Large Crochet Squares or Second Life of Dandelion Mandala

You have probably noticed already that I became totally addicted to making mandalas. I just love to design them. In one of the previous posts I wrote about the Colouring Mandala as a special meditation technique. And though I don’t practice meditation in its special way, I still feel the power of mandalas while designing and crocheting them. It is calming and relaxing indeed. And this is what I really need in my life – to have some time for myself and feel peaceful and quiet.

My latest Mandala design is called Dandelion. And it’s my favourite also. I normally design large circle mandalas in Overlay crochet or pillow covers made of granny squares with small mandala as a center. I didn’t try to square large mandala before but I have always wanted to try it. I just didn’t have a challenge strong enough to do that. But recently I’ve got one.

I guess many of you have heard about Sophie’s Universe CAL 2015 - an amazing colorful blanket with a beautiful central mandala hosted by Dedri Uys from Look At What I Made. I bet many of you are actually participating in this CAL and making wonderful blankets for yourself. I wish I had more time (and more yarn) to join it!

By a lucky chance I’ve heard about the Deramores Blog Competition 2015. Six famous and brilliant bloggers were teamed up together and each of them chose one crochet trend to blog about. No need to say I fell in love with Dedri’s choice at once! She has predicted Large Crochet Squares (and a kazillion colours) to be a popular crochet trend. Well… I felt so excited and challenged and I immediately came back to my Dandelion mandala, my yarns and hooks.

This is so much fun to square a large mandala. And though I did rip mine several times I had many hours of a pleasant crochet journey. And (Ta-dah!) here is the result! The Dandelion Border pattern is already available on Ravelry for purchase.

I’ve made three Dandelion mandalas so far. The first one was designed using DK mix wool yarn in cold (northern) colors. Thanks to blue-mint-and-grey palette it was possible to achieve a nice ombre effect in the corners. I also used a zig-zag motif to form the square’s edge (almost the same as for enlargement of my Sunny Mandala into a rug).

In DK weight my square measures 53 cm (21 inches). Its size is perfect for making a pillowcase. But I guess it will be much larger if worsted or even aran yarn is used. Due to usage of huge amount of overlay stitches, this square will be very thick in aran yarn and it can serve as a rug.

So first part of Dedri’s task was completed. I got a large square motif with a central mandala. But she also wanted bright and contrasting colors to be used. And I decided to also square my second Dandelion mandala which I crocheted with pure cotton yarn in purple, orange, apple green, beige and white.

Unfortunately I ran out of the specific purple yarn and it would take lots of time to order new skeins. So I decided to use a pale purple to form an edge instead. And I am satisfied with this decision as pale purple zig-zag nicely frames mandala but still gives a space for bright purple “petals” in the centre to nicely pop-up. This particular Mandala is a bit smaller and measures approx. 19 inches, but this is because the cotton yarn I used is very thin. I worked with 2.5 mm hook. And it is still good as a front part of a pillowcase.

And here is my third squaring attempt - just a smaller version made for another pillow.

I would like to thank Dedri for such a wonderful choice of crochet trend. I do totally agree that mandalas are very hot today. They are widely used in contemporary design and in crochet in particular. And I am really happy I got the chance to try my skills in squaring large mandala. It was a very nice experience. And I am ready to be your guest, Dedri! ;-)

I took progress pictures and notes while working on this project and I wrote a pattern for this border. It works not only for my Dandelion mandala but for every circle with 248 stitches on the last round.

p.s. This post is my submission to the Deramores Craft Blog Competition 2015. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies. Visit www.deramores.com for more details. 

Remember to subscribe to a weekly newsletter not to miss a single pattern and tutorial. And you can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.