From My Stash to Crocheted Mandalas
Last Updated on March 19, 2018 by lydiaf1963
I’ve turned attractive cotton blend yarns from my stash into gorgeous crocheted mandalas. Read on to see what I’ve made and find the links to the free patterns. These yarns caught my eye in the window of one of the mercantile stores here in town and I picked up several balls months ago with the idea of making mandalas. I’m just finally getting around to it! These pretty patterns can be completed in just a few hours, making them a gratifying project.
It has been refreshing to pick up a crochet hook again. I learned how to crochet when I was a child, but I don’t consider myself more than an intermediate crafter. Part of the reason I’ve started crocheting again is I’ve been itching to reproduce some of the the mandalas that have been filling my social media feeds. My intent was to make a set of pan protectors for a friend of mine who is moving into a new house. She liked the set of knit pan protectors I made for my own kitchen. I’m happy with the results and I’m sure she’ll love the bright colors. Here are four patterns that aren’t out of reach for a beginner crocheter.
Let’s start with the smallest and work our way to the largest size. The first is based on a pattern called Little Spring Mandala by Barbara Smith of Made In K Town. Her mandala was intended to be coaster size, about 5 inches in diameter. With my worsted weight yarn and a 4.5mm (Size 7) hook, mine measured 6 inches across. My favorite parts were the overlay chain stitches and the double round that creates an alternating stitch effect. (It doesn’t show up well in the photo because I chose to pair pink and white…I will make another choice if I make this mandala again.)
The second mandala was the first six rounds of Zooty Owl’s Fireworks Doily. This mandala featured triple crochet clusters to create the rays around the pattern. I really enjoyed making the clusters. It’s like doing thread crochet on a larger scale. The finished piece measures 9 inches across.
Next up is the mandala you’ll make when you download and work through Nanna Maggie’s How to Read a Crochet Chart tutorial (the link will download a PDF file.) I wrote about my experience with the tutorial in this post. I feel a lot more confident about moving forward with crocheting after completing this project. After blocking, my mandala is 11 inches across.
By far my favorite crocheted mandala was Pink Mambo’s Dream Circle which takes a round motif and turns it into a square. None of the stitches were difficult to make and the surface crochet make the rounds pop out. I noticed at the bottom of her pattern Carolyn referenced the Around the Bases Crochet A Long which adds additional rounds to anyone’s favorite round motif. I worked the first round which features a set of shell pillars. My friend will love the purple! This one is also 11 inches across after blocking.
When I came across a term I didn’t understand I relied on YouTube to help me out. I was happy to learn how to do a standing crochet for starting a round and the invisible join for ending it. I think the results are so much better when using those techniques. I also took regular breaks from crocheting in order to weave in the ends.
It was worth the effort to take the time to wet block the mandalas I probably could have opened up the last two a bit more but I was cautious as I hadn’t done a lot of blocking with cotton yarn. Live and learn!
This post is part of the monthly Craft Room Destash Challenge which was set up to encourage us to create something from supplies we already have on hand. We’re allowed $10 to purchase items like glue and such. I didn’t have to buy any supplies this month.
Every month a group of bloggers are challenged by C’mon Get Crafty to create a new craft or project from their own stash of goodies! Check out some awesome creations you might be able to make from your own stash! #CraftRoomDestashChallenge.
If you’d like to join in the Craft Room De-Stash Challenge, you can request to join our Facebook group here!
I love the bright colors on these!
Thanks Roseann, I tried correcting the colors but still wasn’t able to get them quite right. They’re much brighter in real life. 🙂
I love these! I’m always looking for fun ways to use up my yarn stash
Thanks! They were fun to make and made a change from a challenging lace shawl I’m knitting.
I love mandalas and these colorful crocheted pieces are beautiful. You’re very talented and these are little works of art.
Thanks Erlene. It was hard to narrow my choices down to the four.
I love the mandalas you made. They’re each so bright and colorful!
I had these yarns in my stash. A couple of the mandalas were demonstrated with muted colors and they were eye catching, too. I think as long at the colors work together you’ll get a good result.
How pretty. The bright colors are so cheerful. I bet your friend loves them.
I’m excited to see her again so I can give them to her. Thanks!
That turned out beautiful. Well done!
Thanks! None of the mandalas took a tremendous amount of time so they were very enjoyable to make.
I love using up yarn from my stash to finish a project.