It’s Christmas time and we are blog hopping! Yesterday Atty*s had an angelic design for making the cutest little angels to get you all in the Christmas spirit. And it’s working, I’ve had a silly song in my head all week! “It’s the most wonderful time of the year, ding-dong, ding-dong….” I HAVE to get this song out of my head! It doesn’t help either that the radio station I always listen to is playing Christmas songs all day.

It’s Christmas time and that means us crochet nuts can have the time of our lives making gifts for the people we love. If you want to give something big like an afgan, I think you are a bit late at this point, you should have started sooner. That, or work like crazy from now till Christmas! I suggest you try to keep your sanity intact as much as possible. If you are looking for a quick-to-make and personal gift I have just the thing for you. A Mandala Crochet Jar Topper!

I make my own jam every year from the strawberries growing in MyVegi garden. This home-made jam is a perfect gift, but just giving someone a pot of jam is not real festive or special. So enter my very first and very own design!

I have been thinking about my own designs for some time now and the Scheepjes Blog Hop was the perfect motivation to finally take the plunge in the deep and make my own design. I hope you like it 🙂

My design is number 9 in an impressive list of designs for the Scheepjes Christmas Blog Hop. The Blog Hop started on the first of december, we hopped from Annelies, Sarah, Nerissa, Tammy, Tatiana, Carmen, Jellina to Atty yesterday with those cute angels to me today and still to come are Kirsten, Bernadette and finally Maria to bring 12 days of Christmas to a close. But first, the design for today, my Mandala Jar Topper.

What materials do you need?

I used Scheepjes Catona yarn for my Mandala Jar Topper. This is slightly merciated, fingering/sock weight yarn and comes in 25g and 50g balls. I used the oh so cute 25g balls for this project because these small balls are just perfect for small projects.

I made this design in three color ways using the following Scheepjes Catona colors:

• Colorway A – 5 colors – 179, 385, 399, 247, 113
• Colorway C – 4 colors – 130, 263, 189, 115
• Colorway B – 3 colors – 241, 208, 192

I also used a 3mm (US D/3, UK 10) hook and a lovely ribbon with the text ‘hand made with love’. I think that catches this gift wonderfully.

You also need a pot of jam of course. I have my own home-made jam, but if you don’t you could buy a high quality jam from a specialist store. The jar lid has a diameter of 7cm (2.5inch), but if yours is slightly bigger or smaller that should not be a problem.

Video tutorial

I have the pattern written out for you, but if you are a visual person you might prefer following it by video. I have a video tutorial available in English and Dutch for my Mandala Crochet Jar Topper.

Tutorial in English

Tutorial in Dutch (video in het Nederlands)

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Pattern in English (US terminology) and Dutch (Nederlands)

General information This pattern uses US crochet terms and is made using Scheepjes Catona yarn and a 3mm (US D/3, UK 10) crochet hook. You can start each round with either a standing stitch or an equivalent number of chain stitches. You can close each round with a slip stitch or an invisible join. I do not specify which you should use, it’s up to you. Stitch abreviations: sl.st – slip stitch ch – chain stitch sc – single crochet dc – double crochet		Algemene informatie Dit patroon wordt gemaakt met Scheepjes Catona garen en een 3mm haaknaald. Je kunt iedere toer met een staande steek of de juiste hoeveelheid lossen beginnen. Je kunt iedere toer sluiten met een halve vaste of een onzichtbare sluiting. Ik geef niet aan welke optie je moet nemen, de keus is aan jou. Steek afkortingen: hv – halve vaste l – losse v – vaste st – stokje
Round 1 In a magic ring, make 12dc [12 dc]		Toer 1 In een magische lus haak 12st. [12 st]
Round 2 Start in any position and make 2dc in every stitch [24 dc]		Toer 2 Begin in enige positie en haak 2st in iedere steek [24 st]
Round 3 Start in the first dc of any 2dc worked in one stitch. Repeat( 1dc in first dc, 2dc in second dc) 12 times. [36 dc]		Toer 3 Begin in de eerste st van enige 2st gehaakt in 1 steek. Herhaal (1st in het eerste st, 2st in het tweede st) 12 keer [36 st]
Round 4 Start in the first dc of any 2dc working in one stitch. Repeat (2dc in first dc, 1dc in the next 2 stitches) 12 times [48 dc]		Toer 4 Begin in de eerste st van enige 2st gehaakt in 1 steek. Herhaal (2st in het eerst st, 1st in de volgende 2 steken) 12 keer [48 st]
Round 5 Start in the first dc of any 2dc worked in one stithc. Repeat (2dc in first dc, 1dc in the next 3 stitches) 12 times [60 dc]		Toer 5 Begin in de eerste st van enige 2st gehaakt in 1 steek. Herhaal (2st in het eerst st, 1st in de volgende 3 steken) 12 keer [60 st]
Round 6 Start in any position. Repeat (1dc next stitch, ch1, 1dc in next stitch) 30 times [60 dc and 30 ch1-spaces]		Toer 6 Begin in enige positie. Herhaal (1st in de volgende steek, 1l, 1st in de volgende steek) 30 keer [60 st en 30 1l-ruimtes]
Round 7 Start in any dc stitch that comes before a ch1-space. Repeat (1dc on dc, ch2, skip ch1 space, 1dc on dc)  30 times [60dc and 30 ch2-spaces]		Toer 7 Begin in enige st voor een 1l-ruimte. Herhaal (1st op st, 2l, sla 1l-ruimte over, 1st op st) 30 keer [60 st en 30 2l-ruimtes]
Round 8 Start in any dc stitch that comes before a ch2-space. Repeat (1dc on dc, ch3, skip ch2 space, 1dc on dc)  30 times [60dc and 30 ch3-spaces]		Toer 8 Begin in enige st voor een 2l-ruimte. Herhaal (1st op st, 3l, sla 2l-ruimte over, 1st op st) 30 keer [60 st en 30 3l-ruimtes]
Round 9 Start in any ch3-space. Repeat (5sc in ch3-space, 1sc between the next 2 dc from round 8) 30 times Do not cast off.[180 sc]		Toer 9 Begin in enige 3l-ruimte. Herhaal (5v in 3l-ruimte, 1v tussen 2 st van toer 8) 30 keer. Hecht niet af. [180 v]
Round 10 In the same color as round 9 make a ch1. Repeat (1sc on first sc in the ch3-space, 2hdc on next sc, 2dc  on next sc, 2hdc on next sc, 1sc on next sc, 1sl.st on the sc worked between the two dc from round 8) 30 times to make 30 petals.		Toer 10 In dezelfde kleur als toer 9 haak 1l. Herhaal (1v op de eerste v in de 3l-ruimte, 2hst in de volgende v, 2st in de volgende v, 2hst in de volgende v, 1v in de volgende v, 1hv in de v tussen de 2 st van toer 8) 30 keer om 30 blaadjes te maken.
Round 11 Make a round of surface crochet stitches on round 3 and/or 4.		Toer 11 Maak een toer opervlakte steken op de steken van toer 3 en/of 4.
Finishing off Weave a ribbon through the spaces of round 7. Tie the topper to your yar with a pretty bow.		Afwerking Vlecht een lint door de ruimtes van toer 7. Bind je topper over de deksel met een mooie strik.

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Color combinations

I have made this design in three color ways using 5, 4 or 3 colors. Which is your favorite?

	5 color way	4 color way	3 color way
Round 1	179	130	208
Round 2	385	130	208
Round 3	385	263	192
Round 4	399	263	192
Round 5	247	189	192
Round 6	113	115	241
Round 7	113	115	241
Round 8	113	115	241
Round 9	113	115	241
Round 10	113	115	241
Round 11	179	189	208

My favorite is the ‘Christmas colored’ topper in red, green and gold. With this small design I give the blog hop over to Kirsten from Haak maar raak! for a cute Christmas Cross Stitch Mug Cozy.

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas time and a happy new year. I hope to see you all next year with more nutty crochet projects.

With love,

Esther

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Copyright (C) 2015 – It’s all in a nutshell.

All rights reserved. This pattern is available for unlimited personal use. You may print a copy of the pattern or keep a digital copy for personal use only. Do not reproduce or sell this pattern (either digitally or in print). This document may not be posted online, either as a complete document or in part. Please refer to back to this pattern by linking to it from your blog or website. You may sell items that you make with this pattern as long as you credit me as the designer.

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