SUNFLOWER
KNITTING PATTERNS BY AMANDA BERRY fluffandfuzz@googlemail.com www.fluffandfuzz.weebly.com
YARN + NOTIONS
Needles:
A pair of 3.75mm straight knitting needles (US 5) · A pair of 3.5mm DPNs to work the i-cord stalk (US 4)
Notions:
· A small amount of toy filling (or cotton wool balls) to stuff the centre · A darning or tapestry needle to sew the knitted pieces together · A bamboo skewer 25cm long Optional: I stood my finished sunflower in a pot filled with florist foam
Yarn:
All DK weight yarns; less than 25g in each colour: Yellow: for the petals Hayfield Bonus DK in "Sunflower" Brown: for the centre of the sunflower Hayfield Bonus DK in "Chocolate" Green: for the stalk and leaves Hayfield Bonus DK in "Grass" The yarn used was sold in skeins weighing 100g, and one skein in each colour will be more than sufficient to knit several sunflowers.
NOTES
Finished size: The sunflower is approximately 7cm diameter, and the flower and stalk are 21cm tall above ground when planted. Work flat: All pieces are knitted flat (back and forth) on a pair of straight knitting needles, apart from the stalk which is i-cord knitted on two DPNs. Tension: The tension is approximately 22 sts x 28 rows for a 10cm x 10cm square in stockinette stitch on 3.75mm needles. Don't worry too much about tension for this pattern. Casting on: Unless otherwise specified, use the long tail cast on for all pieces.
Copyright @ 2015 Amanda Berry
All patterns designed by Amanda Berry are protected by international copyright laws. Any unauthorised copying will constitute an infringement of copyright. All rights reserved.
ABBREVIATIONS
DK Double knitting or light worsted weight yarn DPN(s) Double pointed needle(s) i-cord A knitted tube worked on two DPNs k Knit k2tog Decrease: knit two stitches together. kfb Increase: knit into the front and back of the stitch. psso Decrease: Pass the slipped stitch over
Pull through to cast off
Cut the yarn leaving at least a 30cm tail. Thread the tail onto a darning needle and sew through the remaining sts on the knitting needle. Pull the sts off the knitting needle on to the yarn, gather together tightly and secure the yarn. rep Repeat rem Remaining RS Right side st(s) Stitch(es) WS Wrong side [...] Repeat the sequence between the square brackets by the number indicated. (.. sts) The number in round brackets at the end of the instruction indicates the number of stitches after working the row.
KNITTING PAITERNS
Sunflower Petals
Make 2. Cast on in yellow on 3.75mm straight needles using a picot cast on as follows: Step 1: cast on 7 sts using the cable cast on method Step 2: cast off 5 sts Step 3: slip the 1 stitch on the right-hand needle back onto the left-hand needle Next: rep steps 1 to 3 thirteen times to cast on 28 sts Now work on these 28 sts for the centre of the petals.
Sunflower Leaves
Make 2. Cast on 6 sts in green on 3.75mm straight needles. Row 1: k (6 sts) Row 2: k1, kfb, k to the last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (8 sts) Rows 3 to 4: rep rows 1 and 2 (10 sts) Rows 5 to 7: k (10 sts) Row 8: k1, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k1 (8 sts) Row 9: k (8 sts) Row 10: k1, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k1 (6 sts) Row 11: k (6 sts) Row 12: k1, [k2tog] x 2, k1 (4 sts) Row 13: k (4 sts) Row 14: k1, k2tog, k1 (3 sts) Row 15: k (3 sts) Row 16: slip the first stitch purlwise, k2tog, psso (1 st) Pull through to cast off.
Sunflower Stalk
Make 1. Cast on 5 sts in green on a 3.5mm DPN. Using two DPNs, work i-cord for a length of 18cm. Pull through to cast off.
Sunflower Centre
MAKinG UP
Make 1. Cast on 8 sts in brown on 3.75mm straight needles. Row 1: k (8 sts) Row 2: k1, kfb, k to the last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (10 sts) Rows 3 to 4: rep rows 1 and 2 (12 sts) Rows 5 to 6: k (12 sts) Rows 7 to 8: rep rows 1 and 2 (14 sts) Rows 9 to 11: k (14 sts) Row 12: k1, k2tog, k to the last 3 sts, k2tog, k1 (12 sts) Rows 13 to 15: k (12 sts) Row 16: k1, k2tog, k to the last 3 sts, k2tog, k1 (10 sts) Row 17: k (10 sts) Rows 18 to 19: rep rows 16 and 17 (8 sts) Pull through to cast off When casting off, leave a long yarn tail (approximately 40cm) which you can use to make up the centre of the sunflower. Petals: Sew the side edges together to make a circular shape with the picot petals around the outside edge. I used a steam iron to blast my petal pieces with steam after sewing the seam, as this helps the picot petals to lie flat. Then sew the two petal pieces together through the centre on top of each other. (NOTE: Please do check your yarn band before steaming, and if you are concerned that your piece may shrink then you can use another blocking technique instead.) Centre: Add a litle stuffing (or cotton wool balls)to the inside of the brown centre, then using the yarn cast off tail sew a running stitch around the outside edges of the piece. Then pull the yarn to gather together the edges to make a large bobble, squashing it into a flat disc shape. Sew the gathered back side of the piece onto the front of the petals. (NOTE: Your skewer should be slightly longer than the knitted stalk, so the wooden end of the skewer can be pushed into the ground or florist foam to plant your flower without the knitted stalk getting too dirty.) Leaves: Fold the cast on edge in half, and sew this folded edge onto the side of the stalk (the folded side of the leaf should face downwards).
Stalk: Thread a bamboo skewer inside the i-cord piece. Sew the top of the finished stalk onto the back of the flower. To plant your sunflower: I bought florist foam from a local hardware store and cut it to shape to fit inside a ceramic pot. Push the end of the skewer into the foam. Alternatively, you could fill a pot with sand or gravel.
