I expect most of you will be familiar with the Yuletide blanket by now because I have been going on and on about it rather a lot. I'm kind of not-sorry about it, I do tend to get pretty obsessed by colours and patterns when they are really floating my boat and it takes a while for me to work them out of my system. And lucky you, you get to hear alllllllll about it because I am prone to oversharing when my boat is floating. If by any slim chance you haven't heard about the Yuletide blanket, then you can find all the deets in a blog post ((here)).
I'm not sure what made me think about making the square stitch pattern into a circular one, it was one of those ideas that just pinged into my Creative Mind mind and once it was lodged there I just could not let it go. I had a chat about the design process in Blogtober day 4, and despite it being a little harder than I'd anticipated, I did eventually manage to nail down the numbers and make the whole thing work. I'm really happy with the Yuletide Mandala and intend for it to be used as a table mat on my festive table, to sit under a jug of seasonal blooms.
Mandalas are brilliant things to make if you have a creative itch to scratch, because they are absolutely perfect vehicles for colour play. They don't take long to whizz off your hook so there is always an imminent ta-dah moment and that makes for an exciting type of project. I've designed and made quite a few mandalas over the years, some small and some large. You can find my first ever design (pictured above, bottom right) as a tutorial here on my blog (it's called "Attic24 Mandala Wheel" in my pattern list), and it's a really good pattern for beginners to try.
The mandala in the photo above with the pink scallop edge is always on my table, so you've probably seen the edge of it in many of my flower photos. It's called the Mollie Mandala because the original version of it was designed for Mollie Makes magazine some years ago. I've also used it to teach a crochet workshop for Stylecraft Yarns, so I decided to keep the pattern unpublished and reserved as a teaching pattern for my own use. I've had loads of requests for it though, so it's been on my mind to create another similar mandala with a scallop edge to share here on my blog. The Yuletide Mandala seemed like it would work well with a scallop, so I'm really happy to give you this new mandala so that you can make something pretty for your own table. It's a great project to use up any odds and ends of yarn left over from making blankets, and I hope you have fun trying out your own colour combinations.
One more thing about the above photo - you can see that the Yuletide mandala is a bit bigger than the ones I usually make, measuring 23cm across....
....but I had a go at making a smaller version (18cm across) to see if the numbers worked out. I'm happy to report that they did - the final round before the scallops has to be a multiple of 4.
After the success of the Yuletide mandala, I wanted to try making another one in a completely different colour palette. I had in mind something autumnal, and inspired by the pages of the latest Country Living magazine (you can see them in this post) I picked out a selection of dusky pinks, golds and soft greens. I don't think it screams autumn, but it does have a link to those very photogenic images of pumpkins that are all over the internet (I shared some inspiration photos in this post).
I used Stylecraft Special DK from my stash and chose ten colours in total :
Vintage Peach : Pale Rose : Mushroom : Mocha : Buttermilk : Camel : Gold : Meadow : Lincoln : Sage
I absolutely love love love it, and kept feeling that it was somehow familiar.....
.....then finally realised that it shares many of the same colours as my Dune Blanket.
The smaller mandala I made yesterday is perhaps more autumnal - I picked out eight colours for this one :
Claret : Tomato : Spice : Gold : Lime : Meadow : Sage : Teal
I don't like this one quite as much - I chose to blend the colours, but I think the Yuletide spike stitch pattern works best when there are strong contrasts instead of subtle blends, to make those little hearts pop out.
If you're making the Yuletide blanket, then this pattern will already be very familiar to you. Please note that there are some small changes which make a big difference and ensure the mandala ends up as a flat circle and not a bowl shape (ie there are extra spikes, chains and treble increases worked into the rounds). That's a subtle hint to say please read the pattern carefully!
I made a PDF pattern for you, well it was a joint effort because J does all the layout stuff for me and turns my written blurb into something that looks like an actual pattern. I also spent the majority of today creating a tutorial to go with the pattern - I know many of you said you didn't need one but I hated the thought that anyone might struggle without additional photos to help.
❂ DOWNLOAD YULETIDE MANDALA PDF PATTERN ❂
At the start of the tutorial I added in some additional photos to chat about crocheting a circle, mainly focusing on how to create a neat join and how to "read" the stitches so that you avoid adding in any extra stitches which is a common mistake. I hope it's useful, especially to those of you who are new to working circular patterns.
Well I think that's about all for now, I hope you've enjoyed seeing the results of my creativity this week. I've been on such a happy high working on these lovely circles of colour, they really have delivered a lot of joy.
See you tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wooow! Beautiful!!!!
Posted by: Laura | October 07, 2021 at 10:01 PM
Thank you so much for sharing your work. I’ve printed out the pattern and can’t wait to try it. I love the Yuletide colors so much cuz they just pop. Thank J too!!
Posted by: Linda from Boston | October 07, 2021 at 09:21 PM
It’s fabulous! Thank you!
Posted by: Carly Orris | October 07, 2021 at 09:20 PM
Thank you! Beautiful colour combinations as always, I'm going to have a rifle through my stash and see what I have :)
I also really want to make one of your garlands or wreaths. I have so many ends of balls to use up before I can buy any more :)
Posted by: Dawn | October 07, 2021 at 09:15 PM
Beautifully done, and I do love the colours of the dune blanket so much, also that amazing stitch. Crochet is just so textural and delicious. The Yuletide mandala is brilliant as well. Sadly my crochet skills no longer stretch to going round in circles, I pretty much only have single, double and treble. I would love to learn the stitch from the dune blanket though, it's so pretty. I am adding to my to-do list! CJ xx
Posted by: CJ | October 07, 2021 at 09:13 PM
I love how you gift your patterns for free, such a kind heart you have. I shared it with my friends. ;>*
Posted by: Tineke | October 07, 2021 at 09:11 PM
You certainly have 3 gorgeous colour palettes there, Lucy!
Posted by: Charlotte Pountney | October 07, 2021 at 09:00 PM
Thank you so much - cannot wait to get started!!
Posted by: Kate | October 07, 2021 at 08:58 PM
Patterson 🙄 pattern....obviously
Posted by: Arina | October 07, 2021 at 08:43 PM
Lovely.....thanks. saved the Patterson and gonna make a pillow of it to go with my yuletide blanket ♡
Posted by: Arina | October 07, 2021 at 08:42 PM
Thank you so much Lucy xx
Posted by: Julie Lewis | October 07, 2021 at 08:30 PM