Finished Crochet Mandalas

I’ve finally finished up the crochet mandalas, which will be centerpieces for the blankets I’m making for Christmas. My deadline was supposed to be November 1^st to have the entire blankets completed… oops!  I have a feeling it will be a busy month for me! Anyway, when I came across this pattern on Pinterest, I was inspired to make one up, just for the heck of it. It wasn’t until I was some rounds in that I decided that the size and the texture would make this square a great centerpiece for the blankets I’m making for my mom and my sister for Christmas. So I actually did each round twice as I went along, one on the purple, and one on the bright colored. They took quite a long time – I worked on them on and off since about the middle of August. But I have to say I am quite pleased with how they turned out! The texture is lovely, and I really like the flower detail on the outside of the center mandala.

 If I’m ever so inspired again in the future, I think this would look beautiful in a single color (like ecru), emphasizing the textural features. But I’m not even going to try to tackle that until I’ve caught up on my other hundred projects that need to be finished!

 The pattern is a written and photo tutorial, which makes the somewhat complicated rounds much easier to understand. My main gripe with the pattern is the hundred thousand BPSC that are made (okay, maybe not quite that many, but it sure felt like it)! I changed a couple of rounds to BLO instead, just to give my wrist a break. I think it turned out okay anyway!

 The pattern is called Sophie’s Garden. It is free and can be found here. My project pages on Ravelry can be found here for the purple and here for the bright (which coordinates with my BAMCAL colors).

So now we’re down to 47 days before Christmas (actually 46 for me, since my family celebrates on the 24^th). And not a single one of my gifts are even halfway finished! I either need to buckle down and get to work soon, or make some alternate gifts up instead.  But knowing me, I’ll end up not sleeping between now and the holidays until they’re finished!

~Mellie ★