Garden Medley Blanket Crochet Along (CAL) – Everything You Need to Know

I can’t believe it’s finally here! The Garden Medley Blanket CAL is something I’ve been eagerly counting down to share with you, and it’s going to be so much fun to work through together.

This is unlike any pattern I’ve released before and I’m totally in love with it. We’re diving into colorful squares filled with gorgeous, nature-inspired designs like bees, butterflies, and flowers.

Never joined a crochet along before? You’re going to love it.

I’ll guide you every step of the way, from starting your first square to the moment you weave in your last end. It’s all about having a relaxed and enjoyable experience. And, I promise you’ll find plenty of tips and encouragement here to keep you excited throughout your project.

About the Garden Medley Blanket

You’re going to love making the Garden Medley Blanket! It’s made up of 20 stunning colorwork squares, each made using intarsia crochet, bringing beautiful nature inspired designs right into your home. You’ll be crocheting buzzing bees, delicate butterflies, and bold flowers square by square.

With its modern design and cozy, mid-century feel, this blanket is perfect for adding a pop of warmth and personality to your sofa.

Each square measures around 12 inches, and you’ll be working them individually before joining them all together at the end (with your hook, no sewing required!).

Finally, we’ll add a camel stitch border to neatly frame your finished blanket. The finished Garden Medley Blanket measures approximately 52 inches wide by 64 inches long once blocked. You can easily customize your blanket size by simply adjusting the number of squares you create, make fewer for a smaller lap blanket or more for a huge cozy bedspread.

Skill Level & What You Should Already Know

This blanket is best suited to confident beginners who are ready to try intarsia or intermediate crocheters who already enjoy colorwork. You don’t need to be an expert, but you should feel comfortable with the basics before jumping in. You’ll have a much smoother time if you can:

• Work single crochet without thinking too hard about it
• Keep your tension even
• Read a simple crochet colorwork chart
• Change colors cleanly and manage multiple bobbins

If you’re still working on those last two, don’t panic. You can warm up with a couple of my free Graphgan School tutorials before you start your first square. They walk you through techniques in a simple, friendly way so you won’t feel lost once the CAL begins.

Yarn & Colour Palette

For my sample blanket, I chose Hobbii Amigo XL yarn, a soft, easy to work with worsted weight acrylic yarn. The colors I’ve selected are Ecru, Black, Hunter Green, Curry, and Rust, offering a cozy earthy palette.

If you’re interested in exploring different yarn options or color combinations, I’ll be sharing some great alternatives and inspiration further down, so keep reading!

The Bloom and Buzz Bundle

I’ll let you in on a little secret: this is actually part of something much bigger called the Bloom and Buzz Bundle. In the bundle you get two matching cushions. If you’re loving the Garden Medley vibe, you’re in for a treat, check out the entire bundle, available at a discounted price for one week only!

The other thwo patterns will also be available free on the blog once the CAL is finished, but the bundle gives you everything early in one place with no ads and no waiting.

What’s a CAL (Crochet Along)?

If you’re not familiar with a crochet-along, it’s a community-focused crochet project where participants all make the same pattern together, bit by bit. Every week, I’ll release a new part of the pattern here on the blog.

This CAL will last for 10 weeks, and each week’s update will include clearly written instructions, helpful tips, and charts to guide you through each square.

Everything is entirely free to access online. You can follow along week-by-week as each section is published, or save everything and crochet at your own pace later. There’s no pressure at all to keep up!

Want the Full Pattern Now?

If you’d rather not wait for each weekly update and prefer to have everything in one neat, printable, ad-free PDF, the complete Garden Medley Blanket pattern is available right now.

This version gives you access to all of the following perks:

• Clear written instructions for every square
• Full colorwork charts for each design
• Direct links to the Stitch Fiddle charts so you can customise them and use the built-in row tracker
• Step-by-step joining guidance
• The full border pattern
• A printable coloring page so you can test color combinations before you start crocheting
• An ad-free experience so you can follow the pattern without distractions

Full Schedule – Pattern Release Dates

Each square in the Garden Medley Blanket CAL will have its own blog post, so you’ll be able to access them individually, in any order you like.

One or two new squares will be released every week, and I’ll update the list below with links as each post goes live. Once all the squares are out, we’ll wrap things up with a joining tutorial and a border to finish it off neatly.

🟡 New posts published: Weekly, every Monday starting February 23rd
🟡 Final assembly and border: April 27th
🟡 Buzzing By Cushion Pattern: May 4th
🟡 Flutter By Cushion Pattern: May 11th

Links To Squares:
Garden Medley square 1: Orange Bee 1
Garden Medley square 2: White Butterfly 1
Garden Medley square 3: 3 Leaves
Garden Medley square 4: Orange Butterfly 1 (coming March 9th)
Garden Medley square 5: Green Bee 1
Garden Medley square 6: Green Bee 2
Garden Medley square 7: Yellow Flower
Garden Medley square 8: White Butterfly 2
Garden Medley square 9: Orange Bee 2
Garden Medley square 10: Orange Butterfly 2
Garden Medley square 11: Berries
Garden Medley square 12: Orange Flower
Garden Medley Joining + Border

Make sure you bookmark this page or sign up below for reminders so you never miss an update.

Sign Up for Weekly Garden Medley CAL Reminders

If you’d like a quick reminder whenever each week’s square goes live, you can sign up for email reminders below.

👉 Sign up here for weekly CAL updates!

I’ll make sure you stay informed each week so you don’t have to keep checking back.

Tools & Materials

Here’s exactly what you need before starting your Garden Medley Blanket:

Crochet Hook: 5mm (or size needed to obtain gauge)
Yarn: Amigo XL, Hobbii (Worsted weight, 100% Acrylic; 109 yards / 100 meters, 50g)

Yarn amounts:
A – Ecru (02), 19 skeins
B – Black (12), 3 skeins
C – Curry (38), 5 skeins
D – Rust (40), 5 skeins
E – Hunter Green (28), 6 skeins

Or worsted weight yarn in the following quantities:
A – 2,054 yards / 1,884 meters
B – 276 yards / 250 meters
C – 504 yards / 462 meters
D – 521 yards / 478 meters
E – 552 yards / 506 meters

Extras: scissors, yarn needle, blocking mats, blocking pins, steamer

Optional but highly recommended: yarn bobbins + bobbin holder (learn my favorite tangle-free colorwork setup here)

Yarn Substitutions & Color Ideas

If you’d prefer to try out a different yarn to Amigo XL, any soft, worsted weight yarn will work beautifully. Here are some of my favorite alternative yarns that offer similar softness, durability, and a wonderful color range:

Knit Picks Brava Worsted

Shop Knit Picks Brava Worsted

This yarn is made from 100% premium acrylic and comes in 100 g balls with 218 yards (199 m) of worsted weight yarn. Each ball costs $3.99, which makes it a very budget-friendly option for a large project.

Knit Picks Swish Worsted

Shop Knit Picks Swish Worsted

Swish is 100% fine superwash merino wool and comes in 50g balls with 110 yards (100 m). Each ball is $6.99, and it’s a great choice if you want to avoid synthetic fibres and work with a natural yarn instead.

Knit Picks Comfy Worsted

Shop Knit Picks Comfy Worsted

Comfy blends 75% Pima cotton and 25% acrylic and is sold in 50g balls with 109 yards (100 m). Each ball is $6.49, so it’s a little pricier but offers that softer cotton feel.

Lion Brand The Cottony One

Shop Lion Brand The Cottony One

This yarn is made from a blend of 60% cotton and 40% acrylic, sold in 100g balls with 185 yards (169 m). Each ball costs $9.49, giving you a smooth, cottony yarn that still has a bit of acrylic for durability.

Premier Yarns Anti-Pilling Everyday Worsted

Shop Premier Yarns Anti-Pilling Everyday Worsted

This yarn is 100% anti-pilling acrylic and comes in 100g balls with 180 yards (165 m). Each ball is $4.99, making it a solid mid-priced acrylic option.

Feel free to browse these options, explore your stash, or choose something else entirely! This project is a fantastic chance to experiment with colors. You might want to try a darker, moodier palette, pastels for a fresh spring garden vibe, or even bold, bright shades for something playful.

Don’t forget, the printable PDF version of the pattern includes a handy coloring page so you can visualize your ideas first.

I love seeing your unique color combinations, so please tag me when sharing your yarn picks online!

Gauge Info

Don’t skip this step, you’ll thank yourself later!

Gauge is super important for this project to make sure your squares match perfectly and your blanket comes together beautifully. The gauge for this blanket is 13 stitches and 15 rows in single crochet per 4″ / 10 cm using a 5mm hook.

And here’s a handy tip while you’re at it: if you make your swatch 50 stitches by 62 rows in either Rust or Hunter Green, you can reuse it later as the back panel for one of the cushions in the Bloom and Buzz Bundle. It saves time and yarn, and you’ll feel very smug about your efficiency.

FAQs

Are there written instructions or just charts?

Both! There are charts and written instructions for every square.

What if I fall behind?

The posts stay online indefinitely, and you can always purchase the complete PDF if you prefer to work at your own speed.

Can I use a different stitch instead of single crochet?

It’s not recommended! the pattern is designed specifically for single crochet, if you switch stitches make sure you’re still meeting the pattern gauge otherwise the images will become distorted.

I’m new to this type of colorwork, what do I need to know?

I’ve got a whole selection of free tutorials over at Graphgan School that will walk you through the basics. You’ll learn how to read a chart, manage your yarn, and change colors cleanly without the tangles. It’s the perfect place to get comfortable before you start your first square.

Before You Begin…

If you’re brand new to intarsia or crochet colorwork, I recommend starting with Graphgan School before your first square drops. It covers all the core techniques used in this pattern and includes beginner-friendly videos and walkthroughs.

I hope you’re as excited as I am to begin the Garden Medley Blanket CAL. This is going to be such a fun, creative, colourful adventure, and I can’t wait to see your squares start popping up.

Don’t forget to grab the full pattern if you want a head start or sign up for weekly updates when each new section goes live.