Introducing the ‘Perfect Picnic’ Scheepjes CAL 2026!

This is an exciting introduction…

I’m delighted and incredibly happy to announce that the Scheepjes 2026 crochet-along is the ‘Perfect Picnic’!

How wonderful it is to be sharing another crochet-along (CAL) journey with you all… and this one feels very exciting indeed. The Scheepjes annual CAL is always a very big event in the crochet community!

This will be an eight week CAL starting on the 21st October to create a picnic inspired blanket full of colourful stitch combinations, interesting textures and also a little Tunisian crochet to create those quintessential gingham checks.

It really is going to be a perfect picnic with 6 fabulous picnic themes! 🙂

Below is all the information you’ll need, with more about the blanket design, the different colour-ways and links to the Scheepjes website and Facebook pages.

But first here’s a video introduction from me, so why not grab a drink and enjoy… 🙂

As mentioned in the video above, if you’ve been following my work and all things Coastal Crochet for a while, then you may recognise that the design is in fact my ‘Picnic on the Beach‘ blanket which I originally hosted as a designer led CAL here on my website back in 2021!

The original plans for the Scheepjes 2026 CAL were already well underway when due to unexpected circumstances they were no longer able to continue with the project, but they were too far into the planning schedule to begin developing a new design from scratch.

So there was a decision to be made – either skip the 2026 CAL altogether or find an existing design that they love and which could be reimagined for this years CAL…

Well I’m incredibly happy they chose the second option and approached me about my Picnic on the Beach design…💙

Having the opportunity to reimagine this design in six brand new, beautifully curated colour-ways and all new picnic themes has been an absolute joy and privilege!

As a designer, always moving forward to create the next new design, I’ve never had the chance before to go back and revisit a CAL design from the past.

It’s been a fantastic experience to delve deeper into different picnic themes and to really explore different colour combinations and possibilities…

And for me, crocheting this blanket all over again after more than 5 years has been wonderful – I’ve rediscovered stitch patterns and textures and I’ve absolutely loved every stitch! 💙

It’s felt a little like watching a favourite movie for the second or third time when you notice things that you didn’t see first time round and actually enjoy the film even more! 😃

So if you’ve crocheted this blanket before, I invite you to crochet it again in all new colours.

And of course, we are now also able to bring this design to a whole new audience and thousands of people who haven’t come across my work before or may have learned to crochet since 2021.

So let’s have a closer look at the new colour-ways.

We have 6 carefully chosen picnic themes…

Picnic by the Seaside

Picnic in the Park

Picnic under the Aurora

Picnic at Sunset

Picnic on the Mountain

Picnic after Dawn

Which is your favourite? I genuinely love them all and had so much fun choosing the different colour combinations.

I visited Scheepjes HQ back in June and that’s when I saw all the six new blankets together for the first time. It was a beautiful moment…

There has been a wonderful group of testers working behind the scenes to crochet each blanket in the new colour-ways.

The team at Scheepjes even set up an actual picnic for us to enjoy together… it really was the perfect picnic!

Yarn packs will now start to become available from Scheepjes stockists around the world, including over in the US, so watch this space. We have five weeks before the CAL officially starts so there’s time to think about which colour-way you want to crochet and then for Scheepjes stockists to get the kits in stock.

For those in the UK the Knitting Network has some in stock: www.theknittingnetwork.co.uk-scheepjes-perfect-picnic-cal-collection

There’s a gorgeous bag which comes with the kits too… ❤️

I myself have crocheted the Picnic on the Mountain colour-way whilst recording all the new video tutorials.

I’ve recorded over 6.5 hours of tutorials and am also doing Dutch voiceovers… Being half Dutch and working with a Dutch yarn brand has been a lot of fun. 🙂

I’ve also started the Picnic under the Aurora colour-way… I took week 1 to Finland with me earlier in the year and managed to get this photo under the aurora!! That was a very special moment indeed… 💙

Lots more information is over on the Scheepjes website here:

English: https://www.scheepjes.com/en/cals-and-mals/scheepjes-cals/perfect-picnic-cal/information/

Dutch: https://www.scheepjes.com/nl/cals-en-mals/scheepjes-cals/perfect-picnic-cal/informatie/

The Scheepjes Facebook groups are a great place to start connecting and sharing – and during the CAL they will come alive with people asking questions, sharing progress and general help and support.

OFFICIAL Scheepjes – International Group

OFFICIAL Scheepjes- Nederlandse Groep

I’ll be there behind the scenes with the Scheepjes team throughout the CAL to offer support and guidance… 🙂

Thank you for all your support and interest… crochet definitely makes the world a better place and a CAL can be such a positive experience, bringing people together from all over the world!

Enjoy it and Happy Crocheting… 💙💙💙🥰