Sharon Blignaut’s Crochet Block a Week CAL 2014: Your Complete Free Guide
If you have been crocheting for any length of time, you have probably heard of a crochet-along, often shortened to CAL. These community events bring yarn lovers together from all corners of the world, working through the same pattern at the same time, sharing progress photos, troubleshooting stitches, and cheering one another on. Among the many crochet-alongs that have captivated the online crafting community over the years, Sharon Blignaut’s Crochet Block a Week CAL 2014 holds a particularly special place. It was generous, beautifully designed, completely free, and built around a concept that felt both manageable and endlessly rewarding: one new crochet block every single week.
Whether you discovered this CAL during its original run or you are stumbling upon it now and wondering whether the patterns are still worth working through, this guide has everything you need to know. We will walk through what the crochet-along was all about, what made Sharon’s designs stand out, how to approach working the blocks yourself, what yarn and hook choices tend to work best, and how to bring all those finished squares together into a project you will treasure for years.
What Was the Crochet Block a Week CAL 2014?
Sharon Blignaut, a South African crochet designer with a gift for creating visually striking yet accessible patterns, launched her Crochet Block a Week crochet-along in 2014 as a free project for the crochet community. The premise was beautifully simple. Each week throughout the year, Sharon released a new block pattern on her blog. Participants would follow along, crocheting one block per week, so that by the end of the year they had a full collection of fifty-two unique blocks that could be joined into a large blanket or afghan.
What set this particular crochet-along apart from others was the range of techniques it covered. Some weeks introduced classic granny square variations. Other weeks brought textured stitch patterns, interlocking motifs, colorwork experiments, or delicate lace-style blocks. No two blocks in the series were alike, which meant that participants were constantly learning something new rather than repeating the same motif over and over. For beginners, the earlier blocks provided a welcoming introduction to working in the round and reading crochet patterns. For more experienced crocheters, the later and more complex blocks offered just enough of a challenge to keep things interesting.
The community aspect was enormous. Participants shared their progress on Ravelry, on Facebook groups dedicated to the CAL, and on personal blogs. The variety of color choices alone was staggering. The same block looked completely different worked in bold jewel tones versus soft pastels versus earthy neutrals, and seeing how other crafters interpreted each design was one of the great pleasures of participating.
Why These Blocks Are Still Worth Making Today
One of the most common questions people ask is whether a crochet-along from 2014 is still relevant. The answer, without hesitation, is yes. Crochet stitches do not go out of date. The techniques Sharon used in her block designs draw from the deep well of traditional crochet craft, which means they are just as satisfying to work today as they were when the CAL first launched.
There is also something genuinely appealing about working through a design collection that has already been tested by thousands of makers. The pattern instructions have been tried, questioned, clarified, and refined through years of community feedback. If you run into confusion on a particular step, the chances are very good that someone else encountered the same question years ago and found a solution that is now documented somewhere in the community archives.
Beyond the technical benefits, there is the matter of the finished object itself. A blanket made from fifty-two unique blocks is a remarkable thing. Each square holds its own character, its own combination of stitches and structure, and yet when they are all joined together they read as a unified whole. These are heirloom-quality projects, the kind of blankets that get passed down or gifted with deep meaning.
Getting Started: What You Need
Before you cast on your very first block, it helps to gather your materials thoughtfully. The good news is that Sharon designed these blocks to be relatively yarn-agnostic. While she often worked in a specific weight of yarn herself, the blocks translate well across different yarn weights as long as you stay consistent throughout your own project.
Yarn weight and fiber: Most people working through this CAL choose a double knitting weight or a worsted weight yarn, depending on how large they want the finished blanket to be. A heavier yarn creates a cozier, more substantial blanket with better drape for everyday use. A lighter yarn produces finer detail in each block and a more delicate finished fabric. As for fiber content, acrylic yarns are popular for their durability, washability, and wide color range. Cotton yarns give a beautiful stitch definition that makes the texture of each block pop. Wool and wool-blend yarns add warmth and a natural elasticity that many crocheters find easier to work with. The choice ultimately comes down to your budget, your intended use for the blanket, and your personal preference for how yarn feels in your hands.
Hook size: Match your hook to your yarn choice. If you are working in worsted weight, a 5mm hook is a good starting point. For double knitting weight, try a 4mm hook. That said, crochet tension varies enormously from person to person. If your blocks are coming out larger than the pattern suggests, go down a hook size. If they are coming out smaller and tighter than expected, go up. Consistency matters more than hitting any specific measurement, so it is worth taking the time to find the hook size that gives you even, relaxed stitches.
Other tools: A set of yarn needles for weaving in ends is essential, since each block generates at least a few ends that need to be secured. Stitch markers can be useful for keeping track of the beginning of rounds, particularly in the more complex blocks. A small notebook for jotting down your color choices week by week helps keep the project organized, especially if you are working in multiple colors and want to keep track of which combinations you used.
Working Through the Blocks: Practical Tips
If you are approaching this crochet-along as a complete project rather than following it week by week in real time, you have the advantage of being able to work at your own pace. Here are a few tips that make the process smoother.
Work in batches if you like variety. Some crocheters find it motivating to complete several blocks in a single weekend sitting session. Others prefer the meditative rhythm of working one block at a time over the course of a week. Neither approach is wrong. The goal is simply to keep moving forward.
Weave in ends as you go. It can be tempting to leave all the ends until you have finished every single block, but this creates an overwhelming finishing task at the end of the project. Getting into the habit of weaving in ends immediately after finishing each block keeps the project manageable and means you are always looking at a tidy stack of completed squares rather than a pile of loose ends.
Take photos of each block. Even a quick phone photo before you set a block aside creates a lovely record of your progress. Many crocheters find that looking back through these photos, watching the stack grow week by week, is one of the most satisfying parts of the whole experience.
Stay flexible with colors. You may have started with a firm color plan and find by block twenty that you want to change direction. That is completely fine. Some of the most beautiful finished blankets from this CAL are the ones where the maker clearly let themselves improvise, adding new colors as the mood struck them.
Choosing Your Color Palette
Color is where this crochet-along gives you the most creative freedom, and it is also where many people feel the most uncertain. With fifty-two blocks to fill, the question of how many colors to use and how to distribute them can feel overwhelming.
One popular approach is to choose a single cohesive color palette of around eight to twelve shades and work every block in some combination of those shades. This creates a blanket that feels harmonious even though each individual block is completely different in design. Earth tones work beautifully this way, as do soft gradient palettes moving from one color family to another.
Another approach is to use just two or three colors throughout the entire project. A classic combination like navy, cream, and a warm tan produces a timeless, almost Scandinavian aesthetic. Working every block in the same two colors means that the design variety between blocks really sings because the eye is not distracted by color variation.
A third approach, beloved by many who worked the original 2014 CAL, is to use a completely different set of colors for each block, essentially turning the project into a scrappy stash-buster. This is especially satisfying if you have a large collection of yarn already. No two blocks will look exactly alike, and the finished blanket has an exuberant, festive energy that is entirely its own.
Joining the Blocks
Once you have all fifty-two blocks crocheted and their ends woven in, the question of joining becomes the next creative decision. There are several methods worth considering.
The join-as-you-go method means that you attach each new block to the previous ones during the final round of crocheting. This eliminates a separate joining step entirely and can result in a very neat, integrated fabric. However, it requires planning your layout before you start crocheting, which may not suit everyone.
The flat slip stitch join is worked with right sides together and creates a subtle ridge on the right side of the blanket. When done in a contrasting color, this ridge becomes a graphic design element in its own right. When done in a matching color, it is almost invisible.
The flat single crochet join is worked with wrong sides together and creates a small raised line on the right side of the blanket. This tends to be a popular choice because the finished seam adds just a little texture and definition between the blocks, helping each one read clearly as an individual element within the larger whole.
The whip stitch join uses a yarn needle rather than a crochet hook and creates a flat, flexible seam that works particularly well with blocks that have a lot of texture, since it allows the join to lie flat without competing with the design of the block itself.
Whichever method you choose, working from a consistent layout plan will help. Lay your blocks out on a large flat surface, photograph the arrangement, and work from the photo as a reference as you join. This prevents the frustration of realizing halfway through joining that two similar-looking blocks ended up side by side.
Finishing With a Border
A well-chosen border brings the whole blanket together and gives it a polished, finished look. Sharon’s designs lend themselves to a variety of border treatments.
A simple round of single crochet followed by a round of reverse single crochet, sometimes called crab stitch, gives a neat, corded edge that works with any color palette. For a more decorative finish, a shell border or a picot border adds a delicate touch that complements the lacier blocks in the collection. For something bold, a wide border worked in a contrasting color can frame the whole piece like a painting.
Finding Sharon’s Original Patterns
Sharon Blignaut originally shared the CAL patterns on her blog, and many of the individual block patterns remain accessible through blog archives and community resources like Ravelry. If you encounter broken links while searching, the Ravelry project page for the CAL often contains notes from other participants, including links to saved or cached versions of the patterns, as well as photos of thousands of finished projects for inspiration.
Searching for each block by its week number alongside Sharon Blignaut’s name tends to turn up the relevant pattern page. The crochet community has also documented many of the blocks in community forums and stitch-along groups, so there are multiple paths back to each pattern even where original links have changed over the years.
A Project Worth Every Stitch
There is something deeply satisfying about a crochet project that asks you to slow down, to work through one thing at a time, and to trust that the individual pieces will eventually add up to something magnificent. Sharon Blignaut’s Crochet Block a Week CAL 2014 was built entirely on that philosophy. Week by week, block by block, it asked participants to show up, to learn a new technique, to make something beautiful with their hands, and to share that joy with a community of fellow makers.
Working through these blocks today, years after the original crochet-along ran its course, connects you to everyone who sat with yarn and hook and followed the same patterns before you. That is one of the quiet pleasures of crochet: the sense that you are participating in something larger than any single project, a living tradition of making that stretches back generations and continues to grow.
Whether you are planning to work all fifty-two blocks into a grand blanket, to pick and choose your favorites for smaller projects, or simply to explore a few of the techniques that caught your eye, Sharon’s designs offer something genuinely worth your time. Pick up your hook, choose your colors, and enjoy every single stitch of the journey.
