I have finished joining all 48 squares for the Block a Week CAL 2014 into 12 Foursquares (that is 12 large squares each containing 4 of the CAL squares).

You can read a bit more about my decision to make Foursquares HERE and you can find out how I did it HERE.  Next week I will join these Foursquares to make my blanket, and then I will add a border.  I’m still deciding if I want to go fabulously flowery or simple and sleek.

Betty Beyers, who has been participating in the CAL, has already finished her blanket  – in the same colours as my blanket (well, 95% the same), but a different layout.  She has kindly agreed to let me share her blanket with you (it’s gorgeous!!!) and you can find that HERE.  She has written down the pattern she used for her border, and I will be sharing that with you on Sunday (it’s gorgeous too!!!).  Betty has also kept a record of how much of each yarn we have used (watch this space), so there are lots of things we need to thank Betty for!

Foursquares

I didn’t think about joining the squares in fours until we were well past the half-way mark with the CAL, so I have had to go back and change the last rounds on a few squares (3, I think) so that I could end up with groups of 4 squares that had the same colour in the last round.

Dc Round

I then bordered my Foursquares with the same colour as the last rounds, using double crochet stitches – see this tutorial.

Because I added optional rounds to get the squares to more or less the same final-round stitch count, I ended up with more or less 42 st’s per CAL square, which gave me 90 stitches per side for each Foursquare:

• 2 stitches in the first ch-2 corner space
• 42 stitches along the side of the first CAL square (adding or skipping as needed)
• 1 stitch in the “inside ch-2 corner space of the first square
• 1 stitch in the “inside ch-2 corner space of the second square
• 42 stitches along the side of the second CAL square (adding or skipping as needed)
• 2 stitches in the next ch-2 corner space

At the end of this dc round the stitch count for each Foursquare was 360 dc and 4 ch-2 corner spaces  {90 sts per side}.

Once the Foursquares were all done I bordered them with a simple back post hdc round in Violet (Stylecraft Special Dk).

Back Post Hdc Border

Join your yarn by making a standing half-double crochet in any corner space around.  (Hdc, ch 2, 2 hdc) in the same corner space.  *Make a bphdc (back post hdc) in each stitch across.  (2 hdc, ch 2, 2 hdc) in the next corner space.*  Repeat from * to * 3 more times, omitting the last corner on the last repeat.  Join to the first st with a sl st.  Fasten off and work away your tails of yarn.

Stitch count in my case:  376 bphdc’s and 4 ch-2 corner spaces  {94 st’s per side}

Below you will find photos of each of my Foursquares, as well as a list of the squares I used to make each particular Foursquare.  I have included which joins I used (in case you are interested), but there was no rhyme or reason to what I used.  I was deciding which join I would use and never got around to frogging and re-doing the ones I didn’t end up using.  I figured I might as well keep them for “educational purposes”.

1  First Sherbet

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Wrong Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 1: Odyssey
• Week 17: Winter Rose
• Week 35: Peppermint Mocha Frappe
• Week 36: Frostbloom

2  First Turquoise

Join:  Completely Flat Zipper Join

Squares:

• Week 4: Basket of Berries
• Week 15: More V’s Please
• Week 16: Lace Petals Square
• Week 22: Crown Jewels

3  First Meadow

Join:  Sl st Join

Squares:

• Week 6: Blooming Lace
• Week 11: Wish Upon a Star
• Week 28: Katharine’s Rose
• Week 37: Prince Protea Square

4  Magenta

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 9: Never Ending Love
• Week 21: Winter Dream
• Week 23: See How They Run
• Week 24: Grandma’s Heart

5  First Saffron

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 7: Eight Pointed Flower
• Week 10: Butterfly Garden
• Week 20: Mandala Square
• Week 26: Firenze  (No Longer a Free Pattern)

6  Second Saffron

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 14: Autumn Clusters
• Week 18: Kata
• Week 25: Addie Square
• Week 27: Dalliance

7  Second Sherbet

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 31: Water Lily (No Longer a Free Pattern)
• Week 32: Crocodile Flower (Optional Additional Round changed from Meadow to Sherbet)
• Week 41: Fountain of Roses
• Week 45: Purifying Puritans

8  Second Turquoise

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 30: Cygnus Square
• Week 34: Embracing Variety
• Week 39: Easter Day Square
• Week 40: Spring Fling

9  Lipstick

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 29: Anticipation Mystery Square
• Week 33: Flower Burst
• Bonus Block 1: Harlequin Shells
• Bonus Block 3: Princess Square

10  Second Meadow

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 12: Kaleidoscope Blossom
• Week 42: Super Sampler Square
• Week 43: Sadie Square
• Week 44: Flower Wreath Square

11  Clematis

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 2:  Popcorn Parade (Colours Changed in last few rounds – see tutorial)
• Week 5:  Starfire
• Week 13:  Veronica’s Rose
• Week 38:  May Pole Square

12  Pomegranate

Join:  (Sc, ch 1, skip 1) Join (With Right Sides Facing)

Squares:

• Week 3:  Starburst Flower Square
• Week 8:  Cocoa Puff
• Week 19:  Lemony Lime Citrus
• Bonus Block 2:  Posie Field

And there you have it!  Lots of larger squares that now need to become a blanket.

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