I made this crochet mandala rug using John P Kelly’s Mandala 21 pattern. I love John’s designs. They are full of texture and contain just enough detail to keep you “hooked”. I get bored very easily, so if a pattern has too little variety, the project soon ends up in the one-day-when-I’m-90 pile.
For this rug, I used a 10 mm crochet hook (US 15/N/P) and 6 – 8 strands of scrap/stash yarn of various thicknesses. The yarns I used were mostly cotton and acrylic but had I had any wool, I would have chucked that into the mix as well.
I hadn’t originally intended to use blue in the rug, but when I got to the halfway point, I realised that my white/cream yarn wouldn’t last, so I improvised and decided to use some blue. I cannot tell you how pleased I am that I did! The finished rug weighs 1.5 kg and is 80 cm across (32″). It feels awesome under your feet, but to tell you the truth, I love it so much that I don’t want to walk on it! This crochet mandala rug spent the first week of its life draped over my coffee table. Every time I walked past I would stroke it.
My husband thinks I’m a tiny bit loopy. Can he not appreciate how beautiful it is? I finished the rug off with an additional round of crab stitch (reverse single crochet) because I love the stability and weight it lends to the edge of the rug. You can find a video tutorial for the crab stitch HERE.
For my next rug, I will do the crab stitch on the wrong side of the rug, because the back of the crab stitch is equally pretty and looks slightly braided.
This rug needed absolutely no blocking, by the way!
Crochet rugs are my favourite way to use up scrap/stash yarn. If you want to stash-bust in a hurry (so that you can make space to buy more yarn, of course), these rugs will get rid of a kilogram of yarn faster than any other method bar giving the yarn away.
And the beauty of it is that you can mix cheap yarns with more expensive ones without making the rug look cheap.
I like to “variegate” my rugs by working lighter/darker shades in whenever one strand of yarn runs out.
Now isn’t that gorgeous?
Update 09/2017: You can find the photo tutorial for this pattern HERE. John no longer has a website so he has kindly allowed me to create a photo tutorial for this pattern.
Thank you for the beautiful pattern, John!
More Crochet Rugs
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Dedri Uys says
Thank you, Deb :) This one and the other one I made from John’s pattern live over the back of our couches. I love them! And they were made out of scrap yarn I didn’t have a clue what to make with, so score!!
DeDe says
I can’t get he links to work for the pattern nor the creator’s Facebook page. Please help? I’m loving this rug.
Dedri Uys says
Hi Dede. I have been in contact with him and his site is no longer live. As soon as I have more information, I will let you know.
Dedri Uys says
I have asked him if I could host the pattern on my website, and he has kindly agreed, but it is going to take me some time to re-write the instructions from the original print-out and take the accompanying photos.
Faith says
I did it!! I’ve been wanting to try this for months, and I finally had some yarn and the (almost) proper hook, so I went for it. A week later, it’s finished and I love it! I have so much more respect for your talent now after doing those dtc stitches with five strands of worsted yarn. On top of that, my biggest hook was 9mm so my stitches were pretty tight. I’ve learned my lesson and bought a 10mm hook for future rugs.
Do you do anything to the underside of your rugs to keep them from slipping around?
Dedri Uys says
Hi Faith. How lovely that you made it! Have you shared a photo anywhere? I would love to see it.
I prefer sewing non-slip drawer liners (cut to size) to the back of my crochet rug. The drawer liners have holes in them, so they are easy to sew through. If you decide to do this, use long stitches so that you can unpick them when you need to wash or repair your rug. I don’t usually make them non-slip as e have carpets and they don’t move around on that (unless the boys kick them about).
Danielle says
Hi there. I don’t have enough left over yarn so I’ll need to buy some. I want to get #5 bulky weight.
Im thinking that my rug will be gigantic (insert maniacal laugh here)!
Do you know how I figure out how many yards I need? I plan to use 3 strands.
Dedri Uys says
Hi Danielle, I don’t even know where to start. That would depend so much on your gauge/exact yarn type/hook size… Mine weighted 1.5 kilograms, using the equivalent of 2 bulky strands together, so I am guessing you will need a 15 mm crochet hook (P, I think) and between 2.5 and 3 kg yarn.
Chris says
Dedri,
I think I’m too chicken to attempt 6-8 strands at once, but I do admire your moxie. I had thought I might make my brother and his wife wife who live in Taos a rug like this for Christmas, but if just the PICTURE of 6-8 strands of yarn at the same time gives me horrors, I can’t imagine what actually DOING it would be like. lol
Cheers,
Chris
Pallie Spadafino says
I really like the yellow/blue combination you used in the rug. It looks fantastic.
As a little point in crochet history, when I learned what is today called the Crab Stitch, back then it was called a Rope Stitch as it looks like rope on the edge when finished. This was back in the early 1950’s.
Dedri Uys says
Oh that’s a way better name. I love it. It does look like a rope :) Thank you for the history lesson, Pallie
Victoria Ngow says
Hi Dedri,
I love your work and you must be a busy bee! Sorry for this slightly silly question, but how do you use 6 strands of yarn at a time? Does each strand come from its own ball of yarn, instead of cutting fixed lengths of yarn before starting?
Thanks and happy holidays!
Victoria
Dedri Uys says
Hi Victoria. I just have 6 skeins jumping and bobbing around on the floor while I work. I don’t cut anything beforehand. You just hold all 6 strands together as if they are one strand.
Anita says
Can I use a 4 weight yarn like Red Heart super saver?
Dedri Uys says
Anita, if you want to make a rug you can use any yarn you want, but you need to use more than one strand!
Julie Lawry says
I am a beginner and I don’t believe that I could make anything as pretty as your rug! I am trying to make a scarf .How the heck do you keep your stitches the same size? I start out and everytime it gets smaller!! What am I doing wrong???
Dedri Uys says
Hi Julie. Do you mean your stitches get smaller or your rows get shorter?
Kate says
I LOVE this! I’ve been wanting to make a rug for a while, but just haven’t gotten around to it! I love the way you used your scrap yarn and colors! So pretty! Thank you for sharing!
Dedri Uys says
Thank you, Kate :)
Carrie says
Dedri, you did it again. This is so pretty! Unfortunately my leftover yarn never matches :( Maybe you should have a look at it to work your magic :)
John Kelly says
Thank you Dedri for writing this beautiful piece. I am so flattered. You made such a simple pattern look absolutely stunning. I just wish I had your talent when it comes to colour combinations and your photography makes the piece look even more amazing. Never mind what your husband says……Tell him I said you are fantastic and he is one lucky dude! xxx
Dedri Uys says
Hehe. Thank you, John. You flatter me! I am pleased you like the “piece” and the photos. I’m just waiting for Mandala in Bloom and then I will feature that as well x
Coreen says
Just love your work, you are so inspiring, thanks for sharing your ideas and patterns.
Dedri Uys says
Thank you very much, Coreen :)