2026 VVCAL
Published on May 22, 2026

2026 VVCAL: Coralline Motif

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Hello, and a huge welcome to this week of the 2026 Vibrant Vintage Crochet-A-Long (VVCAL)! I’m so glad you’re here! I love spending this time with the VVCAL community. We are going to have so much fun relaxingly working through these motifs each week.

Attention!

If you have not yet seen the Week 8 Instruction post, please head there first and see the instructions for the version that you are working. Below, you will find the Motif pattern, in US, and UK Terms, Chart, Video, and Step by step photos.

Social Media Hashtags: #VVCAL and #CypressTextiles

PDF Version

2026 VVCAL PDF COMING SOON! – My Online Shop // Etsy // Ravelry

  • 36 hexies to mix and match
  • 3 Joining methods
  • Wide Lace Border
  • US and UK Terms included

Of course I have also created a value bundle for you COMING SOON! – 2022, 2024, and 2026 VVCALs US and UK Terms (5 PDFs) – Available on Etsy and Ravelry.

Coralline Motif

Find the Ravelry Page for this motif here and add your project!

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Enjoy a small reflection on one of this week’s featured sea creatures.

What are Coralline Algae? | Aquarium Education | AlgaeBarn

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Coralline algae - Wikipedia

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Everything About Coralline Algae - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

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Five Fun Facts

Coralline algae are extraordinary, calcified red seaweeds that act as the hidden “glue” of coral reefs. Unlike soft, leafy algae, they deposit limestone into their cell walls, creating hard, vividly colored crusts or articulated branches.

These pink stony crusts are found in sunlit parts of the seafloor from the poles to the tropics, and collectively are called crustose coralline algae. Crustose coralline algae play a variety of important roles in many marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs. We call them coral reefs because their three-dimensional structures are built by stony coral animals, which produce limestone as they grow ever upwards towards the sun.

Corals may create the major structures—the bricks of the reef, if you will—but no brick wall will stand strong without cement. Enter our unassuming friends the crustose coralline algae. They grow as a crust over and between the fragments and gaps in coral reefs and essentially cement the coral bricks together. You might think of these pink crusts as the silent masons of coral reefs, the underdogs hidden in the shadow of the more charismatic stony corals.

Limestone lines the walls of individual cells of the algae, which stack up to form the hard crust. As layer upon layer of algae grow over one another and over the surface of the porous reef, the foundation of the coral reef grows stronger. 

These crusts grow slowly—often just 0.4 to 1.2 inches (10 to 30 mm) per year—and depend on grazing fish to clear them of rapidly growing fleshy seaweeds, which threaten to smother both the coralline algae and the coral. This cleaning is not only important for the living crusts themselves—it also helps baby corals, which often prefer to settle on the clean pink surfaces. In places with rough waves, too rough for corals to survive, crustose coralline algae are the primary reef builders.

Coralline Motif Pattern

Reference

Scroll for chart and video instruction.

Stitch Guide (US Terms)

Note: Scroll down for UK Terms.

  • 2dccl 2dc cluster: (yoh, insert hook in st/sp, yoh, pull up lp, yoh, draw yarn through 2 lps) 2 times, yoh, draw yarn through 3 lps
  • 3dccl 3dc cluster: (yoh, insert hook in st/sp, yoh, pull up lp, yoh, draw yarn through 2 lps) 3 times, yoh, draw yarn through 4 lps
  • beg beginning
  • beg 2dccl (beg dc, dc) in st/sp indicated – when joining rnd, ss into full dc st
  • beg 3dccl (beg dc, 2dccl) in same st/sp – counts as 1 3dccl
  • beg dc (1sc, ch1) – counts as 1 dc
  • chN chain N number of times
  • dc double crochet
  • MR make ring: slip knot, ch3, ss in third ch from hook
  • sc single crochet
  • sp space (ch-sp = chain space)
  • ss slip stitch
  • st stitch
  • tr treble crochet
  • yoh yarn over hook

Written Instructions & Step-by-step Photos (US Terms)

Rnd 1 MR, beg tr, 23tr, ss in beg tr. [24 tr]

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Rnd 2 Beg 2dccl in next st, [ch2, 2dccl] 23 times, ch2, ss in beg 2dccl. [24 2dccl, 24 sp]

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Rnd 3 Beg 3dccl in first ch-sp, [ch2, 3dccl in next sp] 23 times, ch2, ss in beg 3dccl. [24 3dccl, 24 sp]

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Rnd 4 * 1sc in next ch-sp, ch3, [1sc in next ch-sp, ch2] 3 times, rep from * 5 times, ss in first sc. [24 sc, 24 sp]

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Rnd 5 [5sc in next ch-sp, 3sc in next 3 ch-sps] 6 times, ss in first sc, cut yarn. [84 sc]

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Stitch Guide (UK Terms)

  • 2trcl 2tr cluster: (yoh, insert hook in st/sp, yoh, pull up lp, yoh, draw yarn through 2 lps) 2 times, yoh, draw yarn through 3 lps
  • 3trcl 3tr cluster: (yoh, insert hook in st/sp, yoh, pull up lp, yoh, draw yarn through 2 lps) 3 times, yoh, draw yarn through 4 lps
  • beg beginning
  • beg 2trcl (beg tr, tr) in st/sp indicated – when joining rnd, ss into full tr st
  • beg 3trcl (beg tr, 2trcl) in same st/sp – counts as 1 3trcl
  • beg tr (1dc, ch1) – counts as 1 tr
  • chN chain N number of times
  • dc double crochet
  • dtr double treble crochet
  • MR make ring: slip knot, ch3, ss in third ch from hook
  • sp space (ch-sp = chain space)
  • ss slip stitch
  • st stitch
  • tr treble crochet
  • yoh yarn over hook

Written Instructions & Step-by-step Photos (UK Terms)

Rnd 1 MR, beg dtr, 23dtr, ss in beg dtr. [24 dtr]

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Rnd 2 Beg 2trcl in next st, [ch2, 2trcl] 23 times, ch2, ss in beg 2trcl. [24 2trcl, 24 sp]

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Rnd 3 Beg 3trcl in first ch-sp, [ch2, 3trcl in next sp] 23 times, ch2, ss in beg 3trcl. [24 3trcl, 24 sp]

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Rnd 4 * 1dc in next ch-sp, ch3, [1dc in next ch-sp, ch2] 3 times, rep from * 5 times, ss in first dc. [24 dc, 24 sp]

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Rnd 5 [5dc in next ch-sp, 3dc in next 3 ch-sps] 6 times, ss in first dc, cut yarn. [84 dc]

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Chart

Note: Chart is meant as a visual guide to the written instruction and might not be able to stand alone due to special stitches.

I forgot to make the chart 2 colors! Sorry for the headache 🙁

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Video

Coming shortly!

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Note: Video is spoken in US Terms.

Subscribe on YouTube for more videos like this one!

Links to Weekly Instruction Posts

Quick Links to Each Week: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20

Pin the Motif!

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Thank you so much for stopping in for this week of the 2026 VVCAL!

You may also enjoy these completed CALs

Happy crafting,

Rachele C.

The Art of Crochet Blankets

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