Christmas Mandala

[NancyMcQuade]

Hello everyone,
This is my first Mandala and I have gotten to Round 5 and am stuck. Even the pictures don't do it for me. Can anyone explain it, perhaps, in different terms from what is in the pattern?Attachment 22681Attachment 22682Attachment 22683Attachment 22684

[Nova55]

It looks like you set up a round of green dcs in rnd 4, pushing your red yarn to the center to keep it out of the way; then when you're done with rnd 4, lay the red yarn out again over the green. Presuming you don't cut your green yarn (you shouldn't have), you need to pull your working loop (that is on the hook) through to the front side so you can start working over your red chains between the red dcs; you will be attaching the green dcs of rnd 5 to the green dcs of rnd 4 as well as working over the red chains. It looks like you alternate 4 green dcs and 2 green dcs (photo rnd 5, picture 4). By working over the red chains, you create a "spoke" effect with red and a "wheel" effect with the green ((photo rnd 5, picture 5). "R2" stands for round 2 - the directions are telling you to skip the dcs and work over the chains from rnd 2.

Part of the beauty of mandalas can be from the layers created, but since this is not a common practice in crocheting, it sure can be tricky! I just did a doily that has many layers (pattern here) and it stretched my brain cells to figure it out.

Hope this helps you. Be brave - you can do it!

[NancyMcQuade]

That explains it perfectly! I LOVE difficult/a challenge. I am also working on a sweater with cables which I also made a year ago and it is easier than the first time but still a significant challenge. So 2 challenging projects right now which makes me happy. Thanks for helping.

[NancyMcQuade]

I am on Rd 10. Close to the beginning is says:
(working in front of ch-1 space bltr in skipped st R8, sc in next st) twice,
I can’t see how to do that twice. Sigh.....

[Jean Marie]

Do you have the whole pattern?