Hello and welcome to Part 8 of the Making Stitches 2025 CAL! As August is traditionally a time for summer holidays in the part of the world I live in, I was inspired by our many seaside holidays from being a child myself to taking my own children away on holiday. But what could I put in the centre of my square which indicated the seaside and was based on a circle? After much head scratching and debating with myself, I opted for a life saving rubber ring, the kind of floatation device you often see fastened to a fence or sea wall near the beach or on a pier.

As luck would have it, over the past month or so, I found myself beside the seaside a few times, in Norfolk and Suffolk on the South East coast of England and on the West coast of Scotland too. That meant I could get inspiration from my trip to Norfolk and Suffolk and then use my trip to Scotland for my photo shoot! Perfect!

The whole point of this CAL is to be a stash buster project to help you get rid of some of your odds and ends of yarn left over from previous projects. I am certainly using it for that purpose!

I have made my squares using my own stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarns and I will include the names and numbers of the shades I’ve used in case you want to replicate what I have done exactly, but you can use any yarn you like. The only thing you need to do is make sure it’s all the same weight, ie all DK or all Aran or whatever yarn you choose, and if you are making the whole project along with me, make sure all your squares are made using the same weight and the same size of crochet hook to make sure they all measure the same size so they can be joined together easily at the end.

Here’s the pattern for my August Making Stitches 2025 CAL square!

August : Seaside Holiday Square

Using Stylecraft Special DK:

(A) Aster (1003) 

(B) Stone (1710)

(C) White (1001)

(D) Matador (1010)

Size 4mm crochet hook

Scissors

Stitch Marker

Yarn Needle

A small amount of toy filling

Abbreviations (in UK terms): blo = work in back loop only, ch = chain, dc = double crochet, dtr = double treble crochet, fyo = final yarn over, htr = half treble crochet, mc = magic circle / magic ring, rep = repeat, RS = right side, slst = slip stitch, st = stitch, tr = treble crochet.

To make the square:

Using Yarn A, make a MC.
Round 1 Ch2 (not counted as a st throughout), 6 tr into MC, changing to Yarn B in fyo of last st, then make 6tr into MC, changing to Yarn A in fyo of last st. Slst into top of ch2 to close the round. Pull the central yarn tail tight to close MC. (12tr)

Round 2 Ch2, 2tr into next 6 sts changing to Yarn B in fyo of last st, then work 2tr into the next 6 sts, change to Yarn C in fyo of last st. Slst into the top of the ch2. Fasten off and break yarn, but mark the first st of the round with a stitch marker  (24tr)

Round 3A Join Yarn C into flo of first st and working in the flo around this round, ch2, 2tr in first st, 1tr in next st, change to Yarn D in fyo of last st, [2tr in next st, 1tr in next st, change to Yarn C in fyo of last st, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next st) x2 change to Yarn D with fyo,] x3 times, then with Yarn D 2tr in next st, 1tr in next change to Yarn C, 2tr in next st, 1tr in final st.  Slst into top of Ch2 (36tr) (You should have 4 red stripes).

Round 4A With Yarn C, Ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next 2 sts) around making sure you work white stitches into white stitches and red into the red stitches of the previous Round. Slst into top of ch2. Fasten off and break yarn. (48dc)

Round 3B Join Yarn A into blo of 1st st, ch2, (2htr in first st, 1htr in next st) rep around, changing to Yarn B in fyo of 18th st, continue following pattern to end of Round & changing to Yarn A in fyo of final st. Slst into top of ch2. (36 htr)

Round 4B Ch2, (2tr in first st, 1tr in next two sts) rep around following the colour change as detailed in Round 3B. Slst into top of ch2. 

Round 5 You will be joining the front (Round 4A) and back (Round 4B) of the rubber ring together in this round, and you can add a small amount of toy filling between the layers to make the ring stand proud.

With Yarn A, Work 2dc into the first sts of both Round 4A & 4B, then 1dc into next 3 sts, (2dc in first st, 1dc into next 3 sts) rep around, making sure to change to Yarn B on the fyo of your 30th st so you can continue the colour pattern as it was in the centre of the square. Once you have reached the final st, change to Yarn A with your fyo and slst into the top of the ch1 to close the square. 

Round 6 With Yarn A ch1, 1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 3 sts changing to Yarn B in fyo of 3rd st, with Yarn B 1dc in next 3 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1dc in next 6 sts, 1htr in next 2 sts, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1dtr + 2ch + 1dtr in next st, 1tr in next 2 sts, 1htr in next 2 st, 1dc in next 3 sts slst into top of ch1 to close round. Fasten off and break yarn. 

Round 7 Join Yarn C into any st. Work 1dc into every st around and 1dc ch2 1dc into every corner space. Slst to top of 1ch. Fasten off and break yarn. (72dc)

Round 8 With Yarn B, join into the blo of the final st of one of the sides of the square, ch2 & 1tr in the blo of that st, in corner space work 1tr + 2ch + 1tr, then working in the blo around, continue with (1dtr, 1tr, 1htr, 1dc, 1htr, 1tr,) and repeat to penultimate st of each side, work 1tr into final st, and 1tr +2ch +1tr into the corner space. Repeat around and slst into the top of the ch2 at the start of the round. Fasten of and break yarn. (80 sts)

Round 9 With Yarn A, join in the blo of the final st of one of the sides,  ch2 & 1htr into that st, 1htr + 2ch + 1htr into corner space, then working in the blo around, continue with (1htr, 1dc, 1htr, 1tr, 1dtr, 1tr)  and repeat along the side of the square your final st will be a dc, and work 1htr 2ch 1htr into the corner space. Repeat around the square slst into the top of the first ch2 to close the round. Fasten off and break yarn. (22 sts on each side = 88 sts in round)

Round 10 Again, working into the blo around, join Yarn C into any st around ch1 and 1dc in that st, 1dc into every st around, 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. (96 dc)

Round 11 Join Yarn D in any st, ch1 and 1dc into that st, work 1dc into every st around and 1dc 2ch 1dc into every corner space. Fasten off and break yarn. (104 dc)

Round 12 Join Yarn C into any st, rep Round 11. (112 dc)

Round 13 Join Yarn B into any st, rep Round 11. (120 dc)

If you wish, you can use some Yarn C to either surface crochet or chain stitch embroider along the edge of the wave between Rounds 8 & 9 – I have left one of the squares I’ve made without the embroidery and added it to the other so you can see both. I like them both and can’t decide which I like best!

So there you have it, your Making Stitches 2025 CAL August Seaside Holiday square is completed. I hope you enjoy making one, or maybe even more than one!

Happy hooking!

Lindsay x

PS If you do decide to make an August Seaside Holiday square, please, if you share it online, I would love it if you could use the hashtag #MakingStitches2025CAL so I can see any squares when they appear!

Happy making!

Lindsay x