My 12 Days of Christmas CAL: Caffeine, Bobbins and a Partridge
The Stylecraft 12 Days of Christmas CAL (crochet-along) started today, and I’m in! I’ve wound all my colours onto bobbins, got the coffee on standby and picked up my crochet hook with the sort of confidence usually reserved for someone who knows what they’re doing.
I’m attempting intarsia crochet for the first time. So naturally, I’ve started with a Christmas blanket full of pictures and colour changes. Why ease yourself in when you can arrive with a partridge and an unreasonable amount of enthusiasm?
The lovely design behind my festive adventure
Before I get into my bobbin situation, credit where it’s due: the 12 Days of Christmas Blanket is designed by Helen Smith of Emkatcrochet, using Stylecraft Special DK. The beautiful design is Helen’s. The caffeine-fuelled commentary and tangled yarn? Those are very much mine.
Helen has taken the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas and turned each day into its own crochet picture, from the partridge in a pear tree through to the drummers drumming. There are 12 picture squares to make, featuring birds, people, musical instruments and all those little details that make you stop and say, “Oh, I HAVE to make that.”
Once the squares are finished, they’re framed, joined together and given a colourful border. It’s designed to become one of those special handmade blankets you bring out every Christmas. I love that idea. Future festive me is going to be delighted. Present-day me is trying to keep the yarn under control.
Joyful colours and very optimistic bobbins
The blanket comes in two colourways, Joyful and Traditional, bringing together gorgeous shades of Stylecraft Special DK. I’m working from Part 1 of the Joyful version, which covers days 1–3, and right now my attention is firmly on that first panel: A Partridge in a Pear Tree.
A Partridge in a Pear Tree, from Helen Smith of Emkatcrochet’s 12 Days of Christmas Blanket, using Stylecraft Special DK.
I started with all my colours neatly wound onto bobbins. Neatly! There was organisation. There was optimism. There was a brief, glorious moment when I thought I had this completely under control.
Then I started crocheting.
Helen, don’t lie to me!
The blanket uses a combination of tapestry and intarsia crochet, and this is my first go at intarsia. Armed with my caffeine-fuelled crochet hook, I’m giving it a proper go, but I do have one small question.
Helen, don’t lie to me! My colours are tangling! I would LOVE to know how yours didn’t!
Was there a secret bobbin briefing? Did yours sign an agreement to stay in their own lanes? Because mine appear to have decided that Christmas is all about togetherness, and they’re taking it far too literally.
The black yarn. I knew it.
And the culprit behind the chaos? The black yarn. I KNEW it would be trouble right from the beginning. There it was, wound onto its bobbin, looking perfectly innocent. I had my suspicions.
Now it’s causing chaos among the colours, and I’m sitting here with a caffeine-fuelled crochet hook and the deeply unsatisfying pleasure of being proved right. I’d rather have been wrong and untangled, frankly.
I set out to make a partridge in a pear tree. I was not expecting the supporting role to be played by a yarn spaghetti situation.
New technique, plenty to learn
Thankfully, Helen has created videos to accompany the CAL, including help with managing the different colours and the yarns attached to the work. There are also charts for each design to guide the colour changes row by row. So there is help available, which is reassuring when your bobbins are having a more active social life than you are.
Watch: 12 Days of Christmas CAL, Day 1 onwards
Watch 12 Days of Christmas CAL, Day 1 onwards on YouTube.
One reminder from the Part 1 instructions that I’m keeping in mind: always work the ch1 at the beginning of each row in the same colour as the first dc. I’ll be keeping Helen’s pattern notes and colour-changing guidance close by as I go.
Get your kit and crochet along with me
Fancy joining in? The 12 Days of Christmas CAL kits are available online and in store at Over The Hook. You can choose the Joyful CAL kit or the Traditional CAL kit and start your own festive blanket adventure.
I’m working on mine too, so if you can pop into the shop, bring your project and come and work on it with me! We can compare our partridges, cheer each other on and see whether your bobbins are behaving any better than mine. No pretending I’ve got it all mastered, we’ll be crocheting along together, tangles and all.
A Christmas heirloom, one panel at a time
For now, I’m at the beginning: first panel, first attempt at intarsia and plenty still to learn. I’m excited to see this little partridge take shape and watch the whole blanket grow over the course of the CAL.
A huge thank you to Helen Smith of Emkatcrochet for designing this festive project, and a nod to Stylecraft for the Special DK colours bringing it to life. I’ll take responsibility for any dramatic sighing coming from my corner.
Are you joining in too? I’d love to know which colourway you’ve chosen, how your first panel is coming along and, most importantly, whether your bobbins are behaving. If you’ve cracked the secret to keeping them from tangling, please share. Yours, caffeinated and cautiously festive, Adie.
