These flowers are a nice little "in between" project, ideal for leftovers. You can play with colors and materials, try different yarn combinations while practicing various techniques for short rows
Materials:
about 25 m fingering-yarn, needles 2,5 mm - 3,5 mm, adjust needle-size if necessary. The yarn should be a little fluffy and not too heavy and slippery. Wooden sticks and beads for the peduncle. Gauge: not important. Don't knit loose.
Techniques
short rows: 5 simple turns and 1 double stitch turn (see glossary). Pattern: see next page
Finishing:
Wash and squeeze petal well, fix the tops with needle pins without stretching and let it dry. Sew in threads of contrasting color, roll up blossom from cast-on edge and fix it with cast-on thread at the bottom. Also fix the cast-on stiches of the first petal inside at the purl bumps between 3. and 4. petal (optional between 4. and 5. petal). Fix the last petal up to half of the castoff-stitches with cast-off-thread. Put the blossom on an wooden stick. Giussary. st = stitch k =knit p = purl kfb = knit in front and back (1 stitch increased) double stitch (german short rows): purl last stitch, turn with yarn in front, and, while slipping the last stitch worked to the right needle, bring the working yarn over the needle to back and go on knitting. Pattern 1st petal CO 16 1. row: p 4, k 12 2. row: slip 1 purlwise, p 11, turn 3. row (and rows 5, 7, 9, 11): slip 1 knitwise, k to last st., kfb 4. row: slip 1 purlwise, p 10, turn 6. row: slip 1 purlwise, p 9, turn 8. row: slip 1 purlwise, p 8, turn 10 row: slip 1 purlwise, p 7, turn 12. row: slip 1 purlwise, p 6, turn (21 sts) 13. row: slip 1 knitwise, k to last st. (no kfb!) 14. row: slip 1 purlwise, p 4, turn 15. row: double st, k 4, turn 16. row: bind off 3, bind off the double st as one st, bo 1, k to end (16 sts
2. to 7. petal
(in brackets instructions for bicolor petals) 1. row: p 4 (change to cc), k 12 2. - 15. row: as shown for 1st petal 16. row: bind off 3, bind off the double st as one st, bo 1, k 15 (k 11, change to mc, k 4 - tie thread well at every color changing)
Last petal:
knit petal as established up to row 15 but with double stitches after all turns row 16: bo 6 sts as established (double sts as one st) \*ktog st and double st, pass live st over ktog \* 5 times boknitwise to end Variation: knit 4 petals in color A (bright color), bind off 8 stitches in row 16 (instead of 5), knit to end of row, change to color B (dark color), knit row 1 as established and cast on 3 stitches at the end to get 16 stitches. Finish blossom with 5 more petals (4 in color A, 5 in colorB).
Susanne Reese, 2013. Please respect my copyright, thank you!
