Stars and Stripes Sparkle Mandala

I love decorations, clothing and flowers in red, white and blue.  I love the combination of the bright colors in our American flag along with the stripes and stars.

Seeing an American flag flying with its stars and stripes reminds me of our precious freedoms and how they began and remain at a great cost to many families.  Seeing a yard decorated with red, white and blue ribbons and buntings  encourages my patriotism and pride in our country.  And hearing patriotic music uplifts my spirit and brings me joy.

What do you like to do for a patriotic holiday?  It has long been a family tradition of ours to celebrate the 4th of July holiday here in the US by going to a parade, eating hot dogs and hamburgers at an outdoor BBQ, watching fireworks, and, of course, wearing red, white and blue.

Since I love these colors and mandalas, I decided to create this project combining the two!  You’ll see that it uses several of the same stitches (clusters, PUFF) that are in the Crystal Crochet Mandala and the same yarn – Sinfonia by Omega.  I found some wonderful red and blue beads at Hobby Lobby to add around the star center and cascading down from the lower edge.

Out of all of the red, white and blue decorations I have seen around, I have not seen one like this! So, let’s begin to make this one-of-a-kind patriotic tribute – the Stars and Stripes Sparkle Mandala.

Skill Level: Confident Beginner

Measurements: 10″ diameter

Supplies:

  • Sinfonia by Omega in colors: Blue (833), Red (823 – garnet) and White (801)
  • F/3.75mm Hook
  • 8” metal ring
  • 50 eye pins (2” long)
  • Approximately 110 clear plastic faceted beads in a variety of sizes (5 being larger teardrop shapes)
  • A variety of red and blue beads (In photos shown: 6 large hearts, 10 blue stars, 11 round red faceted, 8 red bicone, 14 1/2″ thin tubes (bugle))
  • Jewelry pliers

Special Stitches and Abbreviations:

2 Double Crochet Cluster (2 dc CL) =(YO, insert hk into st, YO, draw up a lp, YO, pull through 2 lps on hk) 2 times; YO, pull through all 3 lps on hk

3 Double Crochet Cluster (3 dc CL) = (YO, insert hk into st, YO, draw up a lp, YO, pull through 2 lps on hk) 3 times; YO, pull through all 4 lps on hk

PUFF st = YO, insert hk into st, YO, draw up a loop ½” long) 5 times; YO, pull through all 11 loops on hk; ch 1

Treble Crochet (tr) = YO twice, insert hook into st, YO, draw up a lp; (YO, pull through 2 lps on hook) 3 times

Sc around ring (while working into existing crochet sts) =Holding yarn behind ring and mandala in front of ring, insert hk into center of ring and next st on mandala so that hook protrudes beyond ring; YO, draw up a lp through st and to front of ring; YO over top of ring edge, pull through 2 lps on hook

Ch = chain

Dc = double crochet

Sl st = slip stitch

Instructions:

Round 1:  With Blue (833) ch 3, 2 dc CL in 3rd ch from hook; (ch 3, 3 dc CL in same ch) four times ending with ch 3, sl st in top of 1st cluster.

Round 2:  [(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in next ch-3 sp; sl st in top of next cluster] around ending with sl st in sl st that ended Round 1.

Round 3:  Sl st in back loop of 1st dc and next dc; ch 2, PUFF st in same st; [ch 1, (PUFF st, ch 3, PUFF st) in next ch-3 sp, ch 1, sk next dc, PUFF st in next dc, sk next dc and next sl st, sk next dc, PUFF st in next st] around ending with sl st in top of 1st cluster.

Round 4:  Sl st into next st, ch 2, hdc in next ch-2 sp, [hdc in next PUFF st; (2 hdc, ch 3, 2 hdc) in next ch-3 sp; hdc in next PUFF st, 2 hdc in next ch-2 sp; sk next PUFF st; ch 1, sl st in next sp between PUFF sts, ch 1, sk next PUFF st, 2 hdc in next ch-1 sp] around ending with sl st in starting sl st. Fasten off.

Round 5:  Join white (801 ) with a sc in any ch-3 sp; sc in same sp; (Working in the back loop only, sc in each of next 5 hdcs, ch 1, sl st in next sl st, ch 1, sc in each of next 5 hdcs, 3 sc in next ch-3 sp) around ending with sc in last ch-3 sp (where already 2 scs).

Round 6:  Ch 1, sc in next sc; (ch 15, sc in center sc that was worked in next ch-3 sp) around ending with sl st in 1st sc.

Round 7:  Sl st into next ch-15 sp; ch 2, 17 hdcs in ch-15 sp; (18 hdcs in each ch-15 sp around; join with sl st to top of starting ch-2. Fasten off.

Round 8: Join Red (823) with sl st in space between sets of 18 hdcs, ch 5, (sk next 2 sts, dc in next st, ch 2) around ending with sl st in 3rd ch of starting ch-3.

Round 9:  Sl st into next ch-2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp; 3 dc in each ch-2 sp around.

Round 10: Ch 1, sc in each dc and ch-1 sp around while also sc around metal ring ending with sl st in 1st sc.

Round 11:  Ch 3, dc in each of next 2 sts, (ch 1, sk next st, dc in each of next 3 sts) around ending with ch 1, sl st in top of starting ch-3.

Round 12:  Ch 1, sc in ch-1 sp just made (so working to the right slightly); ch 1, 7 tr in next ch-1 sp, ch1; [sc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, 7 tr in next ch-1 sp, ch 1] around ending with sl st in 1st sc. Fasten off.

Round 13:  With Blue join with sl st in any sc; [sc in next ch-1 sp, sc in each of next 3 trs, 2 sc in next tr, sc in each of next 3 trs, sc in next ch-1 sp, sl st in next sc] around ending with sl st in 1st sl st of round. Fasten off.

Finishing:

Using photo as a guide, thread beads onto eye pins and create another loop for each (while trimming off excess wire) – Project shown has 45 bead elements that hang below the mandala: 9 bead elements in each length; 5 lengths total each with a larger teardrop-shaped bead at end

**Watch this video tutorial here to learn how to make each bead element as done for the Crystal Crochet Mandala**

Attach eye pins to stitches around star in center, in scs along metal ring (at bottom edge) and to each other to create design as shown in photos

Attach wire or yarn loop at top and hang in a sunny window to watch it sparkle and shine!

Jennifer

Copyright 2018 – Jennifer E Ryan, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others.

If you wish to make items for sale from this pattern, please see our About page for details.

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