Mandala Tweed : Review et Patron

POUR LA VERSION FRANÇAISE DE CET ARTICLE, CLIQUEZ ICI!

A couple of months ago, I received an email from Yarn Canada asking me if I wanted to try out the new yarn they just added to their website: Mandala Tweed by Lion Brand.

There’s only one answer I could give: yes! Not only did I never tried this yarn before, but I just LOVE cakes!! So I head over their website to choose the colourway I wanted, and I received the yarn a couple of weeks later.

I want to share my experience with this new yarn with you. I also imagined a triangular scarf pattern that I called Checkmate which is free for a limited time, just so you too can try this cool yarn!!

Right now, I am editing a step-by-step tutorial video for this pattern, but it’s not totally ready yet. So in the meantime, here is my honest review about this yarn.

Here we go!

When I went on Yarn Canada’s website to choose the colourway I wanted to try, the first thing that struck me was the very little selection I had for the colours. After a couple of research, I found out that the website is actually not to blame for that : indeed, the yarn company only makes three colourway for this type of yarn! Oh well! That being said, they are beautiful, so we forgive them a little bit.

After I looked at my options, I decided to go for the colourway called «Dice» that looks like a nice gradient rainbow.

When I received my yarn a couple of weeks later, I opened up the box, and had the surprise to see not one cake, but TWO cakes of yarn! Oh!!! Very generous!! ❤ Here they are.

We see right away that there is a huge difference visually speaking between the two cakes. And the reason is simple! Each cake is completely unique. And that’s exactly what it says on the label. So even if you buy two cakes from the exact same dye lot, both will be completely unique. If you like your yarn to look exactly the same in a large project, that might not be your cup of tea. Personally, I really like the concept and I am not bothered by it one bit! As they so beautifully say on the label, «This is the charm of the yarn». Well said!!

Labels. Speaking of which. I read it entirely. Here are the specs of this beautiful yarn.

worsted weight
100% acrylic
200 gr/520 m
Machine washable and dryable
The suggested hook is a 5,5 mm

The very sweet lady from Yarn Canada told me that with a single cake, we could make a shawl or a small baby blanket! So that’s exactly what I tried! I grabbed the recommended hook size and went to work.

After lots of tests and several days of hard work later, here is the outcome!

Did I successfully completed my project with a single cake?
Yes! And with this design, I only had a teeny tiny little ball left at the end. No waste!

Is this pretty?
My scarf has a rainbow gradient with an insanely cool colour transition. What do you think?? Of course it’s pretty!!!

IN CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed the Mandala Tweed yarn. The outcome is extremely soft and comfy to wear. I had a bit of troubles with the elasticity of the yarn while I worked. Even if the yarn is super drapey when it’s crocheted, I find that it’s a bit stiff to work with, so take that into consideration if it’s something important to you.

Personally, I cannot wait to try another colourway of Mandala Tweed in the future, even if it’s a bit stiff to work with, just because it’s SO pretty!!

Big thanks to Yarn Canada for giving me the opportunity to try this yarn out. That was super fun!!

Relevant links:
The Checkmate crochet pattern
The Mandala Tweed yarn on Yarn Canada’s website

And you, what do you think of the final design?
Will you try the Mandala Tweed cakes?