Welcome to June Mandala. There have been so many rainbows popping up on my Instagram feed over the last few months; as a symbol of hope in these trying times, rainbows are materialising in crochet, illustrations, embroidery and in photography, to name a few! So I thought I was overdue to crochet a rainbow inspired mandala!

As always for my Mandala CAL I have used Paintbox Cotton DK as gifted to me by Love Crafts. You could of course use any weight or fibre – just remember to size up or down your hook as required!

1 ball each of;

A Bubblegum Pink – 451

B Peach Orange – 455

C Daffodil Yellow – 422

D Pistachio Green – 425

E Washed Teal – 433

F Dusty Rose – 442

3.5 mm hook

U.K terminology used

Tension; finished mandala measures approx 16 cm across

Special stitches;

7trcl; [yrh, insert hook in indicated st, yrh, pul, yrh, draw through 2 loops] 7 times, yrh, draw through all 8 loops on hook, 1 ch.

wtr2d; yrh, insert hook into centre of indicated st 2 rounds down, yrh, pul to height of current row, [yrh, draw through 2 loops] twice.

dtr2d; yrh twice, insert hook into indicated st 2 rounds down, yrh, pul to height of current row, [yrh, draw through 2 loops] 3 times.

Pattern:

Join each round with a sl st in top of beg ch, unless otherwise stated.

With A, chain 4, join with sl st in first ch to form ring.

Rnd 1; 3 ch (1st tr) 11 more tr into ring, join. Fasten off (12 tr)

Rnd 2; join B to any st, 3 ch (1st tr) 1 tr in same st, 1 tr [2 tr in next st, 1tr] 5 times, join. Fasten off (18 tr)

Rnd 3; Join C to any st, 3 ch (1st htr, 1 ch), 1 htr in same st, [1 htr, 1 ch, 1 htr ] 17 times, join to 2 ch of beg 3 ch. Fasten off (36 htr)

Rnd 4; Join D to any 1 ch-sp, 3 ch (1st tr), 1 tr in same sp, 1 ch, [2 tr, 1 ch] in every 1 ch-sp around, join. Fasten off. (36 tr)

Rnd 5; Join E to any 1 ch-sp, 3 ch (1st dc, 2 ch) 7trcl in next 1 ch-sp, 2 ch, * 1 dc in next 1 ch-sp, 2 ch, 7trcl in next 1 ch-sp, 2 ch; rep from * 7 more times, join to bottom of beg 3 ch. Fasten off (9 7trcl, 9 dc)

Rnd 6; Join F to any 2 ch-sp, 3 ch (1st tr), 1 tr in same sp, 1 ch, [2tr, 1 ch] in each 2 ch-sp around, join. Fasten off. (36 tr)

Rnd 7; Join A to any ch-sp above 7trcl from round 5, 3 ch, (counts as 1st tr) 2 tr in same sp, [1 tr, 1 wtr2d in dc from round 5, 1 tr] in next sp, *3 tr in next sp, [1 tr, 1 wtr2d in dc from round 5, 1 tr] in next sp; rep from * 7 more times, join. Fasten off. (54 tr)

Rnd 8; Join B to any wtr2d st, 3 ch (1st tr) 2 tr, 1 dtr2d in top of 7trcl from round 5 (miss st directly behind), 2 tr, * 3 tr, 1 dtr2d in top of 7trcl from rnd 5 (miss st directly behind), 2 tr; rep from * 7 more times, join. Fasten off. (54 sts)

Rnd 9; Join C to any st, 2 ch (1st htr), 1 htr in same st, cont with 2 htr in each stitch around, join. Fasten off. (108 htr)

Rnd 10; Join D to any st, 3 ch (1st tr), 1 tr in st to right of 3 ch, miss 1, *1 tr in next st, 1 tr in missed st, rep from * around, join. Fasten off (108 tr)

Sew in ends and block to measurements.

Tag me in your mandalas on Instagram @loveandloop #loveandloopmandalacal

Happy crocheting!