Introduction guide to the Dia de los Muertos CAL…

This is the page where you will find all the information you need to know before we start the Dia de Los Muertos CAL. There are PDF files where all information is written down and which are ready to download at the bottom of this page. But, I also will write down the most important things to this CAL on this page to also read through if the PDF file isn’t clear enough.

Materials needed :

For this pattern you will need the basic materials like scissors, a sewing needle and stitch markers. Some materials for blocking at the end of the CAL are also useful as the pattern really needs to be blocked once finished.

In the pattern you will use two sizes crochet hooks. As I used Scheepjes Catona for this pattern I used a 2.0mm hooksize and a 3.0mm hooksize. We will refer to these as the smaller and bigger size hook in the patterns. But, if you decide to take another type or weight of yarn, decide which size hook you will crochet the yarn with. This will be your biggest size hook. But, for the skulls we need a smaller size hook and always take a full size down for the smallest hook. So when you decide to take DK yarntype with crochet hook size 4.0mm – take a 3.0mm hooksize for the smaller one. Please take this information serious otherwise the skulls won’t fit into your pattern once applied.

Yarn needed :

For this pattern I used Scheepjes Catona. This is a regular mercerized cotton which consists out of 100 % mercerized cotton. This is a regular yarn type which many brands offer besides Scheepjes. Fun thing about Scheepjes Catona is the wide range of colors available and if you need a small amount of it, they also have little balls of 10 grams and 25 grams. Regular balls of Scheepjes Catona are 50 grams with a length of 125 meters (138 yards). For this pattern I used 8 colors which are named under here with the required amounts for them. Feel free to change colors or yarn, but the amounts named are only for mercerized cotton type yarns. Also take notice that this is the list of color abbreviations named in the pattern itself and amounts named always have some spare grams to avoid shortage.

Abbreviation:	Color:	Colorway used:	Grams needed:
Color A:	White	105 Bridal White	80 grams
Color B:	Black	110 Jet Black	135 grams
Color C:	Green	512 Lime	15 grams
Color D:	Yellow	208 Yellow Gold	25 grams
Color E:	Light blue	397 Cyan	20 grams
Color F:	Pink	251 Garden Rose	25 grams
Color G:	Purple	508 Deep Amethyst	20 grams
Color H:	Sand/Camel	179 Topaz	25 grams

If you find it hard to decide which colors to use or where to get yarn, here are some yarn suppliers which sells complete kits for this CAL or yarns used.( some stores put up their kit later on August 28th so just visit them a few hours later if they don’t have it online yet) :

• Caro’s Atelier – a Dutch webshop which sells complete kits for this CAL or Scheepjes Catona if you want to pick your own colors. Here is the link to CAL kit.
• Pera & Pasha – a Dutch webshop which sells complete kits for this CAL or sells Scheepjes Catona or Mr. Cey cotton if you want to pick your own colors. Here is the link to the CAL kit.
• LittleBugz – a Danish webshop which sells complete kits for this CAL. Here is the link to the shop.
• Dot’s Yarn Den – the Scheepjes yarns dealer in the U.S. I am so happy to announce this webshop will have kits available with some special extra’s as well. Here is a link to the webshop.
• Woolwarehouse – for all over the world I would suggest you could shop your Scheepjes Catona order here. They offer really good shipping costs over the entire world. Here is the link to the webshop.
• For all UK customers there is now also Mademe who sells kits for this CAL. Here is the links to the kits.

Above suggestions are selected carefully. If there might be problems with kit or yarn deliveries or any other things involving orders…please contact the store you buy at and not me. I am only giving some options here.

Finished Size of the project :

The finished size of the project will have a diameter of 65 cm / 25,5 inches

Timeline :

The timeline for this crochet-a-long will be:

Introduction of the CAL – from August 28th up til October 4^th 2020

Release of Part 1 – Central Flowers – Sunday October 4^th 2020

Release of Part 2 – Black and White (including crocheting skulls) – Sunday October 11^th 2020

Release of Part 3 – Skull joining and start of flower crowns – Sunday October 18^th 2020

Release of Part 4 – Finishing flower crowns, the border and decorating skulls – Sunday October 25^th  2020

Every Sunday in October I will post a part of this CAL; however, I do not mention a time. I will try to post the new part as early as possible on European time zone, but if for some reason there might be a delay on the day of release in a week, you don’t panic out by missing it. Of course, I will announce it when I uploaded a new part. This will be done through my website and I will send out an update on Ravelry each week. Also on my social media I will make posts about it. Within the time range of this CAL you can finish your Día de los Muertos right on time for this year’s celebration on November 2^nd 2020. After the CAL patterns will still be available for free and stay this way.

So to be clear, up til October 4th the Introduction guides are available, from the 4th of October a new part will be uploaded in a time range of four weeks.

Skill level :

The skill level for this pattern will be intermediate. A beginner would not handle this pattern as there is a lot if detail, stitch work and techniques in it. Please check out the stitches used under here to see if you know them and if you do you safely can join. There will be more then hundred photos to guide you along your way and I made clear instructions. If anyone joined my last CAL, they would know it is very detailed.

Languages available :

I’m happy to announce there are several languages available for this mini-CAL. All thanks to my own translating skills but also by many others. At the moment we have a English, Dutch, Spanish, German, Danish and Swedish version available for everyone who wants to join. Maybe more languages will be added. If so, I will make announcements for them but this is always up to my translators team. Saying this, the Swedish introduction guide to this pattern will be a few days later due some delay.

Help :

You might need some help during the CAL. Please take notice there is NO Facebook group for this CAL. Due events out of the past I am not hosting any groups anymore and I don’t have the time for it. This doesn’t mean any Facebook groups who like to take up the CAL into a topic aren’t allowed. Feel free. Also try to help each other during the CAL as I can’t always answer as fast and much as I want due a dayjob and time difference. You can always send me a private message on social media of you have a problem, but be patient for my answer. The pattern is build up with very detailed written instructions and over more then 100 photos to guide you. All who joined in the Spice Market CAL before might already know how detailed I can be. There will be no videos for this CAL due the fact I am a lefthanded crocheter. Charts are only available for the skull.

I have made a statement as due personal matters I no longer can’t provide personal help for this CAL. You can read all about it here.

Stitch use and Notes :

Stitches used in the pattern can be found in the introduction guide. Read them through as they also may decide if the stitches are in your skill level or not. Besides that the introduction guide holds a lot of notes about the actual pattern. Keep them besides the pattern once we start as this introduction guide will be your companion along the parts.

Commercial use of the CAL :

I can understand a yarn shop wants to benefit out of this CAL by selling some yarn for it. So, it is free to make a kit or offer yarn for this CAL in your shop without having to ask my permission. This doesn’t mean you can put up the pattern parts in your shop as they stay under my copyright on my website. Feel free to be creative and select color packs for the CAL in own colorways or stick to the traditional colors. Also offering other brands are allowed and feel free to do as you like.

Crochet a test Skull :

In the introduction guide you will find a test skull pattern. This skull you can crochet as a kick-off to this CAL. And for the clever ones out there, yes it is one of the nine skulls needed. You can decide to crochet all nine already but I really don’t advice it. Why ? You crochet the other skulls in Part 2 of the pattern and you would reduce the second week of the CAL to a minimum of work.

Crocheting the test skull is also a thing that can deliver size differences. If you pick Scheepjes Catona you can see the size guidelines, but if you decide to take different yarn and weights it is up to you what it will become. But take the crochet hook size story in mind. If you would chose a DK yarn with a regular hooksize of 4.0mm, you have to take a 3.0mm for this skull. Always take a full crochet hook size down for the skulls in the same yarn, even if stitches get tight. This is meant to and make your skulls fit into the pattern later on.

Crocheting a piece without skulls :

If you aren’t a big fan of skulls which is a possibility, there is also the suggestion to make it without them. My tester Tineke Tap isn’t a big skull fan which was actually perfect as she wanted to test the pattern without them. She just ignored the attachment directions in the pattern and made basic stitches at the Round with a result that was so stunning. She decided to use the empty places where the skulls had been for someprecious items with personal reasons. But you could also simply crochet nine big flowers to fill these spaces. As you can see the options are endless !

Testers and translators :

With my wonderful team of crocheters and translators I can’t host this CAL in many languages and with a confident heart for any errata’s. So a big shout out to my translators : Julia Veloso, Christina Berberich, Anja Hoberg and Anette Hakansson. And a big thanks to my testers : Tineke Tap, Wendy de Vries, Maria Torres. And a special thanks to Elzbieta Sroczynska for making a chart for the skull.

And now it is time for the introduction guides. Pick your language under here and download the file. Keep the file besides the actual pattern parts in October as it also will explain you all about the pattern itself once we go. If you like to save the CAL pattern into your Ravelry library, click here.

So far the introduction to the CAL. Hopefully you still join us after this introduction and I will see you on October 4th 2020 for the first out of four parts of this mini-CAL.