Green Mandala
Materials used:
Scheepjes whirl - pistachio oh so nice, brought from Hoop Haberdashery Tenterden
Sun pattern by Alli susiluoto designed and written by Zoya Matyushenko
Hoop brought from Hoopomania via Amazon
Macramé book by Fanny Zedenius
Hook size 2.5mm
Additional rounds of the pattern designed by me. @thehookgeek
I started this mandala with every intention of attaching it to canvas to put up on my living room wall. The pattern was brought from Alli Susiluoto website which was a normal pdf download purchase. At first the pattern was easy enough and very quickly it became something I had to concentrate on which was ok as long as I didn't put it down too long.
Well I got to round 17 and life got in the way. I put it down and when I came to pick it up again I was lost in the pattern and couldn't re start. I certainly didn't want to frog it so I continued by making it up as I went along. I would think about how I wanted the next round to look and I designed each round individually and eventually it grew and grew. I have the rounds I designed written down and I'm happy to share but I would urge you to either try and finish the pattern or try a few of your own ideas. I found the whole process very therapeutic. Yes it took a lot of hard work but it was very worth it in the end.
The scheepjes whirl was lovely to work with. Yes it did knot up easily but it also unknotted easily. I have used one previously to make a shawl and I love not only the colours but the feel of the cotton. Plus you get a lot for your money.
After seeing a few wonderful mandalas in hoops on Instagram, I decided I would like to put mine in a hoop. My search began and continued for ages because I was after a wooden hoop
but I couldn't find one that was big enough. after speaking to a couple of people via Instagram I discovered that using a plastic hoola hoop will not be as bad as I think. So I purchased a 70 cm hoop.
I attached the mandala first before addressing the hoop itself. I took the advice of @pineapplefibreart and attached it to the hoop in its final round. After blocking it. Once it was centred I could address the hoop. I didn't want the plastic showing. With using the Macramé book written by Fanny Zedenius I found the right-facing vertical lark's head knot and the instructions on how to do it.
To stop the colour changes to lead around the hoop back to the beginning I worked it so the colour changes went around both sides of the hoop at the same time as to not have an obvious beginning and end. This took 8 hours of continuous knotting to complete the entire hoop.
In the end I have something that I am very proud of and will look great in my living room. I have already had requests to make more but I am not going to do that, I like the idea of having something that is just mine. something I have worked very hard on and is completed because of the hours that I put into it. Now I'm not saying I wouldn't try another one because of course I will and when I design one from scratch I'll be happier to make some for others and even some to sell.
If you have made a mandala and would like to share picture or your story please feel free to comment or message me.
