Textural mandala...

Not too much to show as its been another week dominated by work.

I'm still continuing with the Mandala.

The rounds are slow now, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it! After a couple of pattern repeats, it usually stays in my head and I get in the rhythm, but at times I think I must have nearly gone fully round, only to find I'm only halfway!
As promised ive managed to get a full picture, its getting harder to do so now as it increases in size!

I am really loving all the different textures that are coming through with all the different mixes of stitches, and I'm learning a great deal, trying stitches ive not used before...

I am going to be making some more baskets. I have got a few ideas that I want to try, not sure which one will be first, ill see how it starts to work up

We managed one brief seaside walk, but it was deceivingly chilly!

The waves were crashing well and it made them all frothy!

We got a new (well new to us) piece of furniture delivered this week. Its going to be great to finally sort through all our dvds and cds and be able to have easy access to them.

Sadly I don't think ill get much crafting time the week ahead either as I'm travelling northbound for a training course, but ill see what I can fit in!

And then there were 3...

So after completing last weeks small pink ombre basket, I made a start on the next.

This time using the thicker rope. I made the circular base using up the thinner line and a neutral colour, and chose my next colour scheme. The only thing I had in mind when starting out on this one, was I wanted a wider shape. For the previous two baskets I used a single crochet stitch, so it was quite tight and closed, for this wider shape I chose the double crochet stitch, which is more open and stretchy, and makes the inner rope more visible, so has a completely different look and feel to the others.

There is no knowing how these turn out, its kind of an organic way of working, as the tend to evolve as they are being made. I'm thoroughly enjoying making these, they aren't too taxing and I enjoy seeing how they turn out.

I have also managed to complete week 5 of the mandala madness, and the good news is I managed to  not make any mistakes this time!

No other news, or trips out this week, although I managed to find myself a new hairdressers. A tiny independent business. After washing and cutting, she wanted to have a little play, so I ended up with a head full of curls!

Ive managed to pick up another couple of packs of thinner rope, so its time to plan the next in the basket family, and with an extra day of crochet play next week!

Until then...