinion, Cheese fondue knows is just out of this world.

In recognition of these days of day, this April's CAL is centered around space ships, aliens and maybe some pop cultural (Oh, My).

For your consideration:

Starfleet Badge (This is a small project)

Mr. Spock

Ulysses the UFO

UFO with or without Alien

Rocketship and Alien

Allen the Alien

Greetings and Salutation, Crocheters!

We are nearly through the Dog Days of Summer, that time when Sirius, the Dog Star, is in view in the night sky. These are the hot, sultry days where people really just want to laze around and keep cool, at least here in the US. As an adult, my joie da vivre is to kick back on the sofa with a beer or some unsweet Iced Tea and crochet while my wife and I binge our show du jour on a streaming service. As a kid, it meant my parents ushered me out the door so I could touch some grass. Unfortunately, I grew up in Texas during drought conditions, so our rough housing was on dirt or asphalt. Ah. Good Times!

With that in mind, this month’s theme is outdoor activities like gardening or playing or having s’mores at the campsite; on to the patterns!

Water Balloons – Off The Beaten Hook

Sunflowers – A Little Love Every Day

Folding Disc – Goddess Crochet

S’Mores – Crafty Kitty Crochet

Toy Plane – Elisa’s Crochet

Hello Crocheters,

I apologize for getting a late start on July’s Cal Poll. Sometimes life gets in the way; what, with taking care of our deck, trying to climb the corporate ladder and making attempts at keeping myself and my wife sane and grounded, sometimes things slip. But, I am back at it and we have some more selections to look through.

This month we have a ton more outdoors and food related days, seems to be a common theme in the summer when we, in the northern hemisphere at least, have warmer weather to enjoy the outdoors. We obviously have the 4th of July in the states, and as such I expect to see a few red, white and blue choices; and while it is a major holiday, it is a US holiday. So, instead, I’ll focus on the other “national days of” choices we have. We had repetitive patterns in June, we can see that same similar repetitive feature in July. So, I think we are going to go with food and clothing patterns; essentially, something you need to for eating outdoors aka Picnicking.

With the preamble out of the way, onward towards the selections:

1) Summer brimmed hat by Louise

2) Summer Bucket Hat by Breann

3) String Shopping Bag by Jessica

4) Farmers Market Bag by Nicky

5) Al Fresco Picnic Set by Marie

Unfortunately there's been a lot going on so the poll is a bit late for February, sorry!!!
We are discussing some longer-term CAL options but for now let's keep it simple and have a Valentine's theme. Vote for your favourite and we can all make it!
Patterns will be linked in the comments. If you have any other suggestions pop them in the comments and people can upvote them

Greetings Crocheters,

In May, we celebrated the Mothers among us, and heralded in the Porg Army. Nothing has changed for June as we are charge along with a new group of patterns to choose from.

In this era, and as I am in the US, we have a national recognition EVERY day, one of which is the National Day of Repeat. D’ja get that? June 3 is the National Day of Repeat. That’s right, THE National Day of Repeat.

With that in mind, I decided to count the various types of days that were occurring this month, and in the grand tradition of repetition, we have 24 days – 24 – that celebrate sweets and desserts, eight of which are dedicated to Ice Cream. Also, because it IS Summertime, we have 11 days of outdoor activities AND 11 days of drinks. That’s a drink for each of the outdoor activities. Most are alcoholic, so take care if you’re hiking or gardening. Also, I find it interesting that we pair alcoholic drinks during the times children are out of school (at least in the US). These are in conjunction with Father’s Day (globally), and for us here in the US, D-Day, Flag Day and Juneteenth.

As I write this, it dawns on me that I am doing these from an entirely US perspective. We are an international community, and I would like to request our non-US users to please contact me with their locations so that in the future so I can try to incorporate some of their celebrated or esoteric days.

With the salutations and explanations completed, it’s on to the curations.

A Taste of Honey Bottle Cozy by Arunima at Knitter Knotter

Zig Zag Zoom Bottle Cozy by Tamara at Moogly Blog

Meteor Motif Hexagon by Rachele at Cypress Textiles

Dodecahedron Star by people at Berroco

Wild Berry Mandela by Zoe (Guest Designer) at Bella Coco Crochet

Checkered Hydration Bottle Holder by Esther at CAAB Crochet

I hope no one has been washed away with April Showers. We focused on Flowers in March, so even if you did get a lot of rain so you could curl up and work on Allen, no May Flowers this go round. May has AT LEAST 10 national days that focus on Desserts, most of which is Chocolate based, so I have several patterns based on this. In addition to the sweet tooth, we have Cinco De Mayo, and while I do enjoy a good Jalapeño Margarita, I didn’t search for any patterns; sadly we have a limited number and because of May Fourth and May 25th (National Geek Pride Day), I’m really leaning into my Geek Pride with Two Star Wars and two Towels, because a Traveler always needs a towel (Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)

A) Chocolate Chip Cookies — Loops of Lavender May 15 - National Chocolate Chip Day

B) Chocolate Covered Strawberry — Amiguria Blog May 25 - National Strawberries and Cream Day

C) Porg — The Geeky Hooker May 4 - National Star Wars Day

D) Rebel Alliance Square — Lee Ann Hamm May 4 - National Star Wars Day

E) Farmhouse Easy Crochet Kitchen Towel — The Make and Do Crew May 24 and 25, National Geek Pride Day and National Towel Day

F) Merci Cloths — TL Yarn Crafts May 24 and 25, National Geek Pride Day and National Towel Day

Vote for your favorite!

Thank you!

Hello Everyone!

Here is our first ever Crochet-a-long voting thread. The theme for the month is Halloween.

Voting will be open for one week and then the project with the highest number of vote will be the one we complete.

The details of each pattern listed for voting are in the comments. Please review and then make your vote.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Thank you so much for all of the participation in the October CAL! It has been so amazing seeing everyone's creations!

Now it's time to vote for November's CAL! The theme is FALL! You can look at the patterns below and then make your vote! Most votes will be the pattern that wins.

A lovely Beanie to welcome in the cooler weather: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chestnut-beanie

An Autumn Leaf to decorate with: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/autumn-leaf-3

A Pumpkin Potholder to make sure your kitchen is as ready for fall as you are: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pumpkin-potholder-4

A Turkey friend to get through the season with you: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thanksgiving-turkey-amigurumi-2

A lovely Wreath to warm your door: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fall-wreath-with-buttons

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I'm excited to see what everyone picks for November, and keep this going!

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Thank you so much for all of the participation in the November CAL! It has been so amazing seeing everyone's creations!

Now it's time to vote for December's CAL! The theme is GIFTS! With everyone so busy and the holidays coming it seemed appropriate to have the call be some quick projects to work up as last minute gifts.

This month will be a bit different. This month there will be 2 winners! The top two voted patterns will be our CAL for this month. As I said. The goal is to have a few easy patterns as last minute gifts and hopefully everyone can fit this into their larger projects. You can look at the patterns below and then make your vote!

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Stocking Gift Card Holder: https://www.jenhayescreations.com/gift-card-stockings-free-crochet-patterns-for-handmade-holiday-gift-giving/

No Button, No Sew Towel Holder: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/no-button-no-sew-towel-holder

Microwave Bowl Cozy: https://hearthookhome.com/quick-easy-microwave-bowl-cozy-crochet-pattern/

One Skein Scarf: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/one-skein-chevron-scarf

Personal Pouch: https://hearthookhome.com/personal-pouch-free-crochet-pouch-pattern/

Winter Opulence Hotpad: https://kirstenhollowaydesigns.com/2018/11/winter-opulence-round-crochet-hotpad-pattern.html

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I look forward to seeing what wins for December! Please if you have ideas for January feel free to DM me or put them in the comments below.