The Result - Crochet Mandala's part 2

I've never really understood the point of crochet mandala's or even mandala's in general. The cynical part of me thought it was just a trendy word for swatches & motifs and that mandala's were just interesting patterns.
So when I started crocheting circles mandala's I felt a bit of a fraud, so I did lots of research and discovered I was wrong.
The following quote is from Wikipedia

The mandala is "a support for the meditating person", something to be repeatedly contemplated to the point of saturation, such that the image of the mandala becomes fully internalized in even the minutest detail and can then be summoned and contemplated at will as a clear and vivid visualized image.

I've never been a spiritual person, but realised that sewing in ends is my version of meditating. I use a lot of scraps in my blankets's and love remembering the feel of the different yarn types, the sound of the scissors as I snip the ends (rustic wool is especially satisfying as it crunches) and the colours, always the colours..
Looking at the finished mandala gives me the same enjoyment, the way the colours work together, the stitches and different yarn types, I hope others feel the same way.
I'm getting immense pleasure making them, I'm using my colour and design sense's, hoping that it will help lift my block.
Having something to sell that people want to buy has bolstered my confidence, I didn't even realise it was something I missed until I started posting packages.

So I have a mandala plan...........
For the whole of January I'm going to make 2 round mandala's like the ones at the top of this post.
On Tuesday 28th of January I will post them all for sale on Instagram and Facebook, the following week I will add the unsold ones to Etsy.

For the whole of February I'm going to make 3 round mandala's, like the one below.

And for the whole of March I'm going to make 4 round mandala's

In April I will work out what to do next, maybe more mandala's, maybe my block will have lifted and I will start making more blankets or maybe I'll do both.

Watch my Instagram account and Facebook page for more updates and information.

The Reason why - Crochet Mandala's part 1

For the past 10 months I've struggled to work, my heart isn't in my work anymore, nothing seems quite right, I've only made one blanket in the past year and social networking is a chore I try and avoid.

After all our ups and downs, life has finally broken me a bit.

My children are the three best things I've ever made and when one of them needs me, I do my best to help. When Dais needed my help after the birth of Magnus, I was there. 

Ten months later Dais is back at work, Magnus still doesn't sleep well and Bert is well and truly a terrible two. Dais still needs me, so I'm still there, child caring, helping with bedtimes when Daddy isn't there, taking Magnus to toddlers group etc etc

I cherish every moment I spend with them, I'm so lucky to live so close and to be able to be such a big part of their lives and at this point in my life they are my main focus.

Being a grandparent is the best thing ever :-)

The beach photo was taken at Woolacombe, it shows Bert singing to Tinks, while his Mummy tries to keep Ron under control and in the distance Grandpa drags Magnus across the sand in his buggy

However my baby boy's don't fulfill my creative needs, so I've been mindlessly crocheting jumpers, nothing special and nothing I want to share, but it fulfills my need to create. 

Before Christmas I decided to sell a lot of my samples and swatches as I wanted to buy Phil a chiminea as an extra special Christmas present.

I sold them on Facebook, most of them were snapped up immediately (the remaining ones are in my Etsy shop), the thing that became apparent was that people especially loved my circles swatches.

Several people referred to them as mandala's, so I thought why not make more.........

Continue reading this story The result - Crochet Mandala's part two.