Festival of Light Combined PDF & Catona Color Way

I am so pleased to finally be able to share with you the combined PDF file for the Festival of lights pattern. This took me much longer than planned to get out partly because I was rather indecisive about the final layout. The combined PDF is not just the existing PDF’s stuck together, I have incorporated most of the supplemental photos from my website into the pattern so that all the information is part of a single, convenient document. Files in English (UK & US), Dutch and German are all included.

This is still a pattern that you can access for free. The original PDF patterns, the supplemental information on my blog, and all the videos are NOT going away. This additional version is available to purchase if you would like the convenience of the combined document or if you just want to support me as a designer.

The only additional information that will be unique to this document is a new or rather the original color way. I originally designed and tested the Festival of Lights blanket in Catona. This colorway was dropped for the CAL, but I have included the Catona color placement tables in the combined PDF.

• Purchase the Pattern on Ravelry
• Purchase the Pattern on Etsy

Catona Colorway

My original color way for this pattern in the proposal that I sent to Scheepjes and the two full FOL blankets that I made where in Scheepjes Catona.

After changing my mind about 5 times, I decided to use the Catona color pack. I spend many many hours with an excel spreadsheet and a color chart figuring out the color placement and determined that a single Catona color pack was not quite enough for the blanket with comfortable margins for variability. So, I chose 8 different hues and added those to the calculations to have enough yarn.  I also chose Dark Olive to join with as it is a very close match to the carpet in my house and I liked the way the pieces looked on my floor. 

For the CAL I was asked to do color placement for an Organicon version and one with the Metropolis Color pack. When I did the calculations and color placement for the Metropolis color pack the quantities of yarn lined up so perfectly that it felt like the pattern was designed for the metropolis color pack.  Eventually the Catona version was dropped as an official colorway for the CAL, and we decided to save it for the release of the combined PDF. 

You might have caught a glimpse of my Original Catona sample as it was accidentally photographed instead of the Metropolis version a few times and I have a photo of part of it being blocked on my first blog post about the CAL.        

If you would like to make your own Festival of Lights blanket following my color way you will need:

• Scheepjes Catona Colour Pack (100% Mercerised Cotton; 109 x 10g/25m)
• Scheepjes Catona (100% Mercerised Cotton; 25g/62.5m)
  • One ball of each color: 115, 128, 192, 201, 208, 245, 383, 388, 400, 508, 514, 515
• And for Joining and border Scheepjes Catona (100% Mercerised Cotton; 50g/125m), 387 Dark Olive x 3 balls

I used a 3.5mm crochet hook

The full color placement table is included in the combined PDF pattern.

You can check for a Scheepjes Retailer in your area, or you can use my affiliate links below. Shopping through this link earns me a small commission to support my design work at no additional cost to you. Thank You!

My Amazon shop, Jimmy Beans Wool, and Yarn Addicted & Co. on Etsy (US only)

---

---

Reflecting on the CAL

It has been more than a year since the Festival of Lights CAL, what a wild ride that was. It’s taken me this long to put together the combined PDF for a number of reasons: agonizing over the layout, life and family stuff happens, and a fair amount of procrastination. The CAL itself was an incredibly positive experience, AND it was also a little overwhelming. I was a little burned out afterward.

I remember when the teaser came out there was one person who guessed that I was going to be the designer and I was shocked that anyone knew who I was at all.  I was very happy with how positively the CAL was received. 

I still feel like a new-ish designer, even more so a year ago, and I was figuring out a lot of things as I went. I started my website a year before and was still learning how to manage it, I migrated to an entirely different host just weeks before the CAL. I started my newsletter and Facebook group in the middle of the FOL CAL.  I learned how to make video tutorials and how to use editing software for the FOL CAL. 

I still feel so lucky that I had the chance to be part of such an incredible community event. I learned so much from it and I love seeing everyone’s works in progress and finished projects.

---