Welcome to the next clue of the Gift Mystery make-a-long. If this is the first time you hear about the MAL, please read all the information in the previous blog post (and yes, it is still possible to join). In the past two weeks we were making the Gift Coaster and Gift Bauble, and I hope you had fun with these small, cute patterns. And today I am excited about the next mystery pattern – a Gift Mandala.
If you joined our MALs in the past years, you probably recognize the style, as we are always making round motifs in the overlay crochet technique.
This year, I could not help myself and designed another mandala, and you can use it either as a coaster (to make a company to a Gift Coaster) or make more motifs and assembly them into a garland. And I really hope you will take the challenge and will make a full garland!
Overlay crochet technique is amazing in so many ways. It literally allows you to draw with the yarn. And what is the most fascinating about this way of crochet is that the mandala changes with every new round added.
And whatever round you stop with, the motif will look beautiful!
I’ve made a bunch of the Gift Mandalas in three sizes (with 8, 11 and 13 rounds). I plan to use the biggest as a set of coasters for the holiday table setting, and the rest of the motifs were joined in one long and festive garland.
It may take a little time to get a full dive into the technique, as some methods might be new to you (for example, an invisible needle join or beginning the round with a chain instead of a stitch). But once you master it and feel confident, you will open the door to a whole new world of the overlay crochet mandalas.
And who knows, maybe you will dare to design one yourself in the future. And if not, there are still lots of beautiful patterns to try our hand on.
For one mandala, you will need tiny amounts of yarn in three colors, and you can also mix the brands and yarn composition. For example, for my mandalas I used Scheepjes Catona, Bamboo Soft and Organicon yarns.
Some of them are finer, some are thicker. The mandalas turned out to be in slightly different sizes. But anyway, the garland worked just beautifully in the end. So… You can either dive into your stash and use up all the loose yarn tails you have there. Or you can purchase yarn in three colors and change the order of the colors for every new mandala.
And here is the magic! Even if you use the same colors with the same pattern, with a different color placement the mandalas will not look the same!
I hope you got as excited about the Gift Mandala pattern as I am! So please, go to your Ravelry library and refresh it to get instructions (you will receive two pdf files).
And if you do not own the Gift mystery make-a-long ebook yet, you can grab it HERE.
See you next week for the last clue.
Can’t wait!
Hello and welcome to the second week of the Gift Mystery make-a-long. I can’t thank you enough for the warm welcome to the Gift Coaster revealed last week. I love seeing all the cute little coasters popping up in my social feeds. And I love how creative you are with picking the colors and yarns for this pattern.
This week we are making a Gift Bauble. Because what a winter holiday make-a-long can be without a bauble, right?
I chose an overlay crochet technique for this pattern, and you will have a chance to practice picots a lot! First, I used this textured stitch pattern for the cuffs of my Lola Cardigan, and since then I had this strong feeling to create something else fully covered with the picots.
The Gift Bauble pattern comes with complete written instructions with step-by-step pictures to show the placement of all the stitches, and I have also recorded a video tutorial where I explain the basics of the overlay crochet.
Good news is that you do not have to cut yarn after every round, but you will bring it up to the next rounds on the wrong side. And even if you use more colors and cut the yarn, all ends will be hidden inside the bauble, and you will not have to weave in tails.
I used 4 colors for my baubles, each in a tiny amount. But you can pick more colors, if you like, or even crochet the Gift Bauble in one color only.
This is on my to-do list as well. I am going to join you in this make-a-long and crochet a bauble or two in just one color.
As I have already mentioned, the Gift Bauble crochet pattern is a part of a Gift Mystery make-a-long. If you have not joined it yet, you can grab an ebook from Ravelry HERE.
The make-a-long is a mystery, it means new patterns will be revealed one by one and will be added to your Ravelry library on a weekly basis (always on Wednesdays). Altogether there will be 4 patterns. And the first pattern, Gift Coaster, was published last week.
And if you own a copy of the ebook already, please refresh your Ravelry library and get the pattern.
Hope you enjoy! And see you next week.
Today we begin with the Gift Mystery make-along! The first pattern we will be making together is a Gift Coaster – a small textured mandala which will work perfectly as a coaster.
While preparing the first pattern for publishing, I suddenly realized that the year 2024 is the 10th anniversary year of being a crochet designer for me. And this year’s mystery make-a-long is the 5th in a row already! Feels like a double reason to celebrate.
The Gift Coaster is a very simple pattern to follow. It uses only basic crochet stitches and with short rows it creates fabulous texture.
The pattern comes in one size, but you can make it larger by choosing thicker yarn and bigger hook. With worsted or Aran weight of yarn, the Gift Coaster will become a wonderfully sized trivet or potholder.
The pattern comes with full written instructions (in English language with US terms), a photo-tutorial and a video explaining the technique and all tricky stitches. I am safe to say you are fully equipped to create a beautiful Gift Coaster of your own.
If you have not joined the Gift Mystery make-a-long yet, you can grab an ebook from Ravelry HERE. The make-a-long is a mystery, it means new patterns will be revealed one by one, and will be added to your Ravelry library on a weekly basis (always on Wednesdays).
Altogether there will be 4 patterns.
And if you own a copy of the ebook already, please refresh your Ravelry library and get the pattern.
Hope you enjoy!
And see you next week.
Welcome to Gift Mystery make-a-long (MAL). It has become a tradition to host a mystery make-a-long at the end of the year, and this is our 5th (!) event. Same as for the past years, I have designed 4 mystery patterns in different techniques: overlay, tapestry and crochet short rows. All patterns are new, exclusive for this MAL and were never published before!
What is Gift Mystery Make-a-long about?
The Gift Mystery make-a-long is about crocheting small and cute holiday decorations which will make perfect last-minute gifts for your friends and family.
Being a crafter myself, I understand that this is a busy time of the year for crafters, and it is not easy to squeeze new projects on your to-do list. That’s why I tried to keep the MAL projects small and doable in just several evenings. And some of the patterns can be extended to bigger projects, too.
But being small, they are also very effective.
Each pattern will use a different crochet technique, and the patterns will come with full written instructions, detailed photo-tutorial and video tutorials explaining the techniques.
The Gift Mystery make-a-long ebook includes 4 patterns, which will be revealed one by one every week. Purchasing the ebook once, you will get access to all 4 patterns which will be added to your Ravelry library on the weekly basis (on Wednesdays).
Where can you find the patterns?
The MAL has not started yet. Right now, a pre-SALE is going on Ravelry. The patterns are bundled into an eBook. When purchasing a Gift Mystery ebook HERE, you will receive an introduction pdf with details about how the make-a-long will be hosted. No actual pattern will be added just yet.
You will receive a notification when the first pattern is published and added to your Ravelry library on November 27th, 2024.
The Gift Mystery make-along will run for 4 weeks and the ebook will stay at a special price during this period. After all 4 patterns are revealed, they will become available for purchase separately, and the ebook will be listed at a regular price (without introductory discount, so be sure to grab your copy in time).
For now, the patterns will be available on Ravelry only. And after all four projects are revealed, they will be added as stand-along patterns on Etsy, too.
Which materials will you need?
To make the projects from the Gift Mystery make-a-long, you will need leftovers of yarn from your stash, a crochet hook, scissors and stuffing (for some of them). The projects are small and colorful!
The gauge is not important for these patterns, and you can use yarn in different weight and colors.
Where can you receive pattern support?
Although every pattern will include complete information about the crochet technique with progress step-by-step pictures and video tutorials, you might still have questions.
You can post your pictures and ask questions in my Facebook group HERE where we will be happy to see all your Lilla Bjorn creations! Join now our friendly community with 37K+ members.
Please, be aware that you will have to answer a simple question upon a sign up. Without answering, your request will not be approved.
UPDATE
Time line:
WEEK 1: Gift Coaster
Hope you join! And enjoy!
Every crochet design begins with an inspiration. Probably as in any other form of art. Although sometimes it is possible to kind of create inspiration artificially by starting to work on a new project mindlessly, in most cases inspiration is not dependent on our will or wishes and can hit suddenly when we do not expect it. Inspiration makes the designing process quick and easy, as if someone else is guiding you.
The best designs (at this is how it is for me) are born in no time, in days or sometimes even in hours. They carry the passion and strong energy which you can feel by just looking at the pictures.
I am often asked where my inspiration comes from. And usually, I do not know what to say as I simply do not know. I just feel highly inspired sometimes by traveling, or going to art galleries, or spending time in nature. And sometimes I do not feel inspired for weeks and months, and here the automatic designing work starts, which sometimes leads to the birth of inspiration. But usually ends with nothing creative.
No secret, that often crochet designers get inspired by yarn. Being a member of the Scheepjes designer pool, I get early access to the new yarn launches. The first time I saw promo pictures for the newest Woolwise yarn, I immediately felt “aha” moment. Just looking at the pictures I could literally smell the yarn. Sometimes we use this cliché like “love from the first sight”. Guess, this is what I felt.
I ordered a few skeins to try and see if it was any good for crochet, as some yarns are brilliant for knitting but do not work the same way for crochet. The yarn arrived, the gauge swatch was made, and the stitch definition was amazing.
A few more skeins landed on my next order, and here we go! Today I would like to present three neck warmers I designed with Woolwise yarn. They all are worked with the short rows technique, are relatively quick to make (with DK weight and 4mm hook), and are suitable even for beginners.
Hygge
I named the first one Hygge, as it feels very soft and squishy. It has more like a poncho style, but I prefer to think of it as a neck warmer. Hygge uses the similar stitch pattern as Astrid Shawl. It took me a while to figure out smooth increases and decreases, and once it clicked, I fell in love.
Hygge neck warmer comes in 4 sizes which should fit a wide range of body sizes, starting with XXS and up to 4X. You can choose a larger size for more room to wear Hygge over the coat, or a smaller size to go with your favourite long sleeved shirts.
Hygge neck warmer pattern is available on Ravelry HERE and Etsy HERE.
Ebba
Ebba neck warmer is a smaller design with round shape and the buttons. The story of Ebba is a little longer than Hygge’s. For Hygge I knew what I wanted to create from the first second. While Ebba was meant to become a wide straight cowl with the buttons on one side.
I finished the design, and not matter which size I was adjusting to, it just did not fit well around the neck. So a decision was made to add increases at the bottom to turn it more into a round yoke shape.
Ebba neck warmer comes in 3 sizes. It has a high ribbed collar which can be rolled out or styled straight for a maximum neck protection. And again, you can choose or smaller or a bigger size depending on how much of the ease you prefer. You can also easily adjust Ebba as-you-go both for the height and width and create a custom neck warmer for yourself.
The Ebba pattern is beginner friendly and is available on Ravelry HERE and Etsy HERE.
City
And finally, a City neck warmer is a simpler version of the Hygge with the same shape but easier stitch pattern. And slightly smaller than Hygge. Same as Hygge, City neck warmer comes in 4 sizes and I am safe to say that it is suitable for beginners, or those who have never done short rows in crochet before.
City neck warmer pattern is available on Ravelry HERE and Etsy HERE.
All three neck warmers were created with Scheepjes Woolwise yarn, which is 100% recycled superwash merino wool. Soft, not scratchy, wonderful to crochet with. And again, the stitch definition is dreamy.
The patterns are written in English language with US terms and include written instructions and are supported with detailed video tutorials (the links included in the pattern).
Woolwise is DK weight with 200m pre 100g, and it comes in maaaaany colors. Check them with your local Scheepjes stockiest, or shop online with Caro’s Atelier (NL & EU).
And if you cannot wear wool, you can substitute Woolwise with a different DK yarn. Laura of @taemombo helped me testing the patterns and used Scheepjes Stonewashed. And both neck warmers turned out just great!
Macarena Marskell made an Ebba neckwarmer with DK yarn from her stash.
And Esther Schippers crocheted Hygge with Woolwise yarn in size 3. To me, all samples look just gorgeous, whatever yarn you pick.
Hope you enjoy,
