Mandala Magic

Mandala making is an addiction beware!

A mandala is the new doily.

Little circles of colour and pattern completed in an hour,

 perfect to satisfy any colour craving and the need for creativity!

They are beautiful around your home

 for use as table mats to protect furniture

or just alone to add a cheerful burst of colour and crochet!

This star doily is 9.5 inches / 24 cm diameter

 and is perfect for under a vase.

This granny star doily is a free pattern from the blog of

Sweet Sharna

it is really easy and suitable for beginners

 who have mastered the granny square.

If you don't want to make your own,

 you will find these for sale in my Etsy shop

HERE

I have been using the gorgeous colours of

Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK

and have put together 3 colour packs for you to suit all tastes.

Rainbow, pastels and Cath Kidston style

in my colour pack shop

HERE

Small mandalas are perfect for use as coasters.

These coasters are 5 inches / 13cm diameter.

This pattern is a particular favourite of mine as it is very thick.

It is from the book

Vintage Style Crochet Projects

 by Agnieszka Strycharska.

It is clearly written in US terms and has a lovely clear chart too.

I like to buy crochet books to give payment to the author,

 knowing how much time it takes to write a pattern and get it into print.

 However if you wish to search around

 you will find many free patterns for mandalas on

 Ravelry and Pinterest.

Classique cotton dk is a thick cotton yarn with a good twist.

 It does not split and it has a lovely natural cotton finish.

 The colours are just wonderful 

and as I said before mandala making is addictive!

Coffee and crochet is as always my favourite pastime

 and much pleasure is to be had matching my mug to my yarn!

This is another free pattern from the blog of

Crochet Millan

 called the Little Cherry Blossom Mandala.

It is a medium sized mandala 9 inches / 23 cm in diameter.

It is a wonderful step by step tutorial with photos and

 instructions in Swedish and English using US crochet terms.

When this pattern is made the mandalas curl,

 as you can see in the stack below.

So blocking is important to improve their finish.

I pin them out onto a foam blocking board (bought on ebay)

spray with cold water and leave to air dry over night.

The transformation is amazing!

Blocking is magic and well worth doing.

It really doesn't take long and when you get used to doing it,

 it just becomes part of the process.

There are stacks of these pretty colourful doilies

 here in my

 Etsy Shop

 waiting for new homes!

They are perfect gifts for Mothers Day, Easter, 

New Home, Birthdays

 or at any occasion when you may gift flowers.

Light weight and easy to post too!

When you have accomplished these smaller mandalas,

 you may like the challenge of a giant mega mandala!

These are super as a table centre.

They are fascinating to make, using a variety of stitches and colours.

This is another free pattern from the blog of 

Redagape

 called Mandy's Mega Mandala.

It measures a giant 16 inches / 40cm in diameter

 and will make a wonderful crochet statement in your home.

If I haven't yet tempted you to dig out your hook and get making,

 then take a look here at my 

Pinterest board

 for a collection of mandala patterns!

Wishing you all a happy hooky day

Heather

x x x

A busy week

Hello my friends happy Friday to you all!

Today has begun with an hour working on a batch of these mini grannies. Oh they are so labour intensive at this stage and I must admit I don't like the fiddle of the ends . . . but as we all know if we want colour we have to put up with ends! As always, I'm working in a production line fashion and will do all of the round 2s in stone, then sew all their ends in.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how I deal with ends. Unfortunately in the traditional granny square you cant just crochet over them, as the work is not close enough to hide the ends or hold them securely, so they must be sewn in with a needle at the end. I will be writing a tutorial soon about this very topic to help the many of you who have asked.

This pretty pastel granny square blanket

 began this week and is to be a gift for a new baby.

 I have designed this colour recipe to be neutral

 and so suitable for boy or girl.

I am using

 Stylecraft Special DK

 in

cream soft peach apricot

 stone parchment lemon pistachio

 spring green duck egg and cloud blue

Its been a busy week here at Patchwork House

 with Mandala making having been an exciting task in between blanket making.

 The arrival of a gorgeous new book

Mandalas to Crochet

by Haafner Linssen

has been such a delight!

I highly recommend it!

Beautifully written with clear instructions, 

photos and charts and using UK terms!

you can find a link to it on my recommended book list

 on the sidebar to the right.

I have used

Sirdar Cotton DK

It has a fine twist which prevents splitting and a lovely sheen.

 I chose to use a 3mm hook to produce a firm texture for the mat.

The new designs I've made have been so popular

 and have flown out of my 

Etsy Shop

with great speed.

 But there are still a few others remaining if you are quick!

Finally I promised to show you the final views of the

 Juicy Fruits blanket

 which has now reached its new home.

This blanket was a special commission for a

 new yarn shop 

opening soon in Holmfirth, W Yorkshire.

For the border I chose 27 from the book

Around the Corner

by Edie Eckman

This is a great book with a fantastic choice of edgings.

 It has clear instructions written in US terms and also charts.

You can find it in my list of recommended books again on the sidebar.

It was sad to see this go as it had been a pleasure to make,

 but it really wasn't my colours,

 so I will be happy to see it soon in its new home at

Poppy's

yarn shop in Holmfirth.

Coming next

 you will see me working on some

Ombre Crochet

using again the

 Circle of Friends square

 by Priscilla Hewitt

I have been plotting and planning

 lots of yummy colour blends from the wonderful colour palette of

 Stylecraft Special DK

and I think you'll agree its amazing

 how different the square looks in these colours!

so here I'll leave you

 with a little snippet of what is to come!

Have a very happy hooky evening my friends

Heather

X X X

Making Rainbows

Today I am really excited

 to be able to tell you about a competition

 to win £500 worth of yarn!!!

I have joined together with 5 other bloggers

 to help launch the

 Deramores Blog Competition 2015

Here's how you can take part!

Everyone loves a rainbow

red  orange  yellow  green  blue  indigo  violet.

Lately I've been playing with colours

 a lot

as a Mathematician

 order is very important to me

and

as an artist 

colour fills me with passion

so

 to create a rainbow

 is perfection

 in my little world!

A few months ago

 I made myself a set of shade squares

 for all my favourite Stylecraft Special DK shades.

I used a small 3 round solid granny square

you can find a pattern 

HERE

Hours of fun and playing

 ended up with this combination

 for my bright traditional rainbow

I tried it out on a star shaped baby blanket

using a free pattern by 

Celeste Young on Ravelry

and the result was amazing!

but the artist in me wants to play

and my brain is continually making new rainbows

a pastel rainbow was next on my hook

oh so pretty

then again more playing with my squares

resulted in 

bright versus vintage

rainbows

using my creative license

I next hooked a

vintage look rainbow baby blanket

and I really love these soft muted tones

So where did this rainbow trend begin?

I have to give thanks

 to my hooky friends over on

 Instagram

This winter there has been a craze inspired by

 a beautiful Cath Kidston blanket.

So many of my clever hooky friends

 have been making their own versions, 

beautiful granny striped blankets

 with a parchment background.

totally inspired by the lovely makes of

 @wooly_creations

@pandagourgh

@yarnandwhatnot

@thelittlegreencupboard

and many others

I finally gave in and tried it myself

adding the neutral background

 to my vintage rainbow

 resulted in this amazing 

Cath Kidston inspired

 granny square baby blanket

Rainbows have spread into my cotton creations too

I always begin with a traditional colour order

Mandala making

 is such a perfect way

 of trying out colour combinations

but I soon find myself thinking

 that rainbows don't have to include all 7 shades!

Before I know it I'm shading pinks and purples

and blending blues and greens

Working with colour is therapy to me

it excites me

and makes me come alive!

So what better rainbow celebration

than my latest creation of a dream catcher!

This pattern by ATERGcrochet is available to buy on Etsy

HERE

So are you inspired?

 Do you want to play with colour too?

Oh I do hope I've got you rushing for your hooks

 and diving into your stash!

Ladies I'm really excited to tell you

 about the fabulous new

 competition 

I'm helping launch

would you like to win

 £500 worth of yarn

? ? ?

All you have to do

 is play with colour and crochet something wonderful!

Blog about your makes and enter the competition.

You will find all you need to know here

HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

Go on you know you are itching to create

and who doesn't need more yarn!

You can enter many times

 and there are 5 other trends you can follow too!

This week I will be playing with a bright rainbow

 and a cream background! 

Come back next week to see what I made!

Do leave a comment to let me know what you are making

 and entering into the competition, 

I'd love to pop over and visit your blogs

 to see what you are making

Happy hookin

Heather

X X X