Crochet Alongs (CAL's)

I'm a sucker for Crochet Alongs (CAL's). They are a great way to learn new techniques, gain new skills, make beautiful projects and interact with the crocheting community (which is just as wonderful as the quilting community BTW). Currently I have three CAL's blankets on the go:

The first one is the Mandala Madness CAL. When I saw the first installment, I was in love but content to watch others progress with this project. After seeing gorgeous pictures of Part 2, I could resist no longer and headed off to purchase some yarn to start my own and catch up.
I chose a cotton/bamboo blend yarn for this blanket and its lovely to work with, although it can split a little if your not careful. I've decided to keep my colour selection to this palette and inject a lot of white into the blanket. as the weeks progress.
Its quite challenging but there are plenty of step by step pictures and videos to help out and the instructions are very detailed and well written, so its easy to follow. Its run over eighteen weeks (Part Three started yesterday) and you can find all the links HERE.

The second one is another fabulous CAL from Shelley at Spincushions called Fran the Mystery CAL. These are my completed squares from Part One, called PAM.
I love Shelleys patterns, they are always so easy to follow and she designs such lovely squares. This CAL is great for beginners as there are no circles or fancy design elements. It was designed as a "manly" blanket to cater for the men in our lives.

Part Two's squares are called ANN and each of these installments are quick and easy to crochet. I chose a lovely 8ply light teal cotton yarn for my blanket, from Bendigo Woolen Mills and its a gorgeous colour and about as "manly" as I was prepared to go.
There are ten fortnightly installments for this blanket and you can join up to this CAL, by following the link HERE.
And lastly, the In A Spin CAL;

I have been working on this CAL since early December. This is another of Shelley's projects, run during 2014, so I am working at my own pace. I have completed all 57 squares (6', 9" and 12"), all the rows are sewn together and I'm just about to work on the borders. I will do the full reveal of this blanket when its all complete. Its huge, its beautiful and it deserves a blog post all of its own.
You can find all the links to this CAL, on Shelley's blog, HERE.
So that's what on my hook(s) at the moment and I'm loving every minute :)