When Is a Doily, Not a Doily?

... when it's a mandala!

Have you noticed how popular crocheted mandalas are at the moment?  Those lovely big, colourful circles with lots of variety of crochet stitches.

If you search on Ravelry, you'll find mandalas categorised as wall decorations, placemats, coasters, 'other' and also as doilies.  And it's the last of these that interests me.  I am a big doily fan but they can be thought of as rather 'old lady-ish'.  Here's a doily I made back in October 2012.

A lovely pattern, it only took me a leisurely afternoon to crochet. It's called Passion Flower Doily, and it's free.

So, what's the difference between a doily and a mandala?  I think this boils down to a thicker yarn and a splash of colour.

And here is the doily again, worked exactly as stated in the original pattern but with the mandala treatment.

Add some surface crochet and the doily is now a fully fledged mandala.

Mandalas are lovely - they are doilies with a make-over - and I'm glad they are proving so popular.

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