Crochet cruisers joining us for the Stitches & Glaciers Crochet Cruise in July 2026.
Before we even set sail, we invite each crocheter to create two 12 × 12-inch sample squares using their favourite stitch or combination. Ideally, both are different from each other for more sharing opportunities. Not a fully realized pattern online or from a book, but maybe a piece of stitchwork you have seen, loved and played with. Something perhaps you mixed up the combinations and gave it a try. We have a goal in mind for you.
- Choose a yarn you love and a hook size you are most comfortable with.
- Optional: If you want to do a square exchange with a fellow cruiser, you are welcome to make more, and if you give a square, someone will give you one of their squares in return.
In This Project
Our Northern Lights Community Blanket
You will complete 2 more squares on the board, but not something from your own head, something from another cruiser or two.
- If you want to add more squares to have a larger project, hit up more cruisers for ideas. If you do 9 squares total, you will have a throw size, but we may not have time to do that on the ship.
- We will not be putting all of the squares on the table for each person to grab a certain number of them, as we have discovered that people who didn't have time for homework don't have squares to give out, and it ruins the experience for the cruisers who did the homework from being able to finish the assignment as they intended. Existing past cruisers know how disappointing it is not get the same number of squares they made in return.
This concept is inspired by Northern Lights. If you have crochet star appliques added for some flair, that's cool too, but ultimately up to you. You are the artist.
Your Squares Must be 12" x 12"
Getting the right 12" x 12" will let you share your concept with others so they can adopt it and incorporate it into their own sampler.
Get the tape measure and make sure it's 12" x 12"... It's important to be able to do this correctly.
These squares are not homework in the traditional sense—they’re introductions. Let us explain.
Each Square Carries a Story
- It could be a stitch you return to again and again.
- A texture that makes sense to your hands.
- A rhythm you find comforting, clever, or joyful.
When we arrive on board, we’ll lay these squares out together—side by side—eighty sets of hands, eighty voices, eighty ways of understanding yarn.
I encourage you to push yourself, try something new, or bring something to the table that we may not see every day.
Be the yarn hero, and don't forget: just 'cause you think it's the same old, it could be new to someone else to know about. If you would like to create more than two, you are welcome to do so to create more teaching moments.
Bring Your Own Yarn
Bring the yarn you used to create your two squares, so you have enough to keep going and make 2 or more squares, and include yarn for your border that is inspired by another cruiser to go with your sampler.
Use the same size crochet hook you used to make your own squares to be consistent.
You may want to think about colour, as someone may share a concept with you that colourwork is hitting all of the right notes for you.
With Our On-Board Yarn Fair
- Have your notes and stitch counts on how you did it to share with others.
- What was your yarn gauge so people can understand the tension?
There's no such thing as perfect... just do your best.
As a group, we’ll begin to join them using a variety of techniques.
Talk to others about what joins you may want to use. Will it be quiet, subtle or bold? Connections don't look the same for everyone.
Along the Way
We’ll pause, turn to one another, and teach. This is where the magic happens.
Each square becomes a teaching moment:
- “This is why I love this stitch.”
- "Here's the stitch multiple to change the size."
- “Here’s how I make it behave.”
- “This one frustrated me at first, but now it feels like home.”
If we have 80 crocheters, that’s up to 80 stitch combinations shared freely—no hierarchy, no experts, just makers learning from makers. A floating classroom stitched together by generosity.
By the end of the cruise, we won’t just have a blanket. We’ll have a record of our time together. A map of creativity. A piece that only exists because each person showed up as themselves.
Like the Northern Lights, this blanket will be made of movement, contrast, and shared wonder—something no single person could create alone.
Mikey will chart out the squares with you, or if you have the skills to do it, to record what was created to later share beyond the cruise.
Bring your stitches. Bring your curiosity. Bring your willingness to share. We’ll do the rest together.
Not something “perfect.”
You will keep your own blanket to gift to a charity or someone near you, or keep it as a souvenir of your journey with us. I tend to keep stitch samplers to remind myself of what I have learned.
You are unique and as I always say.... Inspire. Create. Celebrate, and in this case, let's hit the inspiration with you in mind.
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