Dark Star Mandala – Free Crochet Pattern – It's all in a Nutshell Crochet

The second of the 3 mandalas that make up the Starry Night Mandalas is my Dark Star Mandala. This mandala feels like an explotion, especially if you make it in sunset colors. In this post you find all the information you need to make your own Dark Star Mandala.

Dit patroon is beschikbaar in het Nederlands HIER.

Resources

Materials

You will need 4 colors of a sport weight cotton yarn. The samples shown use Scheepjes Catona (50g/125m) yarn in the colors Color A – 130 Old Lace, Color B – 114 Shocking Pink, Color C – 146 Vivid Blue, Color D – 205 Kiwi Green. You will also need 3 x 20cm diameter mandala ring, a 3.0mm crochet hook and stitch markers.

Scheepjes Catona is available from Amazon.co.uk, 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.

Abbreviations

This pattern uses US Crochet Terminology.

ch Chain
ch-sp(s) Chain space(s)
sc Single crochet
hdc Half double crochet
dc Double crochet
tr Treble crochet

fpsc Front post single crochet
bpsc Back post single crochet
bpdc Back post double crochet
fptr Front post double crochet

sc2tog work 2 sc sts together. Inset hook in indicated st and pull up a loop, insert hook in next st and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through all loops on hook

fpdtr3tog work 3 fpdtr sts together. YO 3 times, insert hook around indicated post from front to back to front again, (YO and take off 2 loops on hook) 3 times, YO 3 times, insert hook around post of next st from front to back to front again, (YO and take off 2 loops on hook) 3 times, YO 3 times, insert hook around post of next st from front to back to front again, (YO and take off 2 loops on hook) 3 times, YO and pull through all 4 loops on hook

fptr2tog work 2 fptr sts together. YO 2 times, insert hook around indicated post from front to back to front again, (YO and take off 2 loops on hook) 2 times, YO 2 times, insert hook around post of next st from front to back to front again, (YO and take off 2 loops on hook) 2 times, YO and pull through all 3 loops on hook

Popcorn 5dc in indicated st, remove hook from working loop, insert hook in first st, pick up working loop, pull loop through first st, ch1

X-st skip next st, 1dc in next st, 1dc in skipped st covering first dc.

sl.st. Slip stitch
st(s) Stitch(es)

PM Place Maker
RM Remove Marker
YO yarn over

Dark Star Mandala Pattern

Round 1 With Color A, ch4 and close with sl.st. in first ch to form a ring. Ch3 (counts as 1dc), 11dc in ring. Close in beginning ch3 with sl.st.
[12 dc]

Round 2 Continue with the same color. Ch3 (counts as 1dc), 1dc in same st, 2dc in next dc to end. Close in first st with sl.st. Fasten off.
[24 dc]

Round 3 With color D, work a standing sc in the first of any 2 dc worked in one st of Round 1, 1fptr around dc of Round 1 containing the working st, 1sc in next st, *1sc in next st, 1fptr around next dc of Round 1, 1sc in next st; repeat from * to end. Close in first st with sl.st. Fasten off.
[12 fptr, 24 sc]

Round 4 With color A, work a standing dc in any fptr, 1dc in same st, 1dc in next 2 sts, *2dc in next fptr, 1dc in next 2 sts; repeat from * to end. Close in first st with sl.st. Fasten off.
[48 dc]

Round 5 With color C, work a standing sc in second of 2 dc worked in fptr, 1fptr around fptr of Round 3, 1sc in next 2 sts from Round 4, fptr around dc from Round 2 that is between 2 fptr, do not skip any sts on Round 4, 1sc in next st of Round 4, *1sc in next st, 1fptr around fptr or Round 3, 1sc in next 2 sts from Round 4, fptr around dc from Round 2 that is between 2 fptr, do not skip any sts on Round 4, 1sc in next st of Round 4; repeat from * to end. Close in first st with sl.st. Fasten off. The mandala will wobble at this point. The mandala is now 8cm in diameter.
[24 fptr, 48 sc]

Round 6 With color A, work a standing dc in any st, 1dc in next st to end. Close in first st with sl.st. Fasten off. The mandala is now 9.5cm in diameter.
[72 dc]

Round 7 With color B, work a standing sc in first dc worked in a sc before a fptr, 1sc in next st, 1fptr around fptr of Round 5, skip next st of Round 6, *1sc in next 2 sts, 1fptr around fptr of Round 5, skip next st of Round 6; repeat from * to end. Close in first st with sl.st.
[24 fptr, 48 sc]

Round 8 Continue with the same color. Ch3 (counts as 1dc), 1dc in next st to end. Close with invisible join. The mandala is now 12cm in diameter.
[72 dc]

Round 9 With color C, work a standing bpdc around any st, 1bpdc around same st, 1bpdc around next 5 sts; *2bpdc around next st, 1bpdc around next 5 sts; repeat from * to end. Close in first standing bpdc with sl.st. Fasten off. The mandala is now 13cm in diameter.
[84 bpdc]

Round 10 With color A, work a standing dc in any st, 1dc in st before dc just worked, covering the dc and creating a X-st, ch1, X-st in next 2 sts, ch1; repeat from * to end. Close in first standing dc with sl.st. Fasten off. The mandala is now 15cm in diameter.
[42 X-st, 42 ch1-sp]

Round 11 With color C, work a standing hdc in any ch-sp, 2hdc in same ch-sp, 3hdc in next ch-sp to end. Close in first standing hdc with sl.st.
[126 hdc]

Round 12 Continue with the same color, ch1 (does not count as a st), 1sc in each st to end. The mandala is now 17cm in diameter.
[126 sc]

To attach any of the mandalas to the ring, first work away all yarn tails on the mandala. Then, attach the mandala to the ring using the same color as the last round worked.

Round 13 Continue with the same color, ch1 (does not count as a st), *sc2tog in the current stitch, the next stitch AND the ring, repeat from * to end. Close with an invisible join.
[126 sc2tog]

Video tutorial

There are left and right handed video tutorials available for my Super Nova Mandala. You can find them on my YouTube channel of linked here below.

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With love,
Esther

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