A Mindful Mandala CAL – October

Welcome to a mindful mandala CAL! This crochet along is meant to help you find a mindful, hopefully peaceful, moment of crochet time each month. Plus, we’ll create something beautiful along the way!

A Spike Stitch Mandala

If you are looking for a September mandala, there wasn’t one. I took September off from all make-alongs due to some personal health issues. So, this CAL will only have 11 mandalas, but I will have a substitution for the 12th block on the afghan mandalas. October’s mandala was inspired by the falling leaves, which I represented with the single crochet spike stitch. It kind of looks like a pointy leaf end and it drops down like falling leaves. That’s my interpretation of it anyway! : )

I used this speckled yarn for the sock weight mandala, which makes me think of fall colors. For the larger mandala, I went with a darker blue for the earlier evenings we are experiencing this month.

As a reminder, the original pattern is written for sock weight yarn. I’m using Lion Brand Jeans yarn for the larger mandalas. This is a #4/worsted weight yarn and I’m using a 4.5mm/7 hook {corrected hook size!}. This month’s larger mandala was made with the color Classic. Each mandala uses between 1.6 and 2 grams of yarn. All the sock weight yarn is mini skeins from Southern Skeins from my previous club.

Check below for previous month’s patterns & check out my YouTube channel for the latest video.

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September – no mandala for this month

Progress so Far

Here’s a look at the mandalas together for the sock weight yarn. These will be joined into a free form scarf at the end of the CAL.

These are the worsted weight mandalas so far. These will be squared up and joined into an afgan at the end of the CAL. Since I missed a month, I will have a substitute for the 12th block in the afghan.

October’s Mindful Mandala Pattern

Here are all the details about sharing and the printable pattern:

• The printable PDF can be found right here. The printable PDF will be free until the end of the month each month, then it will move to Etsy for a small fee. The pattern will always be on the blog for everyone to use.
• You can share your finished mandalas in the Teadoddles Makers Facebook group. Any CAL, QAL, or other make you do can be shared there. I pick someone each month to receive a $25 Amazon gift card. All you have to do is share your makes!
• You can also share a picture in my community area on YouTube.

Supplies:

• Yarn – Sock #1, 20g / 88yds {approximately}, 75% SW Merino, 25% Nylo
• Hook – 3.25 mm – D3 {corrected hook size!}
• Note – Any size yarn can be used to make this pattern. The mandala will be larger or smaller depending on yarn weight. Just use the recommended hook size for the yarn you’re using.

Abbreviations:

• sl st – slip stitch
• st – stitch
• beg – beginning
• ch – chain
• sc – single crochet
• hdc – half double crochet
• dc – double crochet
• trc – treble crochet
• ssc – spike single crochet – insert hook into st in row below st indicated, yo and pull loop up even with height of current round, yo, draw through both loops on hook
• Xst – criss cross stitch – skip one st and dc in next stitch, dc in skipped st, going behind 1^st dc

Instructions:

• R1 – Make a magic circle, ch 3, 11 dc into circle {12 dc}
• R2 – ch1, 2 sc in each st, sl st to beg st {24 sc}
• R3 – ch 1, {2 sc in same st, ch 1, skip next sc} repeat { to } to end, sl st to beg st {24 sc, 12 ch}

Note: R1 thru R3 will be the same for all mandalas for the scarf

• R4 – ch6 {counts as dc & ch3 sp}, *dc in next ch1 sp, ch3* repeat * to * 11 times, sl st to beg ch3 [12dc, 12 ch3 spaces]
• R5 – ch3 {counts as dc}, *4dc in next ch3 sp, dc in next dc* repeat * to * 11 times, 4dc in next ch3 sp, sl st to beg ch3 [60dc]
• R6 – ch1, *ssc over 1^st st, {ch3, sl st to ssc}picot, sc in next st, 2sc in next 2st, sc in next st* repeat * to * 12 times, sl st to beg ssc [12ssc, 72sc]
• R7 – ch3, *skip picot, dc in next sc, 2 Xst across next 4sc, dc in next sc* repeat * to * 11 times, skip picot, dc in next sc, 2 Xst across next 4sc, sl st to beg ch3 [24 xst, 24dc]
• R8 – ch1, *sc between 2dc over picot, ch7* repeat * to * 12 times, sl st to beg sc [12sc, 12 ch7 sp]
• R9 – sl st to ch7 sp, ch3, 3dc in ch7 sp, ssc between 2Xst below, 4dc into ch7 sp, *4dc into ch7 sp, ssc between 2Xst below, 4dc into ch7 sp* repeat * to * 11 times, skip picot, dc in next sc, 2 Xst across next 4sc, sl st to beg ch3 [96dc, 12ssc]
• R10 – ch1, *sc between 2dc over sc in row below, {3trc, ch1, 3trc} in ssc* repeat * to * 12 times, sl st to beg sc [72trc, 12sc]
• R11 – ch1, *ssc into skipped sc from row 8, sc next 2trc, hdc next trc, {dc, ch1, dc} into ch1 sp, hdc next trc, sc next 2trc* repeat * to * 12 times, sl st to beg ssc [24dc, 24hdc, 48sc, 12 ch1]
• R12 – ch4, 2trc in same sp, *ch4, sc in next ch1 sp, ch4, 3trc in next ssc* repeat * to * 11 times, ch4, sc in next ch2 sp, ch4, sl st to beg ch3 [36trc, 12sc, 24 ch4 sp]
• NOTE: The ssc stitches in the following row will look graduated in height.
• R13 – ch1, sc in same st, sc in next 2trc, *sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 1st sc below, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 2nd sc below, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 3rd sc below, sc in ch4 sp, sc in next sc, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 2nd sc below, sc in ch4, ssc into 3rd sc below, sc in ch4, ssc into 4th sc below, sc in next 3trc, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 1st sc below, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 2nd sc below, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 3rd sc below, sc in ch4 sp, sc in next sc, sc in ch4 sp, ssc into 2nd sc below, sc in ch4, ssc into 3rd sc below, sc in ch4, ssc into 4th sc below* repeat * to * 11 times, ch4, sc in next ch2 sp, ch4, sl st to beg sc [144sc, 72ssc]
• R14 – ch1, *sc, ch1, skip next st* repeat * to *  last st, sl st to beg sc [108sc, 108 ch1 sp]

Fasten off and weave in ends

Happy making y’all!