guide to mandala perfection - yarnmandalas.com

Guide to Mandala Perfection

8-sided Ojos de Dios

© by Jay Mohler

Table of Content

Introduction to CRAWL ................................................................................................... 1

Tools used to create yarn mandalas ................................................................................ 4

Arrow Pattern ............................................................................................................. 6

Circle Pattern ............................................................................................................... 8

Diamond Pattern ......................................................................................................... 8

Alternate colors weaving .......................................................................................... 10

8-pointed star pattern................................................................................................ 11

Embroidery ................................................................................................................. 13

More complex tassels ................................................................................................ 15

Making the loop ........................................................................................................ 19

Guide to Mandala Perfection, 8-sided Ojos de Dios, Yarn Mandalas

1

Introduction to CRAWL

My new acronym help, the word CRAWL

For some time, I've been thinking there must be some perfect acronym that can be used as an aid in remembering

all that a person should be keeping track of when trying to spin out the perfect Ojo de Dios mandala. Finally, I

came up with it, and it's a sort of DOUBLE acronym, in that each letter has TWO words associated with it. The

word is CRAWL.

For one thing this word CRAWL is meaningful to me, because it is in a phrase in the Christian Bible, "You must

learn to crawl before you can walk." So it is with mandala weaving. Learn the little things, start simple, and then

you can learn, as you move to more and more complex weaving, to weave with balance and artistic beauty and

symmetry.

I recommend that everyone, when weaving a mandala, have a card or note like the one pictured above, to help

you remember and keep track as you weave, all these different steps and stages I'll explain in this article. With

these CRAWL steps, anyone should be able to learn to weave a near perfect Ojo de Dios mandala. I've also started

filming videos, with the help of new students, which will utilize these steps and stages of mandala weaving, all

represented by the one word, CRAWL.


2

First, the Double C. Why DOUBLE C? Well, as you can see by the card, I've assigned FOUR words to it, even

doubling the usual double acronym of two words for each of the other letters.

First: COLOR. As I've said elsewhere, the colors that you use in your mandala is probably the most important thing

in achieving a beautiful work of art. Very important to me in choosing colors is to find a yarn store, or online store,

where a huge choice of colors is available. One place I’ve often used, and shipping worldwide, is Abundant Yarn

online.

I love these Cascade 220 yarns, and they were my standard mandala yarn for a long time, up until I moved to

Oaxaca Mexico in 2016, where I now buy local yarns.

Of course, seeing yarn in person is best, if you are lucky enough to have a local yarn shop with lots of colors.

Want some help on how to choose you mandala colors?

You can watch my half hour YouTube video on choosing colors HERE.

OK, you've picked out your colors. Do feel free to change your mind as you create your mandala. I add or subtract

colors quite often as I weave myself.

Next: Concentrate! This applies to all the way through the mandala weaving process. Let your mind wander away

for long, and mistakes will be made, and things will come out uneven or just not looking their best. You could add

yet another C here, Coordinate!

As you weave your mandala, you are constantly coordinating and balancing the colors to the design ... how much

of certain colors to use, and exactly where in the design each color belongs, to create the overall effect you want.

Now, we begin weaving

CROSS and CENTER. Like I've shown before in both pdf instructions, and in videos, you start weaving by crossing

yarn right over the center of two crossed sticks, and you expand from there, creating places where yarn crosses

the sticks right in the center of the top part of each stick, that is making the face of the Ojo. By the "top" of each

stick, I mean the part of the stick you are looking at, and that is facing you, as you create your mandala.

R RIGHT ROWS. As we weave to the RIGHT (sorry lefties .... read "left" for "right") we watch how the yarn looks

compared to the last row of yarn as we add to the mandala, and try and keep the distance between those ROWS

even, creating the texture of our weaving.

A ACROSS and ADJUST. Constantly as we weave and lay down yarn ACROSS each stick, we ADJUST to not only

make the crossing point exactly on the center of the stick, but also, we pull forward the wrap of yarn with a

thumb as we push back the underside of the wrap with a forefinger, to prevent the wrap from running ahead of

the design we are creating. In other words, we ADJUST so that the yarn wraps perfectly to straight around each

stick.

Another way of putting that is, we ADJUST so that where the yarn wraps around the back of the stick is exactly

advanced from the center of the Ojo the same as where the yarn wraps around the front of each stick. This is an

important habit to develop. Also, we adjust the sets, or pairs of, sticks, so that they are stacked perfectly on top

of each other, with the crossing points of our pairs of sticks aligned and centered. This is assuming we are

weaving a Ojo with at least eight sticks total.

https://www.abundant-yarn.com/yarn-store/pc/Cascade-220-Yarn-p3294.htm

https://www.abundant-yarn.com/yarn-store/pc/Cascade-220-Yarn-p3294.htm

https://youtu.be/sQVSum589TE


3

W WRAP WIDTH. As we continue to WRAP around the sticks, we want to be constantly checking the WIDTH

between the sticks, as some designs in particular will pull sticks closer together than the distance between sticks

in other parts of the Ojo. A great many Ojos become uneven in this way because the weaver was not constantly

checking the distance between stick ends, and adjusting them back to evenly spaced. In certain designs that

particularly pull certain sticks together, I even start those sticks further apart than the average, knowing that

they are going to get pulled closer to each other.

L LENGTH LOOK I like to make marks, besides every inch notch, along my sticks, so I can constantly check the

LENGTH along the sticks that the pattern has progressed, and so keep that advancement even. This will take you

a long way in keeping the overall design symmetrical. LOOK constantly as what you are creating overall, what

each wrap of yarn adds to the look of the Ojo. Forget all the rest for a moment, and just see what you are creating

as you weave, and create something with beauty, and with generosity for the person that is ultimately going to

end up with your creation.

I hope these tips help everyone in their creative efforts.


4

Tools used to create yarn mandalas The tools used for the creation of a yarn mandala are quite simple. In general, yarn mandalas can be created with

only a pen for the markings, and a pocket knife to cut the sticks and notches, as well as the yarn. Here are the

tools I use, but if needed, it can all be done with nothing but the pocket knife. For materials, all we need is sticks

and yarn.

Pocket Knife mainly used for carving out the central notches.

Saw to make precise cuts for the sticks. I find a small hacksaw works very well.

Measuring Tape to measure the length of the sticks and the positioning of the marks.

Pen or pencil to make marks between the notches along the sticks.

File to smooth the edges of the ends of the sticks, and the center notches.

➢ If you don’t have a file, try using a pocket knife.

Saw to cut the sticks and to begin forming the center notches. Hacksaws work best.

Triangle File to create small notches along the sticks to hold yarn in place.

➢ fairly easily done with pocket knife also.

Scissors to cut the yarn. Small embroidery scissors work best.


5

Once again, I’ve chosen colors often seen in art

and jewelry and scenery of the American

Southwest. As I noted in the introduction, I

created a half hour YouTube video on how I

choose colors, that you can watch HERE.

I like the gradations of these four colors,

changing from a golden brown through orange

and yellow to while.

Use the skills for creating your central diamond

learned from my earlier instructions, for making

a 4-sided yarn mandala. Weave two sets of 4-

sided mandala diamond centers: one for the

top/center of your new mandala, and another to

be a background behind that central diamond.

Make the background diamond a bit larger than

the front diamond, wrapping your background

color one more wrap around your 2-stick

framework than you created on your topmost

diamond. Do your best to have the four points of the background diamond showing equally as you hold it to start

weaving the two parts together.

https://youtu.be/sQVSum589TE


6

Arrow Pattern Now we start our arrow pattern. String the yarn

all the way beneath the second set of sticks, and

to hold the two sets of sticks together.

Remember to always wrap your yarn twice around the sticks. With the arrow pattern, if adjustments are needed

to even out the progress along the length of the sticks, I usually will wrap on one end THREE times, rather than

shrink one end of wrapping to only ONE wrap around the sticks. For now, though, I’d say stick with wrapping

twice around every time your yarn reaches a new stick end, and we’ll worry about keeping the pattern even and

symmetrical a bit later.

To continue holding the two frameworks

together, we tie on our next arrow pattern color,

and then continue on until we have our first color

of our arrow pattern finished, working from the

topmost stick downwards.


7

As seen from the backside, here we’ve

completed our first arrow pattern color.

Like in our 4-sided mandala instructions, I like

adding single rows of white into the pattern.

As we weave our arrow pattern, this is a good

time to look back at our C R A W L guide.

Concentrate on the mandala you are creating!

Cross the yarn along the center of the sticks.

Keep all the four points of the bottom diamond

showing up equally behind our top center

pattern. Check that your Rows of yarn and nicely

placed one after the other. Make Adjustments,

keep checking the Width between sticks, and

Look at the Length your pattern has advanced

along each stick.

Keep checking back to the C R A W L guide as you

weave, and you will be well on your way to

mandala weaving perfection!

So, here I’m satisfied with my arrow pattern, and

it’s time to prepare the ending points of each

“arrow” for our next weaving step. To do so, I

loosen each tied off bit of yarn to only one wrap

around the sticks, and cut the left-over yarn short

enough to not interfere with our next weaving

step.


8

Circle Pattern

As I often do after weaving arrow patterns, here I’m weaving a simple circle, using every stick of the framework.

This maximizes the empty spaces created, and it’s important to take a close look at those spaces, and see that

they come out equally shaped, and equally distributed. This is a good time also to measure the distance between

your stick ends, as this circle pattern will do much to lock those distances in place. Don’t count on the distance

between the sticks to be locked in place however! Especially as you advance to more complex designs, even

quite late in weaving a mandala, certain designs can strongly pull sticks closer together, throwing off your whole

mandala balance.

Diamond Pattern After just two rows of my green circle shape, I’ve

decided to weave more diamonds. This will fill in

part of the empty diamond shapes just created,

and again we pay attention to keeping those

shapes evenly spaced and symmetrical.

Here I came up with an idea to make diamonds of gold, separated by single rows of orange, with each succeeding

gold diamond consisting of one less rows of yarn than the last. Namely, I planned going from rows of five, to

four, to three, to two, and then having a block where I alternate between gold and orange with every row of

yarn.


9

As I was proceeding with this plan, I realized that

the distance between my sticks was soon going

to be more and more locked into place by the

ever-increasing size of my weaving. I took a close

look at, and made a small adjustment to, the

width between my sticks.

Here I cut a length of dowelling to the exact

average of the width between my mandala

framework stick ends, and checked to make sure

everything was even and symmetrical. I

recommend making such a stick, or perhaps use

a ruler, earlier in your weaving than I did here.

However, my distances proved to be very equal.

Now I’ve reached the point where I want to alternate between the gold and orange with every

wrap around the framework.


10

Alternate colors weaving For this stage, I’ve used the mandala to measure

out the approximate length of yarn I’ll be using,

and then I roll that yarn into small balls. I did the

measuring by simply over and over rolling off of

my large ball of yarn lengths that match up with

where I will be weaving the yarn between sticks,

being sure to measure out a bit extra. Better to

measure some extra rather than to come up

short, and have to tie on a bit more towards the

end of your work.

The reason of creating the small balls of yarn is to

be able to set the color not being used, so it

won’t get tangled up with the color being woven

onto the framework. Here I’ve locked the small

gold ball well into the pattern, but I’m not

spinning the Ojo while weaving in this one step

of the way, but rather holding it fairly flat, and

wrapping the yarn around the stick with the

mandala facing upwards.

As the yarn balls got smaller, it was possible to

secure them better, and go back to my usual

spinning the framework as I weave.

Once again, I finish a color by a simple, once

around the stick, and a single tuck under the one

wrap. This is so when I start the next weaving

stage, the newly created pattern will be tight up

against the old, or in this case, the gold color.


11

8-pointed Star Pattern

Now I’ve decided to create an 8-pointed star pattern, by repeatedly weaving to every third stick.

Just like with the arrow pattern, it becomes extra important here to keep tucking your wraps around the sticks

back toward the center of the Ojo, pushing with the forefinger, while pulling forward the top pattern, the part

we want visible, with your thumb. I repeat this because you want this forefinger and thumb movement to

become a habit, to be done virtually every time you are holding a new stick with your thumb and forefinger.

Again, use your C R A W L method to see that all is symmetrical. It’s very easy to get caught up in technique, and

forget about such things as how evenly your pattern is approaching your notches and pen marks along the length

of your sticks. In fact, that is exactly what happened to me! I was so absorbed in my following the pattern I

devised of blocks of yarn ever decreasing in size, and then the change of colors every row, that my design

advancement along the sticks get pretty far from ideal. Fortunately, it wasn’t so bad that I felt the need to

unwind! A close look at the finished Ojo, however, will show that the part of my fancy pattern that is anchored

to the stick where I’ve changed the colors, where all my twisting together of colors happens, is noticeably smaller

than the same design element anchored to the opposite ends of the same stick.


12

It pays to be extra careful about your design advancement along the stick where you join colors together.

Depending on the pattern you are weaving, that one area of your work can easily come out either longer, or

shorter, than the equivalent sections of that pattern anchored to other sticks.

I continued the 8-sided star pattern with gold,

hoping for the gold to tie into the outer gold of

the diamond, or square, pattern that’s mostly

orange and ends with gold. As with the arrow

pattern, this 8-sided gold pattern requires a lot of

using thumb and forefinger to pushing the

wrapping back behind the pattern you are

creating, and to pull your desired pattern

forward, so that no wraps show behind the

design you are creating. I know I keep repeating

this, but it is not to be forgotten at any stage, but

rather to become a habit.

Now I’m making a different kind of 8-sided star,

using the same color for two diamond patterns.

Almost always I end my mandala, except for the

tassels, with a circle pattern, forming a nice

border that includes every stick. I’m a bit

annoyed at myself that, because of the way I got

uneven back doing my fancy part with gold and

orange, some of my stick ends are longer than

others, and in not wanting to have uneven

separation between rows of yarn, I didn’t do

much to compensate for the uneven growth of

my pattern along the sticks.

Also, I was thinking that, since I am going to end with tassels, those tassels will cover the stick ends, and so it is

not such a problem compared to if I was going to have my pattern go right to the end of the sticks, and call the

design finished.


13

Embroidery Now, if we are going to put needlework in a

mandala border, I prefer to do that before

adding the tassels, as with some needlework the

tassels can definitely get in the way of needle

and yarn. In this case we are only making one

small diamond near the center of each border

section, but we’re going to do the needlework

first anyway.

What makes a needle a yarn needle? Two things:

a large eye that yarn will fit through, and a blunt

point, that won’t get caught on, or damage, yarn

already in your pattern.

Most always I use a 3-inch (8mm) steel yarn needle. Some might prefer the larger, plastic needle, especially

children.

Instead of measuring my yarn with a ruler, I use

my mandala, and know from experience that

from the center to the edge is about right for this

simple diamond pattern I am about to create.

Starting a bit to one side of the center of the first

section I’m to work on, I first circle the two

center rows of border yarn, leaving enough of a

tail of yarn for a final knot I will be making when

finished with this needlework. Note that I have

secured that tail to earlier work in the mandala,

to keep it out of the way of continued

needlework. In the above photo, I’m using the

needle to clearly show the two strands that the

first needlework goes around.


14

When we finish our pattern, we turn our mandala

over, and pull our yarn through to the other end,

to be able to tie the two ends together.

Pictured here is the first step of the square knot we use to tie the two ends together. I cut off the ends pretty

close to the knot, to make sure none of the ends will show up from the front, but rather will stay neatly behind

the border.

Ideally, the newly finished diamond needlework will be lined up with other design elements that are all in line

with the center of our border section. This is a good time to use fingers, thumbnails and fingernails to move

things a bit to get that perfect alignment.


15

Here’s our mandala, ready for tassels.

More complex tassels For the simplest tassels, as we did on the 4-stick

mandala in the previous instructions, we

wrapped yarn around two layers of cardboard

about four inches (10 mm) long. This time

however, we are going to use cardboard five and

a half inch (14 mm) long. This time, instead of

tassels laid on top of the mandala, our fancier

tassels will be in the same plane as the rest of the

mandala, shooting right out from the edge of the

border. This is more complex to create, but I

think worth the extra effort.

Like our previous tassels, they will be attached at

two spots, but this time, not tied to the mandala,

but rather to the sticks that we’ve purposely left

sticking out beyond the mandala border. Here

I’m using my triangle file to file two notches into

the wood.


16

Here is a closeup of the new notches, one very

close to the end of the stick, and the other

equally close to the mandala border. Like the

notches we made before starting to weave,

make them just deep enough for yarn to fit into

them. Also, it’s best to make the notches angled

to keep the yarn from sliding off of the ends. The

mandala border will keep the tassels from sliding

into the mandala, so keeping the tassels from

sliding off of the stick ends is our primary

concern when filing the notches. Notice that I

filed the notches a bit to one side rather than

right on top of the stick. This makes it easier to

see that the yarn fits right into the notches when

tying on the tassels.

Here I’ve wrapped and tied off our first tassel,

just as we did with our simpler tassels for the 4-

sided mandala. Also, again, I’ve used ten wraps

around the cardboard, wrapping two colors at

once. Wrapping more times around the

cardboard will make for a fuller tassel; ten times

around a fairly minimal tassel.

Our next step is to tie the tassel to the notch

closest to the end of the stick. Again, use a

square knot.

Pictured is tying the tassel onto the stick, as seen

from the back of the mandala.

When tied into place we lay our tassel on the

front of the mandala, facing in towards the

center of the mandala.


17

Here I’m testing that my yarn that ties the tassel

into the notch is really securely tied tightly into

that notch. I’m holding up one of the ends of the

yarn that both holds the tassels together, and

also ties the tassel into the notch.

Another view of the tassel freshly tied to the

mandala.

Our next step is to make the second tie. The

“head” we are forming should be very small, as it

will end up being wrapped over to form the final

“head” of the tassel. Use another length of yarn

(again I measured from the very center of the

mandala to the mandala edge) and use that

length of yarn to both form the small head

shown here, and to secure the tassel onto the

notch that is closest to the mandala border.

Here I’m again using a square knot, as I tie the

tassel into the notch, and at the same time, form

the “head.”


18

This second strand of yarn that holds the tassel

and forms the head ends up tightly tied around

the tassel right after the end of the stick it is

attached to. This is where having stick ends not

all the same length gave me a bit of a hassle, as

my tassel heads with slightly different sizes from

each other.

Properly done and finished, the tassel head starts

right at the very edge of the mandala border.

Some stuck out forward a bit, but I was able to

use my fingers to shove them back into a nice alignment with the mandala border.

Usually, I will wait until all the tassels are

attached before I trim them, but here I’ve gone

ahead and finished this one tassel, for

demonstration purposes. When you do trim your

tassels, of course try and make them all close to

the same length.

Probably as you continue to add your other tassels to your mandala, you will gain experience, and get better and

better-looking tassels as you make more tassels. I ended up using my finger and thumb nails quite a bit to adjust

the look of the tassel heads, so that all the rows of yarn moved into nice alignment with each other. I also used

my fingers to comb the loose tassel “tails” into orderly shape.


19

Making the loop

The very final step is to make a loop for hanging the mandala. Unlike with the 4-sided mandala, we can fasten the

loop right onto the back side of the mandala, looping around the yarns of our interlocked diamond pattern, as

shown here. What I try for is to place the loop in such a way that when I hang the mandala from a nail or hook

that sticks out about one inch from the wall, the whole mandala will hang very close to parallel to the wall, sticking

out from the wall just the amount that is formed by the center of the mandala resting against the wall, and the

borders of the mandala sticking out from the wall an inch or more all around your finished Ojo de Dios mandala.

In this case, when hung on my wall, the top of the Ojo sticks out from the wall noticeably more than the bottom

of the Ojo does. I don’t mind though, as I’m hanging it quite high on my wall, and the angle that it hangs at points

downward toward anyone looking up at it. You might want to experiment with putting you loop onto different

parts of your mandala, and with using loop sizes.


20

Finished! I hope you got a lot out of these instructions, and will continue to weave new creations using my CRAWL

system. I’ll be making more instructions and even videos, but a person could, using what is taught here, continue

on to make many more designs, even venturing fairly quickly to 12-sided mandalas. With twelve-sided creations,

you can make and attach three sets of two sticks each together, much as we attached two sets of sticks here.

Either add on your sets one at a time, or even attach all three together at once, again using arrow patterns.

Be sure to check back to the Instructions Page often and, if you have not already, sign up for my newsletter.

To always be the very first to receive new instructions and other writing by me, join me at Patreon.

Jay Mohler

YarnMandalas.com

https://yarnmandalas.com/instructions/

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guide to mandala perfection - yarnmandalas.com

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