Crochet Mandalas: I Can't Put Them Down!

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I love our new DIY Crochet Mandala Wall Hanging Kit! The possibilities for things you can make with this kit are endless! I already made a wall hanging using the embroidery hoops, and now I’m using some of my stash yarn to make a small rug for my house. For my latest WIP, I’m holding 2 Aran-weight strands together and using a really big hook, and magically, a mandala that was only 12″ with sportweight yarn is becoming a rug!

The mandala I’m making here is the Fine China Mandala designed by Sandra Eng from the book Modern Crochet Mandalas (included in the kit). I’m taking photos at each stage so you can see what the rug looks like throughout the process. Just a few rounds in, you can see that my mandala almost covers my kitchen table. I might want this rug to be even bigger, though, so I’m considering adding a few of the finishing rounds from the mandalas in Love of Crochet Spring 2017 (also included in the kit) to add to its diameter and dress up the edge a little.

If you would like to add a fancier border, as seen in the mandala patterns from Love of Crochet Spring, there is an easy way to do it. First, figure out how many stitches are repeated to create the edging. For example, the Desert Rose Mandala border requires a 6-stitch repeat. The final round of the Fine China Mandala uses simple half double crochets (which are easy to increase if needed), and the final stitch count in the pattern tells us there are 208 hdc. 208 is not evenly divided by 6, so if I’m using the pattern as written, the border for the other mandala won’t work. However, 210 is evenly divided by 6. So I will work in an extra 2 stitches (2 increases) in that final half double crochet round to make sure my border pattern will work. However many extra stitches you need to add in, make sure they are evenly distributed around the circle so you don’t have one section with extra rippling.

This mixing and matching won’t work with every mandala. Patterns with intricate final rounds will be too difficult to add on to. Also, adding an excessive amount of stitches to a final round will cause too much rippling around the edge and then your rug won’t lie flat. That said, it’s worth experimenting! If you don’t like the look or your rug ripples too much, you can always frog it.

I might have to make this project again (it’s working up really fast) in a brighter color. Then I could place it on my white carpet and really allow that pattern to shine. There are so many exciting things to do with mandalas—I can’t wait to make some more! What will you make with the many patterns in the DIY Crochet Mandala Wall Hanging Kit? Let me know in the comments!

—Sara Dudek
Associate Editor, Interweave Crochet