Back to Mandala Madness

Introducing Mandala Madness CAL

(12 customer reviews)

When Kimberly Slifer of the Official CCC Social Group on face book asked me to design a blanket/afghan for a CAL (crochet a-long) project for next year, I was, honoured, excited, chuffed to bits…. you get the idea!

The ideas that went spinning through my head were crazy.
But I knew it had to be something very special, and so the idea of a HUGE Mandala started to form in my mind. As I started to work on the design I kept saying to myself “this is madness”… and so the name… Mandala Madness 🙂

And after the sneaky peek we showed you all earlier in December I have just been getting more and more excited, like a four year old waiting to go see Santa.

♥ So what exactly is a Mandala?

The easiest way to understand a Mandala is to think of it as a symbolic representation of the universe, often sacred, based on a circle.
The word “Mandala” is from the ancient Sanskrit language. Loosely translated to mean “circle,” a Mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and appears in all aspects of life: the celestial circles we call earth, sun, and moon, as well as conceptual circles of friends, family, and community.

Creating a group Mandala is a unifying experience in which people can express themselves individually within a unified structure.

There are many uses for a Mandala.
The design of the Mandala is supposed to be visually appealing so as to absorb the mind in such a way that irritating thoughts are unable to get through, like a form of meditation allowing the busy mind to take a break while the creative mind is allowed to run free.

And so it seemed to me the perfect project for us all to join together and share our passion for our amazing craft.

♥ IMPORTANT: Please, be aware that all my patterns (free or paid) are protected by copyright. This pattern belongs to me, Helen Shrimpton, and I retain all rights to it.
You are not allowed to copy, reproduce, redistribute, sell or edit them in part or as a whole. You are welcome to sell your finished items made by my patterns, but you cannot use my pictures to promote them. Please, always credit me as the designer of these patterns. You are not allowed to share pdf-files created from my posts with anyone. If you would like more people to join my CAL – please, share a link to my blog with them. You can check my Terms of Use for more details. Alternatively contact me using the Contact tab at the top of this page.

 This project will give you a circular blanket.

 There are 18 parts, plus an option to make it square, written by my great friend Ineke.

 The CAL ran from Thursday 17th March to Thursday 14th July 2016.

 Though the cal is now finished, there are still many people enjoying the madness, so please ask for any help you need, and join the fun in Facebook group Helen’s Hookaholics.
This is the only official group for any of my designs.

There is loads of texture, some new stitches to learn, and this is definitely a project for colour!

You can either follow the colours I have used or take your Mandala Madness in what ever direction you could dream of.
You will have 3 options to follow the pattern.

 Download a full photo tutorial (pdf). US terms…. UK terms coming soon
 Download a written pattern (pdf) with just a small photo US terms only.
 Follow the amazing videos by the wonderful Esther Dijkstra from itsallinanutshell.com

The pattern is being translated by an amazing group of ladies from the CAL – Crochet A Long group on facebook and will be translated in many different languages.

 Afrikaans   Danish  ♥ Dutch  ♥ French   Finnish   German   Greek  Hebrew   Korean  Persian  Polish   Russian ♥ Spanish  Swedish 

♥ What will you need?

Hold on and we will get there… first some information about what I used and what is available for you to follow along with.

The CAL is being sponsored by Scheepjes and there are 3 packs available to buy.
The main stores to order from are Deramores, Paradise Fibres and Wool Warehouse, more about that later……..

With the cal now finished the main place that will continue to hold stock for all of the yarn packs is my store with Wool Warehouse.

♥ About the yarns.

Scheepjes Merino Soft

Firstly the beautifully soft and smooth Scheepjes Merino Soft which is a double knit weight yarn and comes in 50gram balls with a centre pull and a length of approx 105 meters. This yarn is a joy to work with, it is a loose twist yarn that gives a beautiful drape when finished.

I found the best technique for joining a new ball of yarn is what I call the “Text Book Join“.
Simply work over the new yarn for a few stitches, as you make a new stitch pick up the new yarn at the base of the stitch and continue to work over the old yarn for a few stitches, and either weave in the ends as you go or sew them in later.

Merino Soft is a washable 50% Superwash Extra Fine Merino Wool, 25% Micro, 25% Acryl yarn.
Scheepjes recommend washing on a cold wash with a colour catcher sheet as dye can sometimes run with natural fibres.

Scheepjes Colour Crafter

Next we have the new Scheepjes Colour Crafter yarn, again this is a double knitting weight yarn but is 100% Premium Acrylic.
Scheepjes recommend washing on a cool wash.
It is soft and so easy to work with.
Colour Crafter comes in 100gram balls with a length of approx 300 meters.
For joining a new ball of yarn you can use either the “Magic Knot“, “Russian Join” or the standard “Text Book Join”.

For my Purple Passion Mandala Madness I used a 4.5mm Clover Amour hook, as I wanted a lighter feel to this one, but you may well prefer a 4mm hook.

Scheepjes Stonewashed XL

And finally Big Earth Momma Mandala Madness, Scheepjes Stonewashed XL, and this is one big and heavy Momma!!!
Stonewashed XL comes in 50gram balls with a centre pull and a length of approx 75 meters. It is a 70% Cotton, 30% Acrylic yarn.
Scheepjes recommend washing on a cool to warm wash and this can be tumble dried.
For joining a new ball of yarn you can use either the “Magic Knot”, “Russian Join” or the standard “Text Book Join”

♥ Yarn Packs

Here is a chart giving all the details, please be aware when using multiple colours you will need extra yarn, this is why I have given the amount used and also the amount in the packs.

All these yarns are available from Paradise Fibres, Wool Warehouse and Deramores.
You can find the direct links for the colour packs below.

 Wool Warehouse
 Merino Soft Pack
 Colour Crafter Pack
 Stonewashed XL Pack  no longer available

For those of you going in your own direction, you will need approximately

 Double Knitting weight 4800 meters / 5250 yards

 Worsted/Aran weight 6300 meters / 6890 yards

Please allow for colour changes and get more rather than less…. it’s always better to have a little left over than run out and not be able to get the same dye lot or even for the colour to have been discontinued…yes that makes ya so mad…right!

♥ Resources

 Tutorials ~ The patterns of each part will be published here, on my blog, every Thursday evening at 7pm approx UK time (UTC), this is to allow everyone around the world some weekend crochet time.

 Video Tutorials ~ There will also be links to the video’s by the amazing Esther Dijkstra from itsallinanutshell.com, and the various translations.

 Ravelry. Please, add this CAL to your Ravelry queue.

 Facebook. Be sure to check out and join Official CCC Social Group which will host the Mandala Madness Cal 2016, and where you will always find friendly, helpful advice to keep you going . Don’t forget to like my face book page for information about the CAL and other projects I am working on.

 Translations. I am thrilled to announce that my CAL will be translated into ten different languages, by an amazing team of ladies from the CAL – Crochet A Long group on facebook

♥ Translations

Please click on the link to download in your language.

 Afrikaans  Afrikaans Intro
 Dutch        Dutch-Intro
 Danish      Danish Intro
 Finnish     Finnish – intro
 French      FRENCH-Intro
 German    GERMAN-Intro
♥ Greek        Greek intro
 Korean     Korean Intro
 Persian     Persian-intro
 Polish       POLISH intro
 Spanish    SPANISH-Intro
 Swedish   SWEDISH-Intro

♥ Stitch Abbreviations and Special Stitches

An abbreviation chart is included on the front page of each part of the CAL.
Also there will be detailed instructions about how to make special stitches given in the pattern for each round.

♥ Difficulty

I encourage anyone of any level of experience to try this project.
Yes there are some tricky bits, but there are also lots of simple bits too…. in fact really it is all just a matter of perspective. If you have done something before or understand how it is done then it seems easy. If you have never tried something it may seem hard…… but there is so much help and support, I know that no matter what your experience level this is something you can do because you have an amazing circle of people to help you.

I am looking forward to this international project and the amazing energy the crochet community has to share.

♥ Links to each weekly part.

  Part 1      17th March    Part 1
  Part 2     24th March    Part 2
  Part 3     31st March     Part 3
  Part 4       7th April       Part 4
  Part 5     14th April       Part 5
♥  Part 6     21st April        Part 6
  Part 7     28th April       Part 7
  Part 8       5th May        Part 8
  Part 9     12th May        Part 9
  Part 10   19th May        Part 10
  Part 11    26th May       Part 11
  Part 12     2nd June      Part 12
♥  Part 13     9th June       Part 13
  Part 14   16th June       Part 14
♥  Part 15   23rd June      Part 15
♥  Part 16   30th June      Part 16
♥  Part 17     7th July        Part 17
  Part 18   14th July        Part 18

This main introduction post will be updated as we go with all the links as they become available.

 Please remember all of my patterns are covered by copyright law and may not be copied or shared in any way. You may share a link to my website or Ravelry store with anyone, you may print the PDF for your own use, but please do not alter, change or share in any way.

 Please love and respect me, as I love and respect you. 

 The best way to be in the know with all I am up to, is to follow crystalsandcrochet on Facebook.

 If you need help and advice, the quickest way to find support is to join Helen’s Hookaholics Facebook group. There you will find a very supportive group of likeminded people. It’s also a great place to share your crystalsandcrochet makes, and see what others are making, and see what I am up to.

 If you are not a fan of Facebook you can always email me with any questions you may have by using the contact form here.

 Please feel free to sign up to my YouTube channel for lots of helpful video tutorials.

12 reviews for Introducing Mandala Madness CAL

  1. Mary Keller

    Absolutely stunning!! I really appreciate the hard work you put into this piece of art! I am going to use the same colors that you used as I find that so beautiful! Thank you Helen for giving me some much needed joy!

  2. Nataša Hric

    I have one question about materials for Big mama. Is this material only for mandala, or for squer? Thanks

    • Helen

      the amount of yarn listed is only to work up to part 18 (circle) if you want to make square you will need approx 25% more yarn.

  3. Nickie Person

    Absolutely beautiful and stunning piece of art. I’m always learning new stitches and techniques with Helen’s patterns and Mandala Madness is definitely in my top 3 favourites!

  4. Raven Gerson

    Love this site!

  5. terri needl

    I have a big bag of odd ends, so I am going to make one with all the ends. thank you for all of your hard work.

  6. Jeannette Thompson

    Love it

  7. Lynda Cornwell

    Beautiful work

  8. Jeanette de Klerk

    Wow so stunning, I have never done or dared anything remotely as beautiful as this can’t wait to venture out xxx

  9. Linda Griffiths

    I have crocheted for over 55 years and have crocheted many sweaters, afghans, baby afghans, etc., but these mandalas are really calling my name and I’ve just completed one overlay crochet rug and am turning a rug mistake into an afghan. I can’t wait to try one of these true mandala afghans.

  10. Hazel Thornhill

    Mandala Madness was my first big adventure of crocheting other than Granny Squares. I followed the crochet along put on by It’s all in a Nutshell, but now feeling much more sure of my ability I have downloaded the pattern. I just have to imagine Helen’s dulcet tones reading out each round.
    Many thanks Helen for your beautiful designs xx

    first

  11. Hyunjung Kim

    Thank you ^^☆

  12. June Hicks

    Beautiful pattern❤️

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