The hint: a movement of it can cause a storm at the other side of the world I love butterflies. I find them so beautiful. And I like it how the change from caterpillar to butterfly is often used for the transformation of people, their behavior, their life. Without going into details I could tell you about that myself. Big steps in my life resulted in great changes. In the hint I was talking about ‘The Butterfly Effect’. When a butterfly is flapping its wings, it could cause a storm a couple of days later elsewhere on this planet. Not really of course, but it’sRead More →

Looks like cars, don’t you think so? It’s always a bit subjective with these small patterns, but my first thought really was little cars 🙂 . On a 4-lane way, in a traffic jam. I always have to think of that crazy Dutch song of Andre van Duin  🙂 . For the ones who do not know this: here is the video. Could be something that’s from before your time of course, but it’s still funny 🙂 . There was a lot of guessing again on facebook , and some guessed it right of course 🙂 . Did you see the back by the way?Read More →

The little fishies It was a bit exciting last week:  would you like the first part of the mystery-part of the HAL CAL? Apparently you did 🙂 . Thank goodness 🙂 . Phew! So I was very glad with your reactions!  This week diamonds There was some guessing of course what it would be this week, and the hint was quite obvious this time 🙂 . Drop the name ‘James Bond’, and then it’s clear of course. But please keep guessing the next weeks, because it really makes me smile. My husband asks me why I’m grinning when I read your guesses, well, that’s whyRead More →

It was quite funny, on Facebook there was quite some guessing what the ‘theme’ of the next part of the HAL CAL would be, and there were a couple of ladies that guessed it right 🙂 . Little fishies! In all it’s simplicity I found it so cute, that I wanted it to be in the blanket. So I did! I’m very curious about what you think the next part will be 🙂 . The sunshine Last week the suns were released, and it was very nice again to see the pictures of your work. I’m most of the time very positively pleased with yourRead More →

Yesterday was a grey day here, with rain, and grey clouds, and the temperature went down. Crocheting a blanket is just a nice thing to do then. The blanket has reached a length now that it lays nice and warm on your lap while working on it. And if you’re like me and don’t like the cold, this is not quite a punishment, don’t you agree? 🙂 This week we will provide for some sunshine ourselves. We will crochet sunshine! When you’ve come to this part, the interwoven or locking crochet technique should be something that you manage quite easily I assume, so that won’tRead More →

Mailboxes??? Well, that was the first thing that popped up in my mind. You will probably know, the opening in the door where the mail comes in (in Dutch houses). Maybe you will see something totally different when you see it, but I thought this was okay 🙂 🙂 🙂 .  About the name so far. It is a nice and simple pattern again, just like last week, so you don’t need the stitchmarkers. Next week we will have a pattern with more counting, and that will be a real  figurative pattern. You can see it on the facebook group picture for the HAL CAL,Read More →

Index Part 1, Intro and making central pattern wider: click here to go to that page Part 2, Making the central pattern smaller: that’s this page Part 3, Widen the borders: click here Part 2: Removing squares from the central part For the removal of squares from the central part you apply the same technique. You will leave the first and last 6 stitches of the pattern intact. After that you delete the same number of stitches on both sides right on the inside. I elaborated on 2 examples for deleting 1 square on both sides or 2 squares.  Part 3: Making the borders wider ForRead More →

The hearts It was so nice again to see that you picked up the hearts of the previous part of the HAL CAL so well, despite the fact it needed a lot more counting than the patterns before that. But you were totally ready for it! The first 3 parts asked quite some concentrating still to master the technique better and better, but it just went great! Of those who showed their progress on the facebook group it was also nice to see how their color choices worked out.  Not everyone was charmed by the hearts, and that’s totally okay.  We do not all loveRead More →

This probably is the most romantic part of this blanket: the hearts. I know some of you joined just because of this part 😀 . It maybe is also a challenge again. Not because it’s difficult, but just because you have to count more and keep your head with it. But it’s such a fun pattern to make. Frequently look to the frontside when working on the backside, because you will notice an error so much quicker there! I’ve added extra instructions with the pattern to help you keep on the right track with counting. So get your stitchmarkers already. Or some scrap threads, goodRead More →

Index Part 1, Intro and making central pattern wider: that’s this page Part 2, Making the central pattern smaller: click here to go to that page Part 3, Widen the borders: click here to go to that page Adapting the HAL CAL pattern: can it be done? I received the question of a couple of people if the pattern of the Hooked and Locked CAL could be made wider or smaller. At the introduction I said that you should keep to the number of stitches, because the pattern parts are made for that. But of course you can adapt it. It’s just not that IRead More →