The circular background is made first, working outwards from the centre. The walls are added afterwards.
The background is a simple circle of treble crochet (UK definition). The walls are added by surface crochet.
The pavement labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral, France, was built around 1235. It is 12.9 metres (42.3 ft.) in diameter and fills the width of the nave. It represents the path of life and the recent journeys of the Crusaders. Reaching the centre symbolised reaching both Jerusalem and salvation.
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Norma made this version of the Chartres maze. She sent the following report:
I used worsted weight acrylic yarn. It's a tad poofy in the middle because I was well into it before I remembered reading somewhere that a UK "treble crochet" is a US "double crochet" (yarn over, pull up a loop, pull through two loops at a time). US treble crochet is actually a bit airy for an afghan, so the end result is a bit lacier than is really practical...ah, well. It certainly went together faster in US treble!
I wanted the edging to look like the lunettes around the Chartre labyrinth. I ended up using repeats of (treble crochet, double crochet, single crochet, slip stitch, single crochet, double crochet, treble crochet, chain one) around and it worked out perfectly. The first row of royal blue is worked in the opposite direction around the circle, adding a stitch in every seventh.