Henry’s Designer Heirloom CAL by Jessica Wifall

Oooh, I am so pleased to share this exciting CAL with you!  So very excited, in fact, that I can’t actually verbalise any of the feelings this blanket quickens in my soul.  Allow me to introduce:  Baby Henry’s Designer Heirloom Blanket by Jessica Wifall.

My first conversation with Jessica came about when she shared a photo of this gorgeous blanket at the beginning of 2017.  It was such a stunning marriage of existing patterns that I just couldn’t stop looking at it (and her cute then-baby Henry).

I reached out to her and asked if I could share her photo on my Facebook page and she agreed.  During that conversation, she told me that she, too, had been taught to crochet by her grandma and that she, too, had stopped crocheting for several years.  I was thrilled to learn that the Block a Week CAL 2014 and Sophie’s Universe (2015) had helped her get back into crochet.  It gave me such a huge kick to imagine that I had helped, in some small way, to birth this stunning blanket.

Information

In 2017, the CAL – Crochet A Long group approached Jessica about releasing her instructions/modifications for the blanket as a CAL, and the very long journey of permissions, writing, testing, editing, and photography started.  Two years later, the CAL is finally ready to be shared with the world and will start with Part 1 on the 1st of August 2019.  It will run for 16 weeks, with parts being released weekly on a Thursday.

Although this blanket is Jessica’s brain-child, she has used elements from three well-know patterns.  Honouring the designers’ copyright, she will not be sharing step-by-step instructions for those parts, but rather instructions on how to adapt and marry the existing patterns in order to create your own Henry.

Two of the three patterns she used are paid-for patterns and will, therefore, need to be purchased prior to embarking on this CAL (please see ‘Patterns’ below).

Resources

• Facebook: Join the CAL – Crochet A Long group, who will be hosting this CAL, for moral and technical support
• Ravelry:  Add this pattern to your Ravelry Queue (or follow along on the CAL – Crochet-along blog)
• Instagram:  If you share photos of your Henrys, please use #babyhenrysdesignerheirloom so that we can all find them and gush :)

Pattern

As already mentioned, two of the three incorporated patterns are paid-for patterns and will need to be purchased.  You will find the links to all three patterns below.

Incorporated Patterns:

• Mandala No 6 by CAROcreated design (Paid)
• Dandelion Border by Tatsiana Kupryianchyk from Lila Björn (Paid)
• Sophie’s Universe Part 4 by me (Free)

Size

Using the suggested yarn and hook size, the blanket measures 114cm x 114cm (45″ x 45″).

Materials and Colourways

You can use any hook/yarn combination you fancy.  The size and yardage will depend entirely upon the thickness of your chosen yarn, the size of your chosen hook, and your own personal gauge.  The information in this post is based on the fact that Jessica used Scheepjes Catona for her original blanket.  As such, she used approximately 1450g/3625m of yarn (see below).

Please note that there are no official yarn packs for this CAL.  There are, however, three suggested colourways, which you will find listed below.

Yarn can be purchased from the following retailers:

• Wool Warehouse
• Black Sheep Wools
• Deramores
• More Scheepjes Retailers

1.  Henry’s Original Blanket

• 3mm crochet hook (I prefer Clover Amour hooks – you can read my review about them HERE)
• Scheepjes Catona, 100 % Cotton, 50g/125m/137yds
  • Jet Black (110) – 7 x 50g balls
  • Bridal White (105) – 5 x 50g balls
  • Champaign (248) – 4 x 50g balls
  • Dark Olive (387) – 4 x 50g balls
  • Light Silver (172) – 3 x 50g balls
  • Metal Grey (242) – 3 x 50g balls
  • Black Coffee (162) – 2 x 50g balls
  • Mercury (074) – 2 x 50g balls
  • Charcoal (393) – 2 x 50g balls
  • Anthracite (501) – 1 x 50g balls
  • Root Beer (157) – 1 x 50g balls
  • Caramel (506) – 1 x 50g balls

*Find Aran Weight equivalents in the Official Information Post HERE*

This is the colourway featured in the photos above.  It feels very old-worldy and puts me in mind of old maps, compasses, and spyglasses.  Here is a little close-up of one of the corner sections.

2.  Henry’s Voyage

• 3mm crochet hook (I prefer Clover Amour)
• Scheepjes Catona, 100 % Cotton, 50g/125m/137yds
  • Ultramarine (124) – 9 x 50g balls
  • Champaign (248) – 8 x 50g balls
  • Light Navy (164) – 8 x 50g balls
  • Dark Olive (387) – 6 x 50g balls

*Find Aran Weight equivalents in the Official Information Post HERE*

This version uses fewer colours but packs an equal punch.  This colourway reminds me of the cruise I went on in February and feels, to me, like the modern-day version of seafaring.

Sigh… look at those beautiful blues…

3.  Choose Your Own Adventure

You are, of course, welcome to choose your own colourway.  In fact, Jessica encourages it!  I wouldn’t mind seeing one in every colour of the rainbow myself… hint… hint…

I chose my original colours to look a bit like an old map because to me CAROcreated’s Mandala No. 6 looks like
a compass. It would make me very happy if when you make your own colorway you would give it travel or
location inspired colourway. For example; “Henry goes to Moab”, “Henry at the Farm”, or “Henry’s Safari”.

– Jessica Wifall

Timeline

The introduction/information post for this CAL has already been released and you can find it HERE on the CAL – Crochet-along blog or HERE on Ravelry (as a free PDF).

The parts will be released weekly on a Thursday, starting on the 1st of August 2019 and ending on the 14th of November 2019.

I hope that you enjoy every second of this journey and am thrilled that a little bit of Sophie will accompany you on this voyage.

Before you go, let me just show you a few more close-up photos.  Because they are gorgeous!!!

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You can find more information about Jessica and this wonderful design, gauge, difficulty, and copyright HERE on the CAL – Crochet-along blog.

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