Under the Sea CAL Update

The Under the Sea CAL is underway, and our virtual coral reef is already starting to come to life as people add their first projects to the gallery:

Don’t they all look great so far?! So much colour, it makes me feel brighter just by looking at them.

And, with six weeks left in this CAL, there’s still plenty of time to join in! Each crocheted fish or coral is a small, low-commitment project, so you can easily crochet one quick project, or even a whole collection, by the end of August.

Find all the CAL details here >>

My Crocheted Aquarium: The Journey Begins…

An optional part of this CAL is combining your individual projects into a larger display piece, and my own CAL challenge is to fulfill a dream I’ve had for over a decade by creating a full-size PlanetJune crocheted aquarium!

I haven’t made an art project for a long time, but I’ve been looking forward to creating this new home for my tropical fish, corals and more – and this relaxed summer-long CAL was the perfect excuse to bring you along for the ride.

Here’s my starting point: a large collection of my crocheted pieces, an IKEA laundry bag frame, and some wooden dowels…

It doesn’t look like much yet, but I can’t wait to see what it’ll become over the next six weeks! While I don’t have a concrete plan, I have a general idea in mind:

1. Build the structure. At the moment, I’m building a solid base to hold everything together, and Dave and I are designing custom 3D-printed brackets to hold the dowels in place.
2. Create the scenery. I’ll crochet a sandy floor and some ‘rocks’ to place corals on, and paint a backdrop.
3. Arrange the sea life. Finally it’ll be time to suspend the fish from the rods, arrange all the other pieces, and see how it all looks!

I’ll be documenting everything as I go and sharing sneak peeks of my aquarium build in the CAL threads throughout the summer. (I’ll also give you the full story here on the blog once it’s finished.)

Join Us?

If you’d like to follow my progress in real time – and help me make decisions whenever I get stuck – check the Under the Sea CAL threads in the PlanetJune Discord or Ravelry groups.

And I’d love to see your projects become part of our virtual reef too! If you’re crocheting any PlanetJune aquatic patterns this summer, please join us by adding your projects to the Under the Sea CAL Gallery >>