Sunburst Mandala Cushion CAL intro

The CAL will start on the 10th of November

There will be 5 parts to the pattern, a new part released each week. You can crochet along with others, or at your own pace


On the 9th of November you will be able to buy the pattern from Ravelry. There will be another part added each week, and you can also download that. You will get a message that an update has been added

The first part will be released on the 10th of November (Australian time), this may still be 9th November for some of you

Part 2 will be released on the 17th of November (Australian time)

Part 3 will be released on the 24th of November (Australian time)

Part 4 will be released on the 1st of December (Australian time)

Part 5 will be released on the 8th of December (Australian time)

The CAL will be hosted by https://www.facebook.com/groups/CrochetALongwithUs/


The pattern will be available from Ravelry from the 9th November https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sunburst-mandala-cushion

The pattern will be discounted to AUS$4 during the CAL (that's even less in American dollars).


Or make a donation of your choice
https://craftcove.blogspot.com/2015/04/donations.html

Things you'll need

You'll need to buy the pattern from Ravelry, or make a donation, and message me


You will need some stitch markers (this type is my favourite type)

  

You will need a 3 mm hook,or the size hook needed for a gauge of 5 rounds of pattern = 1.6 inches (4 cm).   You will also need a 3.5 mm hook

You will need 150 - 200 grams of each colour of 8 ply yarn (DK)

You will need 4 colours. eg, white, pale yellow, medium yellow, and dark yellow

You can use any colours you like, though.  Here's some colour inspiration

If you want to do it in yellow, like my original, some good yarn choices are:

Yatsal Knitting Yarn 8 ply 100g
Golden yellow W048
Yellow W110
Lemon W109
White W039

Paintbox yarns  DK/8 ply
Buttercup yellow 222
Mustard yellow  223
Neon yellow   258

Scheepjes catona  DK/8 ply
100 Lemon Chiffon
280 Lemon
208 Yellow Gold

I've also begun making it in blues

Sunburst Mandala Cushion colour play

I originally designed the Sunburst Mandala Cushion to be yellow. Like a burst of sunlight. 

But you can make it any colour you like

I've played with an editing program to give you some ideas of colours you could use

Want to make this?
https://www.facebook.com/events/517057379036679/

Sunburst Mandala Cushion

I wanted to create a burst of sunlight

Then I found this image

I played with crochet stitches and designs, over and over again


Eventually, I came up with this design

But I prefer something useful. So I decided to make it into a cushion

I could have made it into a round cushion like this. But I decided to play some more. I'll turn it into a square

I wanted to try something different to square it off. And I wanted to incorporate the border again, I really liked the way that turned out


So eventually I came up with this cushion 

And now for the back. Do I just do a fabric back?  No. I wanted more crochet. But I also want to do something that will match..... But not the same ..... 

Finally I came up with this

Worked as a square, but still using some overlay stitches

And still the suggestion of rays of the sun

Want to make this?

https://www.facebook.com/events/517057379036679/

Pdf's now available

I've decided to make my free patterns also available as printable pdfs

They are still available for free here, but if you want a nice easy way to print it, you will be able to download it for a small fee

Patterns take a very long time, and a lot of effort to create

It is a huge process, that includes many steps

Thinking of the design

Occasionally this step can be easy.

But most often it takes a lot of thought and ideas, and looking at a lot of inspiration


Creating the design

This is probably the hardest part.

What yarn, or thread would work best for this?

What stitch, or combination of stitches would work best for this?

How many stitches will I need?

Then it needs to be made, and undone, and made, and undone, many times, usually, until it's right, and it works the way I want it


Writing it up

This is another challenging part. I usually write notes as I go. But it's a completely different thing to have the pattern written with all the proper terms and wording in it.

It takes a lot of work going through the whole pattern to add all the words, terms and phrases in the proper crochet terms so that everyone can understand it


Testing

This is where other people come into it

I need a range of people who can read crochet patterns to look through the pattern, and crochet the item

They will see it through new eyes, being unfamiliar with the design, they will often see errors, or better ways with wording than I can

I'm often amazed at what I can miss. And how different testers can see different things


Final pattern

And finally we have the final pattern

All my patterns are pretty cheap, especially when you consider my most expensive pattern might only just buy me a coffee in Australia.

The pdf's are $2 Australian, which is half a coffee

Want to learn how to make this?

I have decided to have a crochet-along (CAL) for this pattern, Sunburst Mandala Cushion

What is a crochet-along?  It is a group of people who work on crochet a pattern at the same time.

You work at your own pace, and if you fall behind, it doesn't matter. But there will be support from many others along the way



In this case, there will be 5 parts to the pattern, with a new part posted each week

This will start on the 10th of November, and will be hosted by this Crochet along group


It's all online. So no need to turn up anywhere, you can do it no matter where you live in the world. You can also create your own get together to have a fun and a coffee while crocheting

Find out more, and keep updated here