Tis the season…….

On December 23, 2021 By agrarianartisan1 Comment

….. to be colourful!

At this time of year I would normally run a Twixmas CAL, to make the days between Christmas and New Year more colourful. I started in 2014 when I ran a spur of the moment blanket CAL. Remember this?

It was a straightforward pattern, nice and easy to hook but colourful. And it was run free on my blog. A single printed pattern is also available at a charge here.

The following year I ran another Twixmas CAL but this was a mandala which is a perfect small project for those in the northern hemisphere where daylight is short and grey – a pop of colour every day really lifts you. This continued until 2020 when I ran my last mandala CAL during ‘Twixmas’.

I hope I am not going to disappoint too many people but I’m not running a Twixmas CAL this year. There seem to be a plethora of Twixmas CALs and KALs these days, unlike 7 years ago when I first started. So this year I am going to indulge myself and participate in someone else’s CAL. However, I still want to give you the opportunity to do a colourful mandala (or more) over the season so I am running a Twixmas mandala sale. It starts tonight at 9pm GMT and runs until midnight on New Year’s Eve. All my individual mandala patterns (not ebooks) on Ravelry will be available at a 50% discount if you use coupon code COLOUR on checkout. Here’s a selection of them

To make them easier to find I have created a bundle on Ravelry here. I have also added Plump! to the bundle and sale – Plump is a mandala cushion which is much bigger than my normal mandala designs so perfect if you want a larger Twixmas project.

What project will I be doing over Twixmas? Well you will have to wait and see.

Meanwhile I hope you have a lovely time over the season, whether you celebrate Christmas or not.

Until the New Year, happy crocheting xxx

Merry Christmas!

On December 25, 2015 By agrarianartisanLeave a comment

I wish all my lovely readers a great day, whether you celebrate Christmas or not.

And here for you all is the final reveal of the Soothing Mandala CAL. I hope it brings light and joy into your lives.

The pattern can be found here (in US terms and English terms) and the Ravelry discussion thread is here.

Happy holidays xxx

Soothing Mandala Part 4

On December 22, 2015 By agrarianartisanLeave a comment

Part 4 is now published. Today there is one new round, bringing the mandala up to 6 rounds now.

I’ve given you only little peeks so far, but today I thought you’d like to see Part 4 in all it’s glory:

There’s still time to join in the CAL, so pop along to Ravelry to get the pattern. Further details here.

Happy crocheting xxx

Soothing Mandala CAL

On December 16, 2015 By agrarianartisan1 Comment

The next stage of the Winter Blanket CAL won’t be published until Boxing Day, so if you have been waiting patiently (or impatiently!) I have another CAL to keep you occupied until then.

It is a charitable mandala CAL which will commence on Saturday 19^th December and conclude on Friday 25^th December. Each day one or two rounds of the mandala pattern will be published, with the last round being published on Christmas Day – or I should say rounds because I will have 2 options for the final round. I’ve named it the Soothing Mandala as a round or two of crochet every day may help soothe you in the hectic run up to Christmas! If you don’t know what a mandala is this may inspire you:

My aim is to raise some money for a great charitable cause – The Christie Charity. This is a UK cancer hospital charity and for those who don’t know about it you can read more here. This has been one of my favourite charities for many years. Not many people are aware of all the services provided by The Christie – two in particular are the Complementary Therapy and Art Sessions & Therapy, both of which are funded entirely by the charity. Mandalas are frequently used in colour therapy and meditation, and these fit very well with the Complementary and Art Therapies, and so it seemed a good type of CAL to use to support the charity. Who knows, one day crochet could feature in the alternative therapies used!

How will it work?

The pattern will be available on Ravelry, and will be updated each day as new rounds of the mandala are published. A code will be published on the blog on Saturday which will allow you to obtain the pattern free until the end of the year. This makes the CAL accessible to all, which I hope will raise awareness of the charity. However, I will also publish links to a Justgiving charity page where you can donate to the charity; whether you wish to donate is up to you, as is the amount. In addition all proceeds from the sale of the pattern from Saturday until the end of 2016 will be donated to The Christie, so hopefully there will be ongoing benefits for the charity also.

What materials are needed?

I used a dk cotton in up to 9 colours, using only small quantities of each, a 4mm hook and a tapestry needle.

However, it could be made in any type or weight of yarn (although I wouldn’t recommend anything heavier than aran), provided you use a suitable hook size.

How difficult is it?

The pattern is written in the round and uses no complex stitches, just chain, double crochet, treble, half treble and slip stitch. So if you know how to work these then you should find it straightforward. I will publish an update photo on the pattern each time new rounds are published, so you will have a visual aid as well. The pattern will be written in English crochet terms initially, but I will add US terms once the full pattern is published on Christmas Day.

If you’ve never made a mandala before this should be a great one to try as there will be chatting and support on my Ravelry group.

Until Saturday….

Happy crocheting xxx

Magical Mandalas

On September 17, 2015 By agrarianartisan2 Comments

At long last I have put the finishing touches to my ebook on mandalas. This was a task I started a couple of months ago but something always prevented me finalising it. It is now complete!

Did you know that the word mandala is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit which loosely translated means “circle”. It has great spiritual meaning and also is fabulous for colour therapy and healing.

There are 8 designs in the ebook:

From left to right: Julie’s Mini, Sunshine, Simply Solid, Mary’s, Lace & Texture, Starry, Buxton and Simply Alternative.

It has been published in all the usual places – Ravelry, LoveKnitting/LoveCrochet, Etsy and Craftsy. It contains 8 different designs, 5 of which are already available as individual patterns, but 3 of which were made available only in workshops previously. So there is something new for almost everyone!

I thought this would be my final work on mandalas, which have entranced me this year, but I have another special design waiting!

Happy crocheting xxx

Anniversary Mandala Cushion CAL – the reveal!

On August 14, 2015 By agrarianartisan2 Comments

I’ve just published the full and final pattern for the anniversary CAL. So here’s the reveal:

As you can see, the front and back of the cushions I made are different, as I like a little variety. Of course, if you make a cushion you could make the front and back the same…….but which would you choose?

The full pattern is now on Ravelry, Lovecrochet, Etsy and Craftsy and is now full price. But there’s still time to join in the CAL on the Ravelry forum 🙂

Happy crocheting xx

Part 2…

On August 7, 2015 By agrarianartisan2 Comments

Today part 2 of the Anniversary CAL is published. You can find it on Ravelry and LoveCrochet.

Part 2 has a new motif – a large one! And it is included in this mini cushion I made:

As you can see the 2 motifs work together well, I designed the sizes so that they did! Part 2 of the pattern includes a suggested layout if you’d like to make a blanket or throw with just these 2 styles of motif, but there are plenty of other options available – just use your imagination (and maybe a little maths!).

If you haven’t already joined in the CAL, please do – I love seeing what everyone makes with the motifs.

Happy crocheting xxx

Doodling mandalas….

On June 22, 2015 By agrarianartisan3 Comments

As you know, I have a new addiction to mandalas. And I may have mentioned that I am a constant crochet ‘doodler’, never far from my hook and yarn and playing with all sorts of designs all the time. I have found that mandalas and doodling go very well together and this weekend I ‘doodled’ a new design.

It needs more work because it doesn’t fulfil all I need from a mandala. So the next stage in the design process is to write the pattern as I made it, but adjusting where I think it needs improving. And then I will make another one – using only the pattern. A few people will be invited to test the pattern. Eventually it will become a full fledged design and the pattern will become available. For now it is just one of my latest favourite ‘doodles’.

Happy crocheting xx

The Magic of Mandalas

On June 6, 2015 By agrarianartisan4 Comments

I think it is fair to say that the 4 lovely crocheters who came to my mandala workshop this afternoon had already fallen under the spell of magical mandalas. I hope they went away having learned more about the maths and the ways to make them easier and neater. And I know they went away having already made mandalas to their own designs.

There was plenty of yarn to choose from (22 shades of Stylecraft Cotton Classique DK), copious notes and patterns (I do like to write notes!) and a whole host of mandalas that I have made (some to my own design, some not) which I hope provided the right inspiration.

The four mandalas they made were all different, not just in colour but also in the techniques they chose to practice – definition, petals and maths were all being practiced.

I hope they don’t mind me sharing their designs with you: