Mandala Madness - version 4 (parts 7-9)

The blanket is starting to get much bigger and the rounds are starting to take a lot longer again. I don't know why this surprises me having done it all before! I am however surprised how quick this blanket is being completed. I guess where I have done these parts 3 times before and I have only got the one on the go from the beginning it will get made quicker. Also, I am really keen to see how the colour change wools work with this one so that helps.

I have now completed 2 out of the 3 other blankets. Well, up to the end of Helen Shrimptons pattern. The round. I will square up both of them in due course, but it is nice just working on the other two to get them to that point. I am seeing lots of different colour combinations that I could also do it in so I might not stop at just the 4 versions!

Round 53 saw me start the third Stylecraft Batik "cake" and I really wasn't sure about it at all. The first 2 "cakes" worked so well together as they shared very close tones in the purples so the blend was very subtle. The green colour was missing in the second one but it was nice to see that colour in the beginning parts. This next "cake" however was a beautiful range of grey and purple tones. When sat next to each other before I started making the blanket they looked really good. However in practice I really did not like the first round. It started with the lightest grey which contained some blue tones. Next to the purple of the previous round it really did not go so I frogged it. I will admit that I did wind the first two grey sections of the "cake" (the light and then the dark grey) into a separate ball and started with the purple shade. This worked so much better as it blended with the previous shades of purple. When the light grey came in, for the long stitches, it worked so much better.

Although apprehensive about the new "cake", I kept going until I had completed it and am really glad I did. I knew that I would get to this point because of the type of wool that I am using. The fact the there will be changes part way around that I will have to live with. That the new ones might not in reality go as well as they do before they are used. That is where my new challenge is coming in doing this version. The next "cake" is full of blues and greens. Can't wait to see how I feel about that one going in. Its also nearly time for the dreaded round 66. That one I can wait for.