Block Melvin

This is the very first square I've designed!
My 4-year old chose the name, naming it after himself. So cute! I feel that this is just the beginning of this square, it will most likely continue to grow.

If you want the pattern in Swedish I can e-mail you a PDF to you.

This block will cup a bit, but will be perfectly fine after blocking.

Here we go!

Yarn: Scheepjes Catona
Color 1: Any pink or red
Color 2: Green # 205
Color 3: White # 106
Color 4: Brown # 162

Hooksize: 3 mm.

Note: rounds 2-5 finishes with "needle join". Google it if you're not familiar with this join. So much worth it! Makes a neat ending, and it's supereasy!

You crochet in back loops unless stated otherwise.

Round 1
Color 1: make magic loop, 2 chains (counts as first dc), 11 dc, sl.st. in 2nd chain = 12 dc. Don't cut the yarn

Round 2
Continue with color 1. 2 chains (counts as first dc), 1 c in same st, *2 dc in next (inc)*reapeat 11 times = 24 sts. Cut and fasten yarn with needle join.

Round 3

With color 2, attach yarn to first dc of any inc.

*1 sc (first will be a chain), 1 tr in the front loop of the dc of round 1 lying right below, don't skip any st of round 2, 5 sc.* Repeat totally 4 times. Fasten yarn with needle join.

Round 4

Change to color 3. Attach yarn to second dc to the right of any tr of round 3.

*1 sc (first will be a chain), 2 sc in the next st, tr2tog (attacht the first in the front loop of the dc on round 2 to the right of where you attached the tr from round 3, and you'll attach the second to the fl of the dc of round 2 to the left of the tr of round 3), skip 1 st of round 3, 2 sc in next st, 3 sc. * repeat a total of 4 times. Cut and attach yarn with needle join.

Round 5

change to color 4. Attach yarn in the third sc on the right of any tr2tog of round 4. *1 sc (first will be a chain), 1 hdc, 1 dc, (1 dc, chain 3, 1 dc) in the same st (it will be on tr2tog of previous round), 1 hdc, 3 sc* repeat a total of 4 times. Cut yarn and attach with needle join.

Block the square to approximately 6 x 6 cm.

All done!

Mandala!

I just have to write a post about the most fun project ever! I had seen beautiful Mandalas on the internet but never understood the point in making them. I really want my work to be of some kind of use, not be put away in a drawer. It was when I saw the beautiful Instagram-account "yarn_house" (go check her account out right now!) I got my Mandala inspiration deluxe. She mounts her mandalas beautifully and they were large too!

A bit over a year ago we moved in to our house and since we're a bit slow we have barely started renovating eventhough we must fix the walls in nearly every room. (My man works shifts and we are not off work so often at the same time.) Finally I knew how to decorate the big wall in our livingroom. First put one-colored wallpaper up, and then fill the wall with huge mandalas... My man isn't really totally convinced yet... 

Well, Yarn_house also wrote where she finds the pattern. The largest ones were bought on Etsy.com by the seller CAROcreated. (Lillabjorncrochet also have some beautful ones and Yarn_house have started designing her own.) I wanted mine to be large so I chose the largest one which was Mandala no. 7.  The pattern is very instructive with photos, and suits everyone with basic crochetskills and is able to follow English instructions. Oh, and you need not to rush when reading the pattern.

The yarn I chose was Scheepjes Catona. A glossy cottonyarn, easy to work with (doesn't split very easily) and the most important of all: It comes in 81 colors, which will suit my wallproject perfectly! I bought it from the webshop: Favoritgarner.se (great service and quick delivery. Catona has a great price, just 26 kronor/ 50 g. ball.)

The start!

It's also a cool coincidence that the yarn comes in 81 colors and this mandala consists of 81 rounds!

It's also amazing how the mandala looks completely different with every round!

 

When I made mistakes it was usually because I missed either "skip 1 st" or "skip no st", so my tip is to look carefully on this particular instruction if it doesn't add up!

The pattern calls for 6 colors but I used 7 and I totally went with feeling rather than followingt the yarnchanges the pattern said. 

I used following yarnnumbers and amount: (you can see the color on the photo above)

114      1 ball of yarn

393      2 balls of yarn

106      2 balls of yarn

251      1 ball of yarn

222      2 balls of yarn

128      2 balls of yarn (exactly, would recommend 3 balls in case you crochet a bit looser than I do)

205      1 ball of yarn

I used the 50 grams balls, and I have leftovers from every color, except number 128.

The finished mandala!

And here's my colororder in case you want to make the exact same. (But you have to buy the pattern yourself, well worth the money!)

Rounds          Colornumber

1                     106

2                     222

3                     106

4                     106

5                     222 

6                     114

7                     222

8                     106

9                     128

10                   205

11                   205

12                   128

13                   106

14                   114

15                   106

16                   128  

17                   222

18                   106

19                   128

20                   393 

21                   222 

22                   106

23                   939

24                   114

25                   205

26                   393

27                   114

28                   205

29                   393

30                   106

31                   393  

32                   128

33                   251

34                   106

35                   222 

36                   128

37                   251

38                   106

39                   128

40                   222

41                   114

42                   106

43                   128

44                   205

45                   393

46                   205

47                   128

48                   106

49                   222

50                   114

51                   128

52                   106

53                   222

54                   114  

55                   128 

56                   106 

57                   222

58                   114

59                   128

60                   106

61                   222

62                   114

63                   128

64                   251 

65                   106

66                   393

67                   222  

68                   128

69                   393

70                   128

71                   205

72                   393

73                   128

74                   205 

75                   393

76                   251

77                   106

78                   251

79                   393 

80                   222  

81                   251

I'm already planning my next mandala, no. 8 in different shades of green. Just have to wait for my new printer to be installed before I can buy the pattern. Also designed mini squares in the overlay technique, I'll post the pattern here when I assembled the first actual piece with them.

Happy crocheting!