Welcome to Week 1 of the Charlotte’s Universe CAL.  I have been waiting for this day for a VERY LONG time (and I know many of you have too).  I hope you have SO MUCH FUN!

This week, we will be making the large central square that I designed in 2016 for 67 Blankets for Mandela Day.  I know there are a fair few rounds to get through, but as the pattern for this square has been available on my blog for so long (and loads of people already have this square ready and waiting), I didn’t want to stretch this first bit out too much.  Don’t worry if you aren’t able to keep up this week.  This is not a race, and the bonus of being slightly behind the crowd is that you can get ideas and tips from what other people have already done.

The rest of the weeks will be much shorter.

Remember that you can get a lot of help from the Facebook and Ravelry Groups, so pop over to the information post and join those if you haven’t already.

Ps.  If you want to journey right back to when I first designed the square and how I felt about the yarn and the process (and Mr LAWIM’s input), I suggest reading ‘How the Square Came About‘ in the post I wrote when I first shared the square.

Information Post:  If you need any information about materials, sizes, colourways, etc, please see the Information Post HERE.

Special Stitches and Techniques:  If you need help with any of the Abbreviations or Special Stitches, please see the Special Stitches and Techniques Post HERE.

Official Colourways

There are three official colourways for this CAL:  Vintage and Sunshine (Scheepjes Softfun), and Pink Charlie (Whirl/Whirlette).

Colours Per Round

Vintage and Sunshine

As you work through the pattern, you will see that there is a colour reference next to each round title {for example, Round 1 (Colour A)}.  These colour references refer to the original (Vintage) colourway and the Sunshine colourway.  You should follow this colour placement if you are using 3 colours to obtain a similar look to Vintage and Sunshine Charlotte.

Tip for Vintage Charlotte:  If you want your central flower to stand out against a light background, choose a ball of Colour A that starts on the light side.  Colour A ranges from very light to medium grey.  If you start with a length of Colour A that leans towards medium grey, your central square might end up the same colour as your Part 2 triangles, giving you less contrast.

Pink Charlie

If you are using a colour-change yarn as the Main Colour, you should disregard the colour references listed for each round and follow the Colours Per Round for Pink Charlie below.

Part 1 – Small Square

• Round 1 – B
• Round 2 – B
• Round 3  – A (starting from the Inside of the Whirl)
• Round 4 – A
• Round 5 – B
• Round 6 – A
• Round 7 – A
• Round 8 – B
• Round 9 – A
• Round 10 – B
• Round 11 – A
• Round 12 – B
• Round 13 – B
• Round 14 – B
• Round 15 – B
• Round 16 – C
• Round 17 – C
• Round 18 – B

Part 2 – Triangles

All rounds using colour A

Part 3 – Banksia Border

• Round 29 – A
• Round 30 – C
• Round 31 – B
• Round 32 – B
• Round 33 – B
• Round 34 – B
• Round 35 – B
• Round 36 – B

Bonus Colourways

My biggest focus for this CAL is that it be organic and joyful.  Since announcing the CAL, I’ve seen so many gorgeous colourways and different yarn weights.  Some of them immediately made me go ‘Oooooh, I’ve always wondered what Charlotte would look like in THAT.  I want to feature it.  Will you make it if I send you the pattern, like, right now?  May I share it??’

So as the CAL progresses, I may add extra colourways, each with its own information page and colours-per-round.  I will be updating the colours per round and photos for those weekly as the CAL progresses.  These blankets have not been completed yet, so I won’t be able to give you exact yardages, but my maths skills are epic (and by that, I mean that I’ve built a great spreadsheet over the years that does the maths for me), so wherever possible, I will give you a very good estimate.  What is important to me about sharing these is that it gives you more information on how different yarn weights will work.  And the more information we have on different yarn weights and compositions, the better, right?

• Sunflower Charlotte – Michael Wassenaar (Chunky Monkey)
• Space for Grace – Sabi Bulla (Skies Light)
• Latte With Love – Jenny Lowman (Scheepjes Softfun)

Esther Dijkstra will be sharing her Scheepjes Stonewashed Colours Per Round HERE.

Translations

• Dutch Information and Links by Dianne Baan
• German Translation – by Sabi Bulla and Silke Schippa-Witte
• Hebrew Translation by Michal Ben-Hur, Iris Fait, Tami Sultan Nudelman, Tali Shchori, and Sarit Grinberg
• Japanese Information and Links by Masako Kawahara
• Swedish Information and Links by Åza Karlsson and Ulrika Larsson

Instructions

To create the Large Charlotte Square that will form the centre of the blanket, please follow Parts 1 – 3 of the Large Charlotte Square below (now updated with charts), remembering to use the colours per round for your specific colourway or desired look, and following the gauge supplied in the Information Post for the CAL.

Esther will be releasing the updated Part 1, 2, and 3 videos over the next week, with Part 1 being available today.

• Charlotte’s Universe Part 1 – Charlotte Large Crochet Square Part 1
• Charlotte’s Universe Part 2 – Charlotte Large Crochet Square Part 2
• Charlotte’s Universe Part 3 – Charlotte Large Crochet Square Part 3

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in either of the groups.

Oooh, I hope you enjoy this one!!!  And please share your stories and photos as you go x

This blog post contains affiliate links. I only link to products I personally use or would use.  All opinions are my own.