Tatted Mandala

A couple weeks ago I decided I to tat a mandala.  I have a drawing of a mandala that I like and I could see bringing it to life in fiber.  Designs always seem simple enough once they're complete, but I have to confess, I worked on this little 4.5" by 4.5" piece of fabric for a long time.  This piece represents the 4th do-over with some of the rows being reworked several times.  As a result, the tension is not perfect, but I reached the point where I was determined to at least complete my project.

In the center of the mandala is a circle surrounded by four arched chains.  These arches represent the four gates that you see on traditional mandalas.  On my final row, I have repeated the gates with the four large rings that point north, south, east and west.  They line up with the four arches in the center.  As a matter of fact, I decided that I would use the number four as the core of my design, so every chain and ring on the entire mandala has either four stitches or a multiple of four. 


A tatting over four inches wide is actually a pretty big piece, but it's small for me because my ultimate goal is to turn this into a large wall hanging.  By the time I'm done, it will probably be closer to two feet in diameter.  I also plan to incorporate more than one color.  That way the center will be more of a focal point and it will also help the other features stand out. 


I'm not sure when it will happen, this being the busy holiday season, but I'll be back to share pictures of the finished wall hanging.