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The Moogly Crochet Along is now officially over 10 years long – and it’s a go for MooglyCAL2024! MooglyCAL2023 was yet another year full of amazing squares, fantastic designs, and wonderful crocheters all supporting each other. For the past month, we’ve been joining and edging our squares and weaving in all our ends (maybe. ahem). Now, it’s time to show off what we made in 2023, and plan MooglyCAL2024! In this post, you can see my finished 2023 afghan, see the colors I’ll be using for 2024, and get the schedule and information you need to join in for the coming year!
Disclaimer: Materials provided by Yarnspirations; this post includes affiliate links.
Finishing MooglyCAL2023
As always, we’ve had 24 amazing designs by 24 talented designers! Every year I learn a new tip, trick, stitch, or technique – usually a few! It’s such a joy to get to try all these patterns.
You can get the complete list of links to the squares on the post for Block 24! Or if you like to be able to see them all visually on one page, check out the MooglyCAL2023 Pinterest board!
And here’s my finished blanket! And in a true shocker that just goes to show you never know what 2023 will bring… ALL my ends are woven in! I forced myself to do it as I went, and I really appreciated past-me when it was time to finish the border.
For joining, I used the Tight Braid Join technique and the White yarn. Then I worked one border round with the White, working a sc in each st and 2 sc in each ch-2 space, with (sc, ch 2, sc) in each corner. For the second round of the border, I used Pewter and Light Gray to create a modified version of the border used in the Peppermint Swirl Pillow!
Here is how I adjusted this twisted crochet edging pattern to work on the straight edges:
With A, join to any st with sl st, ch 4. Remove hook and pull up the loop to make it larger so it will not unravel. Join B with sl st in next st. With B, ch 1. 1 sc in same sp as last sl st. Ch 4. *Make loop larger and remove hook. Insert hook back into A loop. Bring ch-4 over ch-4 of B just worked to front. Skip next st. 1 sc in next st. Ch 4. Remove hook from A and insert into B loop. With B, bring ch-4 over ch-4 worked in A to front. 1 sc in next dc. Ch 4. Rep from * around. Join each color with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.
This left just a little adjusting to at the corners – as I approached the corner space I would stop skipping stitches between the B sc and A sc, and I would work 2 of these sc sts in the corner ch sp. Easy peasy!
On to MooglyCAL 2024!
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I will be going Live on YouTube and the Moogly Facebook page on December 29 at 11 am Central time to talk it all out with you!
VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE WHEN FINISHED
How the MooglyCAL works
If 2024 will be your first MooglyCAL, then welcome and we’re so happy you’re here! This is a year-long crochet along, featuring 24 afghan squares or blocks, designed by 24 different professional crochet designers. It started in 2014, and has been getting better every year! Is it the longest-running online crochet-along ever? I think it just might be!
The squares are released every 2 weeks with a post on Moogly, where I share my notes, my version, and helpful links and tutorials. There is a link to the new square at the bottom of my notes, where you can get it directly from the designer!
You can make them all, or pick and choose, add extras – it’s up to you! There is nowhere you need to sign up to join, but there is a fantastic Facebook group for the CAL (lots of pattern help there!) and a MooglyCAL2024 Pinterest board you can follow if desired!
Want to Get Notifications?
Leave a comment on this blog post and check “Notify me of new posts by email” before you hit submit, and you’ll get an email any time there is a new post on Moogly. You can sign up for the free Moogly weekly newsletter at the top of this page – there’s always a link to the latest MooglyCAL post included!
The Yarn for MooglyCAL2024
This year I’ll once again be using Red Heart With Love – it’s my favorite for throws and blankets! But this year, I’ve tasked the designers with using their choice of With Love or Caron One Pound. Both are 4-Medium weight and are a good substitute for each other. And this way, they will have more colors to choose from – as do you!
This year, I decided to do some stash-busting! I’m going to go through my current collection of Red Heart With Love and create a beautiful rainbow. I’ll be using the White again for the last round of each square and to help unify all the designs. We’ll see how much is left at the end of the year!
Of course, you should pick your own colors – however few or many you want! If you want 12″ squares, make sure the yarn is a 4-Medium. If you prefer to use a DK or “3” weight yarn, the squares will likely be about 10″ square.
On average, a 12″ crochet square uses 150 yds of yarn. To make all 24 squares, plus have extra for joining and borders, I recommend purchasing 4420 yds of yarn total. How you distribute this is up to you! Some people use one color for the whole blanket, others a whole bunch, and some even just pull from stash making a crazy colored blanket! It’s up to you!
The Hook for MooglyCAL2024
For the hook, I will be using a Susan Bates US-J, 6.0 mm Twist and Lock hook for the Moogly Crochet Along, and all the designers will use the 6.0 mm hook of their preference. You can use a smaller hook if you tend to crochet loosely, or a larger hook if you tend to crochet tightly. But I do recommend that you use the same hook throughout the CAL, as that makes final joining easier, as your loops will be closer to the same size.
The Patterns for MooglyCAL2024
As always, there will be 24 new patterns by 24 fab designers! We have a lot of names from last year, but we always add a couple new ones as others drop out! They are a surprise (to you – not me, haha!) until the square is announced. They are all hand-picked by me, and they have promised that their CAL patterns will remain forever free. If they close down their blogs, then the patterns are to be uploaded to Ravelry.
If a pattern pops up that isn’t to your liking, feel free to skip it! You can go back to the previous years’ CALs and find a substitute you’d like to try or pick one of your own from the thousands of beautiful afghan squares out there. There is often a lot of inspiration for these in the Facebook Group! We are grateful to all the designers for their hard work and generosity!
The easiest way to visually browse past year’s patterns is via their Pinterest boards: MooglyCAL2023, MooglyCAL2022, MooglyCAL2021, MooglyCAL2020, MooglyCAL2019, MooglyCAL2018, MooglyCAL2017, MooglyCAL2016, and MooglyCAL2015. This year’s squares will be on a new board: MooglyCAL2024 Pinterest Board
PLEASE NOTE: The designers all hold individual copyrights for their patterns. They may choose to make videos of their patterns, and you can certainly request them from the designers. This year I *may* make some additional videos, but we have to play it by ear as each square is designed.
In addition, there are videos linked in the notes for specific stitches and techniques that may help you with the pattern.
In other words – you don’t have to already know how to read patterns to participate in this CAL, but you do need to be willing to learn how!
The Schedule for MooglyCAL2024
The squares are released every two weeks throughout the year, on Thursday mornings at 10am Central US time. We begin in January, and then the last square debuts one day early – the day before American Thanksgiving! (It’s a late Thanksgiving this year, heads up!)
This gives you a chance to grab the pattern before the holiday, and it gives you the entire month of December to join and edge your blanket. The joining and edging patterns are up to you, but there are lists of both on Moogly provided along with the CAL for inspiration.
Here is the MooglyCAL2024 Schedule:
January 11 and 25
February 8 and 22
March 7 and 21
April 4 and 18
May 2, 16, and 30
June 13 and 27
July 11 and 25
August 8 and 22
September 5 and 19
October 3, 17, and 31
November 14 and 27
What Can You Make with the MooglyCAL2024
What can you do with 24 afghan squares? CLICK HERE to see some fantastic possibilities! Here are the most common blanket options:
4 blocks x 6 blocks – 4′ x 6′ afghan
3 blocks x 4 blocks – 2 3′ x 4′ baby blankets
add an extra square – 5′ x 5′ afghan
How to Join the MooglyCAL2024!
So what do you need to do next? First, be sure to join the Facebook group and follow the Pinterest board if desired! Then, sign up for the newsletter and/or check the box and comment to make sure you don’t miss a square!
After that, it’s time to go get your yarn! If you choose a yarn that doesn’t have dye lots, you can purchase it as you go through the year. But most yarns you’ll want to get matching dye lots for, so I recommend buying it all at once if possible.
Finally, look for the first square to debut here on Moogly on January 11, 2023! I can’t wait to share it with you! As you make your squares, feel free to share photos in the Facebook group, or on social media – and don’t forget to use the tags #MooglyCAL2024, #mooglyblog and #yarnspo!
Thanks so much for crocheting along with me! I can’t wait to see all the beautiful blankets you crochet this year! You can follow Moogly on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tik Tok, and Instagram, and don’t forget to sign up for the free newsletter at the top of the page – every issue includes a link to the latest CAL square! Thank you to Yarnspirations for providing the materials for this crochet along.
