Meet the Testers

I was blessed with a team of very talented testers from around the globe.  I cannot thank them enough for all the hard work, wisdom, and patience that they have given me during the testing stage of this CAL.  They’ve spent countless hours giving me feedback and encouragement as well as (sadly) many hours frogging due to my errors.  (Any errors remaining in the pattern are all my fault.)

I would LOVE all the world to meet some of these wonderful women and their center squares!

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Ann

Hi guys, Ann here. I’m one of the original admins from CAL – Crochet Along group and I am loving this CAL. Love all kinds of craft but wasn’t until mid last year that I decided I wanted to learn to crochet – and I have been ‘hooked’ ever since. Orginally from Ireland my home is now Queensland Australia. I chose Spiralling into Spring by Margaret MacInnis as it reminds me of a baseball.  It does, doesn’t it. Hope you guys have as much fun as I have doing this, the instructions are well written and Chichi has created a beautiful piece.

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Esther

My name is Esther and you may know me from my blog It’s All in a Nutshell. I live in The Netherlands where I juggle my full time job, my family with my two boys, and MyVegi garden along with my favorite hobby which is to crochet. I have been crocheting for about two years now, but I have been making yarn crafts since I was 8 years old. During this Around the Bases CAL I will be making English video tutorials accompanying the weekly patterns as well as a written Dutch translation of the original pattern. Both you can find on my blog It’s All in a Nutshell.

I used week 8 of the Scheepjes CAL 2014 for my center square. This square is designed by the late Wink from A Creative Being. To get to 40 stitches I adapted the last round of the square by adding 1 stitch to the corner stitch. I replaced the corner [2dc, ch2, 2dc] with [3dc, ch2, 2dc] on the last round.

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Margaret

After retiring from the YMCA two years ago, Margaret was eager to get back to doing the things she loves…gardening, quilting and CROCHETING! She has been crocheting since she was a child, having learned from an aunt who was visiting from Germany. After learning the basics she continued to learn new stitches and by age 16 was designing her own patterns. These days, you’ll typically find her sitting on the dock of her lake house in northern Wisconsin, hook and yarn in hand, crocheting gifts for family and friends.

This is the More V’s Please square. I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Yarn (worsted weight) with a size J/6mm hook. I intended to use an I but wasn’t wearing my glasses and grabbed the J instead! I ended up with 44 stitches per side so I added one more row of hdc for a total stitch count of 46…perfect! My square measures at 14 inches. Colors are mustard, beige, pink rose, olive, dusty purple, purple and teal.

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Lynnette

I’m usually called Lynn and I’m definitely a yarn fan in its many guises. I have found solace and peace in yarn crafts through troubled health times. I started out with tapestry & cross stitch kits when I was quite disabled with my legs. When my neck worsened I took up knitting but found it often too slow. So I went back to my deep childhood memories of crocheting with a dear nun at school in Malta, where I grew up who patiently taught me every morning at the convent door. I rekindled my love for the great granny square & now a whole new world has opened up to me. I am excited by all the possibilities & wake up eager to get to the many WIPs & buzzing ideas in my head!

Now living in the UK I use UK terminology in all my projects, so I was very happy to share ChiChi’s fabulous ATB CAL patterns transcribed in UK terms. I do hope it helps.

My centre square is Sophie’s Garden by the wonderful & generous Dedri Uys. I’m so excited as these 2 patterns work in harmony together & this is also my first Sophie, making this whole CAL super special to me. Having Esther Dijkstra‘s videos to help us along makes this whole experience a dream one! Crochet is my happy place. Crochet has expanded my world immensely & I have been blessed with so many worldwide fellow crochet fans – my new family who get this crochet bug too! My crochet is my never-ending daily adventure! Enjoy the ride friends!