During the first few rounds you’re central motif will start to raise up. That’s part of the design, so don’t worry its all part of the plan.

The free pattern is below, but if you’d like the ad free printable version, it is available either as part of my Lifetime Pattern Pass, or you can purchase it on its own for £5 from Ravelry

If you would like to follow my colour scheme, you can find the list of colours in both Scheepjes Softfun and Stylecraft Special DK in this document here

The pattern is written in US terms, but the UK translation is below in brackets along with the abbreviations we will be using

• Slip stitch = slst
• Chain = ch
• Single crochet (double crochet) = sc
• Half double crochet (half treble crochet) = hdc
• Double crochet (treble crochet) = dc
• Back post single crochet (back post double crochet) =bpsc
• Back post half double crochet (back post half treble crochet) = bphdc
• Front post single crochet (front post double crochet) = fpsc

The Pattern

Continue with a 4mm hook

Round 9. Join Colour C into the slst after the ch5 in round 8 (you don’t need to chain 1 or anything, just join your yarn) 

*skip the next 2 stitches and in the next stitch (which is the stitch above the spike st in row 7), make 9dc in the same stitch to make a shell. 

Skip the next 2 stitches and Slst into the slst in round 8. 

Ch 5 and slip the chain behind the shell then slst into slst of round 8*

repeat between *and* and slip stitch back into where you joined the yarn for the start of the round

Round 10. Join Colour A into the ch5 from round 8 with a standing hdc.

Make 4 hdc around the chain. 

*In the 1st dc of the shell make a bpsc, then bphdc in the next stitch. Ch 3 (this will sit behind the shell). 

Bphdc in 8th dc of the shell then bpsc in the 9th dc of the shell.

Make 5 hdc around the ch5 of round 8.* 

Repeat between *and* once you’ve made the last bpsc, finish the round by making a slst into the standing hdc

Round 11. Make the alternate turning chain (you can see how to make the alternate turning by clicking here) in the same stitch you finished the last round (this counts as your first dc). 

*Dc in each stitch (9 stitches) – careful to make sure you work into all the back post stitches, they can be easy to miss. Then make 5 dc around the chain 3* 

Repeat between *and*

Finish the round by making a slst into the turning chain – 70 dc

The middle of the design will now be puffed up so it looks high in the middle. This is part of the design.

Round 12. In the same stitch that you finished the previous round, make the alternate turning chain (this counts as your 1st hdc) 

*Make a dc in the next 2 stitches, then in the next stitch make 3dc. 

Make a dc in the next 2 stitches, then hdc in the next 2 stitches. 

In the next 5 stitches make a sc, then hdc in the next 2 stitches* 

repeat between *and* finish the round by making a hdc then slst into the starting standing hdc – 80 stitches

Round 13. Make the alternate turning chain in the same stitch that you finished the last round (this counts as your first hdc). 

In the next 3 stitches make a hdc. *in the next stitch make 2 hdc, then make a hdc in the next 7 stitches* 

Repeat between *and* then hdc in the last 3 stitches of the round and finish by making a slst into the turning chain. Cut off – 90 stitches

Round 14. All stitches in this round are to be made in the 3rd loop only. 

With Colour A, join with a standing hdc in the 1st hdc where you’ve made 2hdc in the same stitch. Make another hdc in same stitch 

*hdc in the next 8 stitches, make 2hdc in the next stitch* 

Repeat between *and* then make your last 8hdc and slst into the standing hdc – 100 stitches

Round 15. All stitches in this round to be made in the 3rd loop only. 

With Colour B, join with a standing hdc in the 1st hdc where you’ve made 2hdc in the same stitch. Make another hdc in same stitch 

*make a hdc in the next 9 stitches, then make 2hdc in the next stitch*

Repeat between *and* then make your last set of 9 hdc and finish the round by making a slst into the standing hdc- 110 stitches

Round 16. All stitches in this round to be made in the 3rd loop only. 

With Colour D join with a standing hdc in the 1st hdc where you’ve made 2hdc in the same stitch. Make another hdc in same stitch 

*make a hdc in the next 10 stitches, then in the next stitch make 2hdc* 

Repeat between *and* then make your last set of 10 hdc and finish the round by making a slst into the standing hdc- 120 stitches

Round 17. Slip stitch into the next stitch, then chain 2 (this doesn’t count as a stitch) in the next stitch 

Make a puff (yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop – 3 times, 7 loops on your hook. Then yarn over and pull through all loops on your hook) 

ch2, in the same stitch make another puff, ch 2, in same stitch make another puff, ch1. 

Skip the next stitch. Dc in the next 9 stitches, skip the next stitch 

*in the same stitch (puff, ch2, puff, ch2, puff ch1) skip the next stitch, 

dc in next 9 stitches, skip the next stitch*

Repeat between *and* finish the round by making a dc in the same stitch as the chain 2, then slst into the puff stitch – 10 sets of puff stitches

Round 18. To start this round we need to move our yarn to the first dc after the puff stitches. Slst into the chain space, then slst into the top of the puff, slst into the chain space, slst into the next puff, then slst into the dc. 

Now we start the actual stitches of round 18 . In the top of the dc after the puff stitches make the alternate turning chain. 

Make a dc in the next 2 stitches. *Skip the next stitch, then in the next stitch make (puff, ch2, puff, ch2, puff ch1) all in the same stitch. 

Skip the next stitch. Dc in the next 3 stitches. 

Fpdc around each of the 3 puff stitches skipping the chain spaces in between the puffs. Dc in next 3 stitches* 

repeat between *and* including working over the slip stitches we started the round with. Finish the round by making a slst into the alternate turning chain. – 10 sets of puff stitches

Round 19. Ch1 and make the alternate turning chain in the same stitch. Dc in the next 2 stitches 

*make a fpsc around the puff stitch. Chain 1, fpsc around the 2nd puff stitch, chain 1, fpsc around the 3rd puff stitch. 

Then make a dc in the next 4 stitches. In the next stitch make 3dc (this is the stitch above the middle puff). Dc in the next 4 stitches* 

repeat between *and* dc in the last stitch of the round then finish by making a slst into the turning chain- 160 stitches

That’s week 2 complete. You can know cut off your yarn and weave in your ends before we start part 3 next week. This was the longest week until we get to the border, and next week is the last part of the mandala.

If you have any questions, or just want to join in the chatter, come on over to our super friendly and helpful Facebook group – The Ray Of Hope CAL group