Yarny Notes

Birthdays, family celebrations, or a pick-me-up day all have us thinking what will make a fitting gift for the recipient. If you are like me , you are probably tossing around a million ideas in your head and by the time you have settled on what gift to make, the D-day is looming in your face!

I have made countless gifts in the 11th hour ! I am trying my best to plan better and of late have become better at getting the handmade gifts done ahead of time.

That said there is still the one off occasion that has me scurrying around.

Over the last year , my daughter and I have designed a variety of quick gifts to crochet. These are our favorites and the pattern link on the image will take you to these specific patterns in our Ravelry store that has over 150 patterns! You can find these and other patterns on our Payhip store if browsing Ravelry is not an option!

This year while thinking of what to design for a quick make gift item, I decided to make a mandala that can be made without much fuss and with just 53 gms of worsted weight yarn.

Right on cue, Susanna (crochet_fosbas) called for designers to participate in a Quick Christmas make blog hop! I jumped in head first as usual!!!

This quick Christmas blog hop comes with an array of not 10 , not 20 but 32 amazing patterns that are all very quick to make and gift to your loved ones or keep one set for yourself too!

Click below to head over to Susanna’s blog to learn how you can get the patterns that are part of this awesome blog hop!

Don’t want to wait for pattern code every day? You can get the whole bundle for a just $12.99 which comes to less than 50 cents per pattern! That’s a huge savings as well as allowing you get the patterns in one shot! Interested? Click below to get 32 amazing patterns.

Day 7 pattern is by yours truly and it’s called the Bijouterie mandala as it reminded me of a mat studded with precious gems! You can get the ad free pdf by clicking below. This will take you to our Ravelry Store . If you have issues logging in to Ravelry , you can alternately get the pattern from our Payhip Store.

You can also find the pattern right here on my blog! I would appreciate if you could use the tags #vivadesigns, #bijouterie when you share your makes on social media!

Let’s begin making the mandala!

Bijouterie Mandala

Materials:

Yarn : GoHiBulky cotton( or any 4-ply cotton) This yarn is very similar to Laura Knitting cotton we get here in India. Can be substituted with Lion Brand 24/7 cotton or Peaches and cream’/Sugar and cream cotton.

– Citrus CA – 1 Ball(used approx. 50 gms)

– Tango CB – 1 Ball(used approx. 10 gms)

Hook : 5.0 mm

Additional materials

Pair of Scissors

Yarn needle

Blocking mat

Blocking pins

Gauge: round 1 diameter = 2”

Finished size: 10.5” across.

Stitches and Abbreviations:

Beg – beginning

YO – yarn over

Ch – chain

Sp – space

St – Stitch

Sk – Skip

Sl st – slip stitch

SC- single crochet

BegDCl – Beginning Dc cluster worked as follows : ch2, yo insert hook in sp or st indicated, yo pull up a loop , (yo , pull through 2 loops) twice. Basically you are working a ch2 and a dc to make this stitch.

DCl – Double crochet Cluster worked as follows: (yo , insert hook in the same st or sp, yo pull up a loop, yo pull through 2 loops) twice, yo , pull through all loops.

BegTCl – Beginning treble cluster worked as follows : ch3, [yo twice, insert hook in the sp or st indicated, yo, pull up a loop, (yo , pull through 2 loops)twice]twice, yo , pull through all loops on the hook.

BegPC – Beginning popcorn worked as follows : ch3(counts as first dc), 4 dc in the sp or st indicated, remove hook from the last dc made, insert hook in the 3^rd ch of beg ch3, pull the last loop through .

PC – Popcorn stitch – 5 dc in the sp or st indicated, remove the hook from the last dc made, insert hook in the first dc, pull the last loop through.

TCl – Treble crochet cluster worked as follows : [yo 2 times, insert hook in the same st or sp, yo pull up a loop, (yo, pull through 2 loops)2 times]twice, yo , pull through all loops on the hook.

Difficulty: Intermediate

Notes:

1: When working round 7 make sure to include the chain space of the previous round while working the TCl stitches. The chain space is enclosed within the cluster st and is not visible from the wrong side.

2: You will not be using the full ball of yarn.

3: The DCl is 2 double crochet cluster and the TCl is 3 treble crochet cluster

4: When you join a round with hdc , you are creating the last ch2 sp for that round.

Pattern Instructions

Round 1: Using CA, in a magic circle, BegDCl, ch2, DCl, (DCl, ch2, DCl)5 times in the ring. Join with sl st to the BegDCl – 12 DCl 6 ch2 sp.

Round 2: Sl st into the first ch2 sp, (BegDCl, ch2, DCl) in the same sp, [(DCl, Ch2, DCl, ch2, DCl) in the next ch2 sp]5 times, DCl in the same sp as the BegDCl. Join with hdc to the BegDCl – 18 DCl 12 ch2 sp.

Round 3: (BegDCl, ch2, DCl) in the same sp, [(DCl, ch2, DCl) in next ch2 sp]11 times. Join with sl st to the BegDCl – 24 DCl 12 ch2 sp.

Round 4: Sl st into the first ch2 sp, (BegDCl, ch2, DCl) in the same sp, [(DCl, ch2, DCl, Ch2, DCl) in the next ch2 sp]11 times, DCl in the same sp as BegDCl. Join with hdc to the BegDCl – 36 DCl 24 ch2 sp.

Round 5: (BegDCl, ch2, DCl) in the same sp, [(DCl, ch2, DCl) in the next ch2 sp]23 times. Join with sl st to the BegDCl. Do not fasten off CA. Pull up a tall loop and remove hook- 48 DCl, 24 ch2 sp.

Round 6: Join CB with sl st in any ch2 sp, BegPC, *ch5, PC in the next ch2 sp, repeat from * around ending the round with ch5, sl st and join to the BegPC. Fasten off CB – 24 PC, 24 ch5 sp.

Round 7: Insert hook back into the loop that was dropped at the end of round 5, tighten the loop, BegTCl, *sk next PC of round 6, TCl in the next DCl of round 5, ch3 **,  TCl in the next st of round 5, repeat from * around ending the round at **. Join with sl st to the BegTCl – 48 TCl24 ch3 sp.

Round 8: Ch1(does not count as st), sc in the same st, sc in the next st, *(sc, ch3, sc) in the next ch3 sp **, sc in each of the next 2 sts, repeat from * around ending the round at **. Fasten off CA. 96 sc 24 ch3 sp.

Weave in the ends, block and enjoy by laying it on a table or mount it on an embroidery hoop and put it up on the wall!