Spring 2017 CAL - Sargassum shawl - Getting started

It's finally Spring! Time to put away the cold weather wear, and make something light and lacy. In this crochet-along (CAL), we'll be making the Sargassum shawl. I designed this shawl specifically for a Florida vacation earlier this year. The color of the green yarn (which was in my stash) reminded me of the seaweed on the beach, and it just grew from there.

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Sponsors / Prizes | Social Media | Getting Started | Schedule | Giveaway | Photo gallery / Link up

Support our Sponsors:

What would a CAL be without prizes? We have a couple of great prizes to win from our generous sponsors. Please take a moment to visit their websites and check out their other offerings! You will find the giveaway entry form at the bottom of this post.

Knitters Pride is giving away one set of their Waves crochet hooks. This set contains 9 hooks in sizes from C (2.75mm) to J (6mm). The hooks have soft but sturdy grips in a rainbow of colors, and come in a faux leather case which zips closed. Take a look at all the other great products and accessories Knitters Pride has to offer too!

One set only, colors may vary. 

Karen Whooley is offering a Ravelry e-book copy of her latest book - A Garden of Shawls. If you like this CAL project, you'll love the shawls in this book! Read my full review for more details. Karen is a prolific designer, teacher, and CGOA member. On her website you can find her many other patterns, books, and publications.

Bead Biz is providing a fantastic "Summer Greens" sampler kit! It includes 5 tubes (approx. 25 g each) of 6/0 Czech glass seed beads. The beads I used for my shawl were from this same kit - specifically I used the Silver-lined Emerald Matte AB, and the Evergreen Mix colors. the other colors included are Light Olive Sol Gel, Transparent Pale Green, and Green Iris. Looking for something different? They offer a fabulous selection of beads in dozens of colors, and other shapes and sizes too. Bead biz has given us a special coupon code just for this CAL - use the code CGOACAL when you check out for a 10% discount!

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Join us on Social Media

A CAL us much more fun when we all connect and share our progress! Join us on this Ravelry forum thread and/or in the Facebook Group. If you're posting about this CAL on social media, please use the hashtag #CGOACals so we can all see what you post.

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Getting started:

Are you ready to get started? Here is the Sargassum pattern. The pattern is being released in sections as we go along - see the full schedule below. Today's section has the materials list, gauge, special stitches, and links to recommended tutorials. A few notes:

Beads: 

The beads are optional, but I do highly recommend adding them. They are not all that visible in the photos, but they sparkle beautifully when they catch the sunlight. They also add a really nice weight to the shawl.

Gauge:

Be sure to block your gauge swatch before measuring it. I used cotton yarn, and that's what I recommend. Bamboo would be a nice alternative as well. You can substitute other yarns, but you may need to adjust the sizing. Cotton stretches more when it blocks than some other fibers, so your shawl may end up smaller in another yarn.

Recommended Resources:

We're going to be using a lot of different techniques in this project. If any of them look unfamiliar to you, take some time now to review the tutorials. We'll go through them together as we get to them, and there will be easier alternatives available for most of them as well.

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CAL Schedule:

Links will be updated as they become available

• April 4th: Getting started (this post)
• April 11th: Bottom border
• April 18th: Main sections 1 & 2
• April 25th: Main section 3
• May 2nd: Main section 4
• May 9th: Top border and edging
• May 16th: Wrap up post (extra week to catch up)
• May 22nd: Giveaway deadline (11:59pm, central standard time). Winner to be announced the next day. 

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Giveaway:

We have 3 prizes for 3 separate winners, all of which will be awarded at the end of the event. Please note the Knitters Pride Wave crochet hooks prize are available to ship anywhere worldwide. The Bead Biz Sampler Kit prize can be shipped to an address in the contiguous US for free, but can be shipped elsewhere as well if the winner pays a shipping fee. The Garden of Shawls ebook will be sent electronically, through Ravelry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Link-Up / Photo Gallery: 

Share your project and WIP photos with us, and earn a bonus giveaway entry! Photos / links should be of this shawl pattern only please.

For your photo to count as a giveaway entry, you must: 1) Add at least one link or photo of your shawl to this linkup. 2) Go to the Rafflecopter giveaway form above and fill in the "share a photo" entry option with the email address you used on your link-up entry.  If you don't do both, you will not get credit for the entry!  

An InLinkz Link-up

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