Mandalas are still a favorite of mine, and I really enjoyed designing my Bubbling Brook Mandala. It was originally published in CrochetNow magazine, but is now available to you for free. Of course, as you have come to expect from me, the patten comes including a free video tutorial to help you with the tricky bits.

Resources

• Bubbling Brook Mandalas on Ravelry
• PDF Pattern on Ravelry (buy directly)
• PDF Pattern on It’s all in a Nutshell SHOP
• Video tutorials – RIGHT HANDED
• Video tutorials – LEFT HANDED
• **Bubbling Brook Mandalas Yarn Kit**
• 3.0mm hook
• Social Media #itsallinanutshell

Pattern in one document

The pattern for Bubbling Brook Mandalas is available for free here on my website. If you prefer to have the pattern as a printable pdf document, you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or in my SHOP for a small fee.

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Materials

You will need 4 colors of Scheepjes Catona (50g/125m) yarn and 2 mandala rings to make your Bubbling Brook Mandalas. The sample shown uses the following colors

Everything you need to make the Bubbling Brook Mandalas is available as a kit in my SHOP. The kit includes yarn, mandala rings and the pattern.

Scheepjes Catona is available from Wool Warehouse (UK), Jimmy Beans Wool (USA), The Knitting Network (UK), Love Crafts (USA / UK), Caro’s Atelier (NL / EU), and many other Scheepjes stockists.

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Abbreviations

This pattern uses US terms
bpsc  back post single crochet
ch  chain
ch-sp  chain space
dc double crochet
fphdc  front post half double
hdc  half double crochet
sc2tog  two single crochet stitches worked together over the indicated stitches
ss  slip stitch
st(s)  stitch(es)
tr treble crochet
popcorn  5dc in indicated stitch, remove hook from working loop, insert hook from front to back in first dc made, replace working loop on hook, pull loop through stitch, ch1 to close.

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Bubbling Brook Mandalas – Free Crochet Pattern

Maxi Bubbling Brook Mandala

Round 1 With Color C, ch4, join with ss in first ch to form a ring. Working into the ring, ch4 (counts as tr), 15tr in ring, close with invisible join. [16 tr]

Round 2 Join Color A in any stitch with a standing bpsc, 1bpsc in each stitch around, join in first standing stitch with ss. [16 bpsc]

Round 3 Continue with the same color, ch3, 1dc in the same stitch, *ch3, skip next stitch, 2dc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final 2 dc, join in top of beginning ch3 with ss. Fasten off. [16 dc, 8 ch3-sp]

Round 4 Work all stitches in this round in front of the stitches of Round 3. Join   Color D in any skipped stitch of Round 2 with a standing popcorn, *ch4, popcorn in next skipped stitch of Round 2; repeat from * to end omitting final popcorn, join to first popcorn with ss. Fasten off. [8 popcorn, 8 ch4-sp]

Round 5 Work all hdc in front of the ch4-sps of Round 4 into the stitches of Round 3. Join Color A in the first stitch of any group of 2 dc of Round 3 with a standing hdc, 2hdc in the same stitch, *2hdc in next stitch, fphdc around next popcorn, 3hdc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final 3 stitches, join to first standing stitch with ss. [40 hdc, 8 fphdc]

Round 6 Continue with the same color, ch3, 1dc in next 4 stitches, * 2dc in next fphdc, 1dc in next 5 stitches; repeat from * to end omitting final 5 stitches, close with invisible join. [56 dc]

At this point the mandala measures 7.5cm / 3inches in diameter. If your mandala is larger, replace the dc stitches of Round 6 by hdc.

Round 7 Join Color B in the second of any 2 dc worked in a fphdc with a standing bpsc, 1bpsc in each stitch around, join in first standing stitch with ss. [56 bpsc]

Round 8 Continue with the same color, ss to next stitch, ch3, *2dc in next stitch, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next 3 stitches, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final stitch, join in top of beginning ch3 with ss. Fasten off. [48 dc, 16 ch2-sp]

Round 9 Work all stitches in this round in front of the stitches of Round 8. Join   Color C in any skipped stitch of Round 7 with a standing popcorn, *ch5, popcorn in next skipped stitch of Round 7; repeat from * to end omitting final popcorn, join to first popcorn with ss. Fasten off. [16 popcorn, 16 ch5-sp]

Round 10 Work all hdc in front of the ch5-sps of Round 9 into stitches of Round 8. Join Color B in the first stitch of any group of 3 dc of Round 8 with standing hdc, *2hdc in next stitch, 1hdc in next stitch, fphdc around next popcorn, 1hdc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final stitch, join in first standing stitch with ss. [64 hdc, 16 fphdc]

Round 11 Continue with the same color, ch3, 1dc in next 3 stitches, *2dc in next fphdc, 1dc in next 9 stitches; repeat from * to end omitting final 4 stitches, close with invisible join. [88 dc]

At this point the mandala measures 13cm / 5inches in diameter. If your mandala is larger, replace the dc stitches of Round 11 by hdc.

Round 12 Join Color D in second of any 2 dc worked in a fphdc with a standing bpsc, 1bpsc in each stitch around, join in first standing stitch with ss. [88 bpsc]

Round 13 Continue with the same color, ss to next stitch, ch3, *2dc in next st, 1dc in next 2 stitches, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next 5 stitches, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final stitch, join in top of beginning ch3 with ss. Fasten off. [80 dc, 16 ch2-sp]

Round 14 Work all stitches in this round in front of the stitches of Round 13. Join Color A in any skipped stitch of Round 12 with a standing popcorn, *ch6, popcorn in next skipped stitch of Round 12; repeat from * to end omitting final popcorn, join to first popcorn with ss. Fasten off. [16 popcorn, 16 ch6-sp]

Round 15 Work all hdc in front of the ch6-sps of Round 14 into stitches of Round 13. Join Color D in first stitch of any group of 5 dc of Round 13 with a standing hdc, *1hdc in next stitch, 2hdc in next stitch, 1hdc in next 2 stitches, fphdc around next popcorn, 1hdc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final stitch, join in first standing stitch with ss. [96 hdc, 16 fphdc]

Round 16 Continue with the same color, ch3, 1dc in next 5 stitches, *2dc in next fphdc, 1dc in next 13 stitches; repeat from * to end omitting final 6 stitches, close with invisible join. [120 dc]

At this point the mandala measures 18cm / 7inches in diameter. If your mandala is larger, replace the dc stitches of Round 16 by hdc.

Round 17 Join Color C in second of any 2 dc worked in a fphdc with a standing bpsc, 1bpsc in each stitch around, join in first standing stitch with ss. [120 bpsc]

Round 18 Continue with the same colors, ss to next stitch, ch3, 1dc in next 2 stitches, *ch2, skip next stitch, 2dc in next stitch, 1dc in next stitch, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next 3 stitches, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next 3 stitches, ch2, skip next stitch, 1dc in next 3 stitches; repeat from * to end omitting final 3 stitches, join in top of beginning ch3 with ss. Fasten off. [96 dc, 32 ch2-sp]

Round 19 Work all stitches in this round in front of the stitches of Round 18. Join Color B in any skipped stitch of Round 17 with a standing popcorn, *ch4, popcorn in next skipped stitch of Round 17; repeat from * to end omitting final popcorn, join in first standing stitch with ss. Fasten off. [32 popcorn, 32 ch4-sp]

Round 20 Work all hdc in front of the ch4-sps of Round 19 into stitches of Round 18. Join Color C in the first stitch of any group of 3 dc of Round 18 with a standing hdc, *2hdc in next stitch, 1hdc in next stitch, fphdc around popcorn, 1hdc in next stitch; repeat from * to end omitting final stitch, join in first standing stitch with ss. [128 hdc, 32 fphdc]

Round 21 Continue with the same color, ch3, 1dc in each stitch around, close with invisible join. [160 dc]

Round 22 Join Color A in any stitch with a standing bpsc, 1bpsc in each stitch around, join in first standing stitch with ss. [160 bpsc]

At this point the mandala measures 22.5cm / 8.5inches in diameter. If your mandala is larger, replace the dc stitches of Round 21 by hdc. Weave in all ends before attaching the mandala to the ring in Round 23.

Round 23 Continue with the same color, ch1, sc2tog over current stitch, next stitch and the mandala ring to end, close with invisible join. Weave in last end. [160 sc2tog]

Mini Bubbling Brook Mandala

The mini mandala is worked by repeating rounds 1 to 12 but using a different color placement. The mini mandala is joined to the 15cm / 6inch ring by repeating round 23 where the stitch count will be 88 sc2tog. The color placement for the mini mandala is as follows

Round	Color	Round	Color
Round 1	Color B	Round 7	Color D
Round 2	Color C	Round 8	Color D
Round 3	Color C	Round 9	Color B
Round 4	Color A	Round 10	Color D
Round 5	Color C	Round 11	Color D
Round 6	Color C	Round 12	Color A
		Round 23	Color A

Finishing

Work away all yarn tails. There is enough yarn left to make a third mandala. Place the colors based on the yarn amounts you have left.

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Video tutorials

There is a left handed and right handed version available for my Bubbling Brook Mandala to help you every step of the way. Please note that the videos are in English US Terms. I hope the videos make it possible for everyone to make these mandalas.

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Gauge

After Round 6, the mandala measures 7.5cm / 3 inches. With this gauge, the mandalas are approximately 10% smaller than the rings they go into. This means the mini mandala is 13cm before it goes into the 15cm ring, and the maxi mandala is 22cm before it goes into the 25cm ring. The 10% difference is important, because the mandalas need to be stretched when placed in the ring to ensure that they can support their own weight. If they are too large, they will be floppy and droopy when placed in the rings.

If you find that your mandalas are too big, you are most likely lifting your stitches higher than I am. I suggest you look at THIS VIDEO about the golden loop. If you are a so-called lifter, your stitches will be higher than average, and going down a hook size will not make any difference. I suggest that you try to pull your yarn back to make your stitches shorter.

In the pattern parts I also make suggestions for changes that you can make in the pattern to help you get your mandalas to the right size, both if they are larger than they should be and if they are smaller than they should be.

With love,
Esther

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