Mand-a-long update!

Hello to you all and a very happy welcome to my newest followers. Before I dive into mand-a-long madness, let me say a big “thank you!” to all of you who commented on my blogiversary post and my April Fool’s post. Bunny was extremely surprised by her crocheted lunch, the teaching staff had a good giggle, and apparently I’m an “EPIC” mother!!! Her friends thought it was a very cool prank and she was chuffed to bits! (I’m enjoying this while I can, I know in a few years’ time I will be decidedly un-cool and definitely un-epic...)

Now on to the topic of the moment: mandalas! How is your little pretty project coming along?

I just finished one in soft, chalky pastels, which I find rather pleasing on the eye at the moment. I will want to do a darker version, and a brighter mandala; I even want to make a rainbow one for Little Flower, but for now, quiet colours suit me.

What yarn are you using? So many cotton yarns to choose from, which is your favourite?

The centre blues, the white and the peachy pink shades in my mandala are Rico Baby Cotton DK, which I bought on sale at a local yarn shop. It is lovely and soft and doesn’t split at all. The soft taupe colour is King Cole Bamboo Cotton DK, and I must say it is the dreamiest cotton yarn I’ve worked with – it glides so smoothly on the hook, it is soft, and it comes in dozens of shades. I want more more more!

The grey is Drops Paris, cheap n’ cheerful, but it is very splitty. I’m not sure I will buy more of this once my stash of colours has run out, but it serves its purpose and comes in a good range of shades.

A great friend and member of my craft group made the mandala pictured above, the same pattern I used in this post. She had no intention of starting one, but at our crafty get-together last week, she was looking at the pattern, then she started checking out my yarn colours, so being the gracious hostess I am, I offered her a hook. Less than an hour later she was halfway through the mandala and left with yarn in her bag! She took this photo to share, and I see more mandalas in her future. I warned her that they are addictive!

But my friend nearly didn’t begin the mandala because the pattern started with a magic ring, which can be intimidating/infuriating/impossible for many people to crochet. So I simply suggested she doesn’t do one, but crochet the standard 4ch, ss ring. It worked perfectly!

I made two rings here, one is a magic ring, one is a 4ch ring. Not much of a difference when you crochet more than a dozen stitches into the ring. I’m not even going to tell you which is which, because it doesn’t matter. What I will tell you is that you can alter a pattern to suit your needs. If you don’t like magic rings, don’t bother! You aren’t making a toy that needs to have sealed ends to hold in stuffing. Adapt a pattern to what makes you happy, whether it be colours, patterns or techniques.

One final note, I’ve created a Facebook page for Chrissie Crafts, please check out the sidebar and give it a click!

Please link up your mandalas below and share your tips and favourites!

Chrissie x

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