Ink Circles: Pens and Needles: Roll Your Own Wiki

The Roll Your Own mandala project finished its second season in 2014. With so many options and different models, I'm attempting to establish this as a Stitcher's Guide to them.

An (already outdated) compilation showing all of the 2013 and the first 2 of 2014 all in the same palette.

FAQ
What is a RYO Mandala? It's a special cross stitch pattern that looks like symmetrical stained glass. They are designed to be custom colored by the stitcher using a few basic guidelines. The charts are engineered to adapt easily to whatever colors are picked (just by following a few rules.)

How do I get the patterns? The patterns are available for in hard copy only and are available through shops or directly on my webshop. They only show a few of the possible color combos. The 2013 series was released in 3 separate charts, each having 2 big and one small mandala. The 2014 series came out as 4 separate charts.

Do I have to join Facebook or the Yahoo Group? No, but it's an easy way to see lots of photos of works in progress, finishes, and color previews. The Yahoo Group is available as an archive to folks who have bought 2013 (since charts are posted) but the Facebook Group is open to anybody who is a real stitchers and is interested (spammer bots need not apply.)

Do I have to use the colors you show? No, that is the whole point. Any of the charts can be done in any of the color schemes, and making brand new color schemes is truly NOT HARD. The work was done in setting up the pattern to make it so it would work out when colors were substituted. Here is a file with some established combos. It will never be complete or up to date, but it is a great starting point. If you purchase the charts, you are welcome to ask for computer previews of charts in your chosen colors.

What do I need? These patterns are all comprised of full normal cross stitches, so they can be stitched on Aida, linen, or even needlepoint canvas. The large mandalas are all 115 stitches square. The smaller bits (Spawn and the mini chip balls and such) vary in sizes.They are all stitched with any brand of solid color floss such as DMC, Anchor, or HDF (no overdyes; no variegated.) Each mandala uses 12 colors plus black, or whatever outline color you choose. You'll typically need 3 skeins of black and less than 1 of each color.

The Players
Bigger and Smaller
The original 2014 and 2015 mandalas all used 4 color families and were 115 stitches square. I've added a few new charts that use only 3 families and are a bit smaller. I've also made a giant one with five families.

Bobulate - using 3 families, 103 stitches square

Lichen - using 3 families, 89 stitches square

Pentatonic - 5 families, 191 stitches square

2014 Season Lineup: Merry Go Round (named for various latitude lines.) Some are show with bonus corner chips or mini mandalas that are included in the chart packs. All seven of these charts have now been released. They are available in printed copy format only.