Last updated: 22 July 2026
I originally published this post at the end of April 2023, shortly before the Dancing Diamonds CAL started.
I shared some initial information about the CAL, the colours I had chosen and an early look at my blanket. All other information, such as the yarn amounts I needed, details about my colour placement and photos of my finished blanket were spread over three other posts.
Now that the CAL is long over, I’ve refreshed this post to give it a new structure and to summarise all the information that is still relevant today.
The Dancing Diamonds CAL
Photo by Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love
The Dancing Diamonds CAL, which took place in May / June 2023, was designed by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love. The overlay mosaic blanket features seven different patterns that can be combined in various ways.
Ana used Durable Cosy Fine, a blend of cotton and polyacrylic, for her blanket. It is a #4 (Aran/worsted weight yarn) with 105 m per 50 g. The finished size of her blanket is approximately 100 cm x 130 cm.
The pattern is written in English (US terms) but there are also translations into Spanish, Dutch, French and German available.
Back in 2023 I was a member of Ana’s testing team. In addition to testing this pattern, I also handled the German translation.
To me Dancing Diamonds will always be the “blanket of my heart”.
Shortly before the Dancing Diamond test started we lost my mother-in-law. And, after a long life together — they had been married for over 70 years — my father-in-law followed her only 4 weeks later.
I still miss them sorely!
But it also makes this blanket very special to me — I will always associate it with memories of them.
My colour story
Looking back, I think this is why my colour choice for Dancing Diamonds came straight from my heart. I still remember that day quite well:
Actually, I’d imagined completely different colours for this blanket. I wanted to make something really colourful – just to cheer myself up a bit!
So I spread out a mountain of yarn on the dining table: Spice, Saffron, Tomato, Clementine – Vintage Pink, Apricot, Powder Pink, Pale Rose – Plum, Grape, Raspberry, Burgundy, Violet and some neutrals like Cream, Mocha, Buttermilk, Silver and Grey.
When I started combining the colours, hubby looked over my shoulder and started rearranging everything…
Usually, putting our heads together leads to good results, but this time it came to nothing! He didn’t agree with my ideas, and I didn’t agree with his.
Just as I was tidying up the table, saying, ‘I’ll have to sleep on it first’, my eye fell on a ball of Mushroom which I’d actually used for another project. Somehow, four colours ended up in my arms – Mushroom, Grey, Raspberry and Pale Rose.
I was not sure if it would work, but I started crocheting with these colours the same evening.
I never thought of combining Grey and Mushroom before, but I absolutely love the result!
My colour placement
In the Dancing Diamond pattern, six colours are originally used. As I only used four colours, I couldn’t just replace one colour with another colour, but had to reconsider pattern by pattern. However, I have not made any changes to the basic colour placement or the arangement of the patterns. Only for the border I deviated a little from Ana’s pattern. Since I used less colours overall I thought it would look better with just one stripe of Raspberry than two.
If you would like to recreate my blanket, you will find my colour placement guide at the end of the post. There, I’ve set out for each pattern how I’ve substituted the colours.
My finished blanket
I finished my blanket in May 2023. Worked with Stylecraft Special DK and a 4 mm hook it measures about 90 x 120 cm.
Yarn amounts
I am still happy with how my blanket turned out and I still love the calm and gentle-looking combination of Grey and Mushroom!
Even now, this blanket always brings back warm memories. Despite all the sadness of that time, it also reminds me how comforting crochet can be. Crocheting really does soothe the soul.
