#FATW5 – Week 18 – EQUINOX – Crochet Along With Us!!!

Week 18 of #FATW5 is here! And what a lovely lacy square it is! Rachele Carmona of Cypress Textiles has done it yet again….. her amazing designs are true master pieces of texture while being pleasing to the eye every single time! (Its all that math that she uses in her designs…..) Yet they are made with common stitches…. placed in a manner to make the finished design look much harder then it truly is…. all while being elegant and easy at the same time.

Rachele is a TOP BLOGGER for allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com, and is also a member of the Scheepje’s bloggers group, as well as having several Affiliate links to yarn websites as marked with an asterisk throughout her blog articles.

She released her first book, The Art of Crochet Blankets in 2018 which is still available from many retailers including Barnes and Noble, Amazon and goodreads.com.

And a few words about Rachele, from Rachele herself:

I’m just a girl crocheting in Texas, with a hunky hubby, four bouncing kids, and three hyperactive fur-babies by my side. I grew up just outside of Houston, finished my BA in English, and then got married and started a career which I continued for over a decade. Then when my eldest started Kindergarten, I was able to drop everything and stay home with the kiddos. We live in a plain one-story with a plant-filled yard, complete with hammock. Living the quiet life and loving it!

Vibrant Vintage CAL (VVCAL) 2016

And here’s a tiny secret for you all….. Rachele’s designs are what got me started with Facebook crochet groups! Her stunning Vintage Vibrant CAL 2016 is the design that pulled me into the Facebook crochet world. I must say I have worked at creating almost every single one of Rachele’s designs….. but i always find myself pulled back to the VVCAL every single time I need to make a blanket for an important event.

Now…… let me also share a few things I have learned along my journey of Cypress Textiles designs……. Her style of pattern writing is a bit different to many others so if you haven’t created one of her designs before…… here are a few tips:

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read the pattern in it’s entirety so that you know what the stitches will be used for in the coming rounds, ie the long chains will “become” a part of the design in the later rounds

be sure to just trust the pattern…. it may not seem like it’s going to work….. but I promise IT WILL!!!! And it will be stunning……

My other favorite design by Rachele is the Dutch Rose, the hexagons, the stripes, the border, the….. well just allllllll of it! Lol

You can find many, many, many…. MANY more designs on the Pattern Shop Link and of course you can find even more in the Free Pattern Category Link. Be sure that you pop over and click on all the things. There are way too many amazing things for me to list them all….. or you would still be reading this blog article on Monday when the 3 extra rounds publish!

If you didn’t see the VVCAL 2020 when it started in April, you can of course still join in, it’s currently on Week 18 and still quite a long way to go….. and an added bonus this year to the VVCAL…… Rachele has made a complete compendium including ALL of the VVCAL patterns currently available to purchase (2016, 2018, 2020) in a huge bundle which can be found HERE ….

The eBook includes:

Over 100 VVCAL squares, all with the same final stitch count – mix and match!
9 Joining methods – Celtic Lace Join, Original, Junior, Mini, and Mini II / Whip st join / SC JAYG and Continuous JAYG with PLT Join / Granny Stitch JAYG and Continuous JAYG
3 Lace Borders

The 5 PDFs included give you access to:

2016 VVCAL Blanket + Join and Border
2018 VVCAL Blanket + Join and Border (includes whip st join)
2020 VVCAL Blanket + Join and Border
Celtic Lace Joins (Original, Junior, Mini, and Mini II)
Joins: SC JAYG and Continuous JAYG with PLT Join / Granny Stitch JAYG and Continuous JAYG

….. so if you haven’t been following Rachele as long as I have, and you just need to get your hands on all the patterns for the squares, the joins and the borders….. then you are in luck with the option to purchase the entire collection at once!!!!

And then of course there is the Zendoodle Blanket, Parts 1-4 have been released, and is the second blanket of the five blanket LINEN STITCH BLANKET PATTERN SERIES, the French Braid Blanket was the first of the series of blankets….. and I cannot wait to see the other 3:

LissMiss Blanket (Coming August 15)

Beach Hut Blanket (Coming August 31)
Chevronnie Blanket (Coming September 30)

And the very best part…. Rachele has covered every single type of crocheter out there! She has the written pattern, photo tutorials, charts AND videos! Be sure to stop in to her YouTube channel Rachele Carmona and subscribe so you don’t miss a single video…..

And NOW…. the important part, FATW5…….

Equinox Pattern Links:

Ravelry
CypressTextiles.net

VIDEOS by Tania Leis:

Right Handed Video
Left Handed Video

And of course, we can’t forget the Social Media:

Website: cypresstextiles.net

Instagram: instagram.com/cypresstextiles

Facebook: facebook.com/cypresstextiles

Youtube: www.youtube.com

And how could we forget that there is a new release for Granny Square Day?!?!? Kurinji Square is up and waiting for you all as a FREE pattern available on Ravelry (and be sure to show some love to our crochet community designers who provide these amazing patterns for free by clicking the 💗 *heart* 💗) and on cypresstextiles.net

Also…… keep your eyes open and check back HERE or on Rachele’s blog CypressTextiles for an awesome update to Happy Little Tree Blanket Pattern for Absolute Beginners. The pattern is being updated to include the 8 colors which have been added to the yarn pack Rachele used when creating this design (Scheepjes Stone Washed and Robert Washed Colour Pack – for a total of 58 colors instead of 50 colors as it has been since June 2018), and the pattern will also include the highly requested color layout for both the small and large versions, and the pattern will be updated and simplified for ease in use of this amazingly awesome pattern!

So until next week…… this starry-eyed fan girl is going to be crocheting an entire stack of this square….. to go with an entire stack of next week’s square…… to make a tiny person a summertime blanket ❤️ 😍 ⭐️ 😍 🌟 😍 ⭐️ 😍 🌟 😍 ⭐️ ❤️

Happy Crocheting,

Jo😍⭐️