Quite a few people have requested the total yardage (per colour) to complete the Block a Week CAL 2014. When I first started out I had no idea that people would want to copy some (or all) of the colours I used, so I didn’t really keep a tally. Lucky for me Betty Byers made her squares in the same colours as me (well, 95 % of them), and she did keep a tally.
The photos in this post are Betty’s photos and they are being used with her permission.
Even though we have used the same colours, our blankets have turned out very different. Betty has included Sophie’s Garden in hers. She has had to leave out 4 squares to accommodate Sophie.
Betty has joined her blanket using a Flat Braid Ch-3 Join in Saffron. You can find a very clear tutorial for the Flat Braid join HERE. The tutorial is by Margaret MacInnis, designer of See How They Run (Week 23), Anticipation Mystery Square (Week 29), and Purifying Puritans (Week 45).
Betty has added a beautiful border (of her own design) to her afghan, the instructions for which can be found HERE. I am still undecided about what border I am going to add…
So without further ado, I will share the amounts of yarn Betty recorded using.
Details
- Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK from the Lucy Pack or Colour Pack (Double Knit/Light Worsted Weight/#3).
- Specifics: Each ball/skein weighs 100 g and contains 297 meters of yarn. That works out to 3 meters of yarn per gram.
- Amount: 17 x 100 g balls/skeins for the squares and 5 x 100 g balls/skeins for the joining and border.
- Hook: 4 mm crochet hook (US G/6 UK 8) – I recommend Clover Amour Crochet Hooks
Notes: This afghan can be done using the “Lucy Pack” if all colours are used equally and you purchase additional yarn for the joins and border. We have not used all colours equally. If I had to restart my afghan I would have chosen to use only 8 colours: Saffron, Sherbet, Fondant, Pomegranate, Turquoise, Meadow, Magenta, and Lipstick. You will notice that the earlier squares used all the colours, whereas the later squares used predominantly these 8 colours.
Block a Week CAL 2014 – Betty’s Beautiful Blanket
48 Squares and 1 Sophie’s Garden
Stylecraft Special Double Knit Colours |
Squares and Sophie’s Garden |
Betty’s Beautiful Border |
Continuous Flat Braid Join |
Total Yarn Needed Per Colour |
| Saffron | 150 g | 40 g | 175 g | 365 g |
| Sherbet*** | 300 g | 40 g | 340 g | |
| Fondant | 130 g | 130 g | ||
| Clematis | 25 g | 25 g | ||
| Pomegranate | 150 g | 50 g | 200 g | |
| Turquoise | 225 g | 75 g | 300 g | |
| Meadow | 175 g | 40 g | 215 g | |
| Shrimp | 25 g | 25 g | ||
| Spring Green | 20 g | 20 g | ||
| Wisteria* | 40 g | 40 g | ||
| Lavender* | 40 g | 40 g | ||
| Plum | 25 g | 25 g | ||
| Magenta | 240 g | 80 g | 320 g | |
| Aster** | 30 g | 30 g | ||
| Cloud*** | 30 g | 30 g | ||
| Aspen** | 40 g | 40 g | ||
| Lipstick | 50 g | 50 g | ||
| TOTAL | 1695 g | 175 g | 325 g | 2195 g |
* Wisteria and Lavender are quite close to each other, so you might consider using only one of them instead of both.
** Aster and Aspen aren’t as close to each other in shade, but you can consider using only one of them instead of both. You could also cut both of them out and use Turquoise instead.
*** Sherbet and Cloud are similar, so if you are looking for another way to trim the amount of colours, use Sherbet instead of Cloud.
If you need help converting these weights to meters (or yards), FreshStitches has got an awesome tutorial HERE.
My blanket is still a work in progress. All my Foursquares have now been joined using the (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join. Now I just need to figure out if I want to use Betty’s Beautiful Border, or if I want something more simple.
Here’s a peek of what it looks like so far.
This blog post contains affiliate links. I only link to products I personally use or would use. All opinions are my own.
Riet says
kunt u mij vertellen waar ik deze patronen kan vinden van de Cal deken 2014
ben al lang aan het zoeken maar kom niet op een site met patronen
Dedri Uys says
Hi Riet.
The patterns for the Block a Week CAL are all by different designers, so there is no ‘one place’ to find them all. I did photo tutorials for the tricky parts, but you would still need to download the individual patterns from each designer in order to complete it.
I hope that helps.
Dedri
Lucy says
I just love this blanket. Can anyone tell me the colors used in the blue blanket please. Rhanks
Jenny says
Hi Lucy. All the colours are listed in the write up.
BW Jenny :)
Rosalyn says
Dear Dedri how would I calculate block design repeats and amount of yarn for making blanket in DK cotton king size.
Thanks for your help
roz
Dedri Uys says
Hi Rosalyn. There is absolutely no way I can tell you how to calculate how much yarn you would need. It would depend on tension, hook size, and yarn used. Each square also uses different amounts of yarn. But I do not think that dye lot will matter much with a pattern like this, so if you don’t have enough yarn, you can always buy more when you start running low. I am so sorry that I cannot help you with this.
em says
for betty’s blanket, if I use sophie’s garden in the center, would I use two strands of yarn for the sophie’s garden square?
Dedri Uys says
Hi. You would use whatever hook and yarn you are using for the rest of the blanket, so if you are using a single strand of double knit yarn for all your squares, that is what you would use for the garden to get it twice as big as the other squares. I only used double strand for the garden because I didn’t have worsted weight yarn at the time.
Jenna says
Wow, Betty’s blanket is amazing! This is my CAL 2015, starting tomorrow (and a gift to my MIL). I have ordered all of the yarn Colours in Stylecraft special dk as per the yards tallied above. Very very appreciative of this :). 29 balls have now arrived, wow. I am going to be doing Sophie’s garden along with the border and flat braid that Betty has provided.
Before I start though, are you able to help me with transferring the Stylecraft special dk colours (in the list above) to that which is used in the patterns (scheepjeswol…)?
Dedri Uys says
Here are the Cotton 8 (small version) colours, followed by the equivalent Stylecraft colours:
Canary Saffron
Light Pink Fondant
Fuchsia Pomegranate
Dark Pink Lipstick
Light Turquoise Sherbet
Light Green Meadow
Moors Magenta
Heath Plum
Turquoise Turquoise
Light Purple Lavender
Violet Clematis
Kim says
Hi. I love this blanket! Where do I find block one?
Dedri Uys says
You can find all the information (and links to tutorials) HERE. You will find a link to each pattern at the start of each tutorial under “Pattern”. The tutorials are only helpful guides, not the complete patterns (except for Grandma’s Heart and Prince Protea).
Debra Denkins says
Hi Dedri, after I finish my Sophie I want to start on this beautiful blanket I was wondering has anyone broke down the yarn into how many skeins of each is needed ? Thanks for your help. Love your work I truly do. Your truly talented. :)
Dedri Uys says
Debra, the total meters per colour are listed in this post. 1 skein has 297 meters (per 100 g skein), if that helps.
Elizabeth Allen says
I can not believe how gorgeous that is.
Jacqui says
My Cal 2015, I am behind, but I will catch up. Thank you for this inspiration.
Dedri Uys says
Have fun, Jacqui!
Petro says
Hi, thankyou so much for all your hardwork.
Could not do it last year, but 1st priority in 2015!
Awesome.
marja says
Beautiful!!!!!!
Hmmmmmmm, cal 2014 will be my cal 2015..!
Jo Navin says
Hi Dedri, it was such a pleasure to meet you at The Fabric Warehouse on Saturday! Thank you so much for all your advice and I love your book. We’re really looking forward to seeing you again in the new year. Both the blankets are stunning, I love the use of Sophie in the centre of Betty’s blanket and the way you’ve made each set of 4 squares in your blanket with different background colours to link them together. Jo xxx
Dedri Uys says
Hi Jo.
Thank you for leaving a comment. It was great to meet you too! Hopefully I will be able to finish the blanket soon. I’m hoping to come on the 31st when the tea room is next open. Trying to get two of my crochet buddies to tag along for a little bit of a meet-up.
Take care and please ask if there is anything you need to know about the puzzle patterns.
Dedri
Iris says
I think that very very nice
Betty Byers says
Thank you so very much Dedri for turning a few photos & notes into this beautiful blog entry. My contribution was small compared to the work you have put in to make my humble blanket into a “star”!
Dedri Uys says
Your blanket IS a star, Betty! x
Denise says
There both so beautiful ! Very nice work . I would really like to have the pattern for the whole thing if someone could help me get this I would greatfully appreciate it .
Chris Scholten says
Hi!! I was just looking for the same thing as you,…….the “whole pattern”. Did you ever manage to get it?? I suppose I could go and search for each of the , what is it,…??…52 squares total?? I’m sure it would take some time. I just thot I’d take a chance and see if you had any luck with finding ALL of it.
Please let me know—either way, if you don’t mind. I know this is an old post, but at least it’s worth a try!! Thanx and I hope to hear from you soon~
Chris*
Grand Haven, MI
Dedri Uys says
Unfortunately, there is no ‘whole pattern’ as the CAL was created by following patterns from multiple designers and posting a complete pattern pamphlet would have been in breach of copyright law. If you find it tiresome to work through all the patterns on a per-pattern basis, you might find something like the gorgeous Demelza blanket more to your taste :) Good luck and happy crocheting!
Dedri.
Charne Gooch says
Betty blanket turned out stunning! Looking forward to seeing yours done too!
Laurine says
They are both just gorgeous. I have almost finished my Sophie’s Garden but had to out it aside to finish Christmas gifts. I just love all the beautiful colors and can’t wait to get the blocks done and finish it. Hopefully by the time the 2015 CAL starts lol
Pat says
Betty’s Blanket is simply exquisite–your workmanship is definitely a labor of love. I can’t wait to finish mine–hope mine turns out as nice. (I’ve had so many interruptions and now Christmas gifts to finish.) Best wishes during this holiday season.
Johanna says
I am sure everybody in the family want one. You’ve done a good job!!!!
marla says
Wow, that is beautiful. Can’t wait to see your finished.
Dedri Uys says
Thank you, Marla. I can’t wait to finish it…but I’m afraid I must…