Festival Sun Mandala Blanket…

Yay… I’m so happy with this new sunny design! It’s my ‘Festival Sun Mandala Blanket’… keep it round, keep it small or make it rectangular and make it BIG… whichever you prefer! 😃☀️

The full written pattern is now available over in my Ravelry and Etsy:

Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/festival-sun-mandala-blanket

Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1060396437/festival-sun-crochet-mandala-blanket

I originally designed the circular mandala for the ‘Yarn Bombing’ Festival held in Milan in June 2021. You can read more about that here: https://coastalcrochet.com/2021/06/13/yarn-bombing-festival-milan-edition-🇮🇹/ and links to the free patterns for the appliqués I added are further down in this blog post.

I’ve now adapted the design to create a square around the circular mandala and then changing the square into a rectangle making it a totally versatile design! The pattern includes instructions for the circular mandala, the square and then the full rectangular blanket too.

It can be crocheted in all kinds of yarns depending on what it will be used for… from thinner 4ply yarns to super chunky!

Here you can see the size difference when using either a 4ply cotton with a 3mm hook or a super chunky yarn with a 10mm hook!

The ‘Festival Sun’ design can be made as a simple mandala used to decorate your table or hang on the wall…

But when crocheting it using super chunky yarn the mandala can be used as a rug (be careful to ensure a non-slip backing is applied)…

Or it can be converted into a super chunky blanket! What I love about this blanket is that it crocheted up super fast using the 10mm hook! I’m used to blankets taking a lot longer to make… this one crocheted up in two evenings!

My original mandala was crocheted using Hobbycraft’s super chunky ‘Hug it Out’ yarn. But just as the pattern was ready to go, I discovered the colour of the original yarn I used has been discontinued so I’ve tried another super chunky yarn.

This is ‘Scrumpalicious’ yarn from Cygnet Yarns and it’s not like anything else I’ve crocheted with before… It’s so light and soft and here are a couple of tips I’ve learned along the way!!
1) Tie a knot in the ends before crocheting to stop fluffy bits unravelling and going everywhere!
2) Although the yarn looks thick it is in fact thin threads that are at the centre and the fluff is built around this. The end results are therefore super soft, light and fluffy but it does make it tricky to undo and it’s more delicate than you’d think, so be extra careful when crocheting with it!

This is the blanket crocheted in the ‘Scrumpalicious’ yarn by Cygnet Yarns…

And here’s the blanket crocheted in the ‘Hug it Out’ yarn from Hobbycraft… they have other colours, including a different blue that could be used.

The ‘Scrumpalicious’ is particularly soft and light but do read the tips above as it takes a little getting used to when first crocheting with it.

Salty really loves it… 😃

In my original yarn bomb design I added appliqués. The free patterns for those are here:

Fish:

https://coastalcrochet.com/2021/06/08/crocheted-fish-for-world-ocean-day/

Seagulls:

https://coastalcrochet.com/2017/04/13/coastal-wall-hanging-for-hobbycraft/

And the very central eye I haven’t written the pattern for but there’s a good one here which was designed for the actual Yarn Bombing Festival: https://momou.blog/2021/01/17/collective-artwork-for-yarn-bombing-festival-2021/

So there you go… I hope you like my ‘Festival Sun Mandala Blanket’! :)☀️

Happy Crocheting Everyone! 🙂 🙂