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Saturday 6 July 2013

Hello and welcome

                                 


Welcome to my first ever post in my first ever blog! Please bear with me as I am very new to this.....and coupled with being terrible with technology it is all a bit scary!

I learned to knit as a child but only really picked it up in my early twenties during a PhD in cancer research, both as a stress reliever and for relaxation. The crochet came about a year later after my Mum learnt and then taught me the basics. I taught myself from there and have never looked back. I love how quickly crochet pieces grow and how it is possible to crochet a small piece or a set of granny squares in an afternoon or an evening.

More recently having completed my PhD I am trying to get a job in science research but has been much more of a challenge than I anticipated! However, whilst I am only doing part-time work at the moment (working in a local cafe making yummy cakes!) have been doing LOADS of craft-both knitting and crochet and thought I would share with you some of the things I have been doing. I am also starting to design my own patterns (which I will share of course) and would love some feedback on any of these.

For the time being I will leave you with a couple of pictures of a project I completed very recently. The pattern for these crochet mandalas which I will use as placemats and coasters can be found on the fabulous Made in K-Town blog-one of the many blogs that have inspired me to start this one! 
Crochet Mandala Placemat and Coaster Set

I crocheted 4 of these mandala to use as placemats

....and 4 of these to use as coasters
These all used aran wool (well actually acrylic as is all I can get at the local craft shop!) and a 4mm crochet hook. The placemats were made using the spring mandala pattern by Made in K-Town and the small mandala coasters are a modified pattern of a granny circle combined with the original mandala pattern.

The pattern for the mandala coasters is as follows:

Round 1: 12 trebles into a magic ring


Round 2: 2 trebles into each treble space with 1ch in between


Round 3: 3 trebles into each 1ch space with 1ch in between each group of 3


The surface stitch and final 2 rounds are the same as the 5th, 8th and 9th rounds of the original mandala pattern (Made in K-Town), placing the double crochet (or single as the pattern uses American crochet terminology!) in the 1ch space between the sets of 3 treble crochet.


Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about the coaster pattern (tis my first time  putting a pattern together for others to interpret so could be confusing....?) then please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Enjoy the Sun! xxx



4 comments:

  1. Hi, Lovely Mandala's. I must have a go at making some. What yarn did you use? I'm new to blogging too - started a couple of months ago. Best of luck, looks great so far. x

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    1. Hi, thanks so much for your comment-my first so far! Got very exited when I got the email :-) I just used a very cheap aran (Cygnet) in crimson, white and purple. I would rather use some yarn with at least a bit of wool in it but unfortunately the local wool shop only sells this brand- have to get out on my bike for some better stuff! I'm still struggling a bit with the IT side of things but getting there I think. Just having a look at your blog now x

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  2. It's a good start! No sign of lack of techie knowledge either.

    Best wishes

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    1. Thanks :-) Its a lot harder work than I thought it would be but really enjoying it!

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