Rhondda and I have been friends for years, and this collaborative Kinship Square celebrates our friendship (and all the other friendships we – and you – have formed through this gorgeous craft of ours).

A while ago, we had a little chat about the fact that she wanted to design a mandala and I wanted to do squaring up instructions for mandalas, and a lightbulb went ‘ping!’ in our heads.  We decided that Rhondda would design a mandala to whatever stitch count I needed for my tutorial, and then I would square it up, further celebrating our ‘kinship’.

The Kinship Mandala was born!  Isn’t it pretty??

Last week, as something fun and lighthearted to do as we all go through this surreal time of social distancing, Rhondda and I shared her Kinship mandala on my Instagram feed as a NotACAL (like I did with Mandala 21 and my Sue Square).  We were pleasantly surprised by how many people joined in and delighted by all the gorgeous colourways.

You can see some examples by visiting one of the following hashtags:

• #notacal4
• #kinshipmandala

My Version of the Kinship Square

Materials

• Scheepjes Chunky Monkey** (100% acrylic), 100g/116m/127yds
  • Yarn A– 2004 Canary {Yellow}
  • Yarn B – 1130 Blush {Light Pink}
  • Yarn C – 1241 Rose {Medium Pink}
  • Yarn D– 1083 Candy Apple {Dark Pink}
  • Yarn E– 1084 Wild Orchid {Purple}
  • Yarn F– 1068 Turquoise {Blue}
  • Yarn G– 1822 Chartreuse {Green}
  • Yarn H– 1034 Baby Blue {Light Blue}
• 5mm hook

I used less than half a ball of each colour for a total of 250g.

Gauge

Measures 9.5cm/3.75″ at the end of Round 5.

Size

42cm x 42cm (16.5″ x 16.5″) – Perfect for a cushion cover!

Colours Per Round

• Kinship Mandala
  • Round 1 – Yarn A
  • Round 2 – Yarn B
  • Round 3 – Yarn C
  • Round 4 – Yarn D
  • Round 5 – Yarn E
  • Round 6 – Yarn G
  • Round 7 – Yarn F
  • Round 8 – Yarn G
  • Round 9 – Yarn H
  • Round 10 – Yarn F
  • Round 11 – Yarn E
  • Round 12 – Yarn G
  • Round 13 – Yarn B
  • Round 14 – Yarn D
  • Round 15 – Yarn C
  • Round 16 – Yarn E
  • Round 17 – Yarn F
• Sophie’s Universe Part 4
  • Round 1 – Yarn G
  • Round 2 – Yarn A
  • Round 3 – Yarn G
  • Round 4 – Yarn D
  • Round 5 – Yarn B
  • Round 6 – Yarn C
  • Round 7 – Yarn H
  • Round 8 – Yarn F
  • Round 9 – Yarn A
  • Round 10 – Yarn E
  • Round 11 – Yarn H

Rhondda’s Version of the Kinship Square

Materials

• Scheepjes Stone Washed/River Washed Colour Pack (78% cotton/22% acrylic; 10g/26m/28yds) – Sport Weight Yarn (one skein each)
  • Colour A – 803 Black Onyx
  • Colour B – 833 Beryl
  • Colour C – 827 Peridot
  • Colour D – 807 Red Jasper
  • Colour E – 824 Turquoise
  • Colour F – 949 Yarra
  • Colour G – 835 Rhodochrosite
• 3.5mm hook

Gauge

Measures 8cm/3.15″ at the end of Round 5.

Size

35.5cm x 35.5cm (14″ x 14″) – Perfect for a cushion cover!

Colours Per Round

• Kinship Mandala
  • Round 1 – Colour A
  • Round 2 – Colour A
  • Round 3 – Colour B
  • Round 4 – Colour C
  • Round 5 – Colour D
  • Round 6 – Colour E
  • Round 7 – Colour F
  • Round 8 – Colour E
  • Round 9 – Colour B
  • Round 10 – Colour F
  • Round 11 – Colour G
  • Round 12 – Colour E
  • Round 13 – Colour B
  • Round 14 – Colour G
  • Round 15 – Colour D
  • Round 16 – Colour E
  • Round 17 – Colour B
• Sophie’s Garden 160 Stitches
  • Round 1 – Colour C
  • Round 2 – Colour B
  • Round 3 – Colour C
  • Round 4 – Colour D
  • Round 5 – Colour E
  • Round 6 – Colour D
  • Round 7 – Colour E
  • Round 8 – Colour B
  • Round 9 – Colour E
  • Round 10 – Colour C
  • Round 11 – Colour D

Instructions

Add this Pattern to Your Ravelry Queue

To make your own Kinship Square, you will need to do the following:

• Part 1:  Crochet the free Kinship Mandala by Oombawkadesigncrochet
• Part 2:  Follow my instructions for Squaring up a Mandala With 160 Stitches

Please Note:  When adding the squaring up instructions to the Kinship Mandala, it doesn’t really matter where you start as it will look fairly symmetrical no matter what.

This square would look great in any yarn/colour combination, and Rhondda and I look forward to seeing how your beauties turn out!

If you decide to make this square, please use #kinshipsquare so that we can all see them and marvel at your crochet genius :)

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