Tapestry-Crocheted Mandalas (Circles)
I met Sriyana (internet name) on my Ravelry ColorJoy group. She makes amazing Tapestry-Crocheted mandalas.
Tapestry Crochet is a way of doing colorwork in very firm single-crochet, where you carry the strands of the yarns you are not using inside the stitches of the yarn you are working. It makes great baskets and purses, doesn’t stretch much, is sort of all the things knitting is not (which makes me very interested in it for bags, backpacks, purses… things that are not easy to do well in knit fabric).
Mandalas are often done as drawings. They were discussed by Carl Jung as a sort of connection between the inner self and the outer self (this is a very rough one-phrase explanation, please forgive its inadequacy). I spent a year or so drawing at least one mandala a day as a self-awareness exercise and it was a wonderful practice.
Sriyana’s mandalas are spectactular. She has won awards, and now she is featured on Carol Ventura’s Tapestry Crochet blog. The article is very nice, and goes into a nice level of depth with a little personal history for perspective.
Please consider taking the time read this wonderful article and meet my new friend, Sriyana.