Garter Stitch Appliqué Flower

As an extra touch to my Rambling Rows Afghan,

 I added this simple garter stitch flower.

Worsted weight yarn, size 8 needles.

Each petal measures 2 1/8” across at the widest points. Each leaf measures 1 ½”.

Flower is made up of five petals and a flower center, each sewn separately to a knitted base.

Flower Center:

CO 15. Knit 2 rows garter stitch. Pull all stitches over the first stitch on needle. Pull yarn through this stitch and cut. The stitches will form a circle with a pie shaped piece missing. Use your tail to sew up the gap and make a complete circle.

Petals:

Make 5

The basic pattern is to knit the front stitches, making a Center Decrease on 3 center stitches; and to knit all stitches on the backside except the center stitch, which is purled. There is an increase in row 2.

CO 13

Rows 1 & 3: K5, CD over 3 stitches (Slip 2 as to knit, K1, PSSO) K5

Row 2: K1 M1, K4, P1, K4, M1, K1

Row 4: K5 P1 K5

Row 5: K4, CD3, K4

Row 6: K4, P1, K4

Row 7: K3, CD3, K3

Row 8: K3, P1, K3

Row 9: K2, CD3, K2

Row 10: K2, P1, K2

Row 11: K1 CD3, K1

Row 12: P3 tog

Pull yarn through remaining stitch.

Leaves:

Make 2 or 3

CO 9

Rows 1 & 3: K3, CD3, K3

Row 2: K1, M1, K2, P1, K2, M1, K1

Row 4: K3, P1, K3

Row 5: K2, CD3, K2

Row 6: K2, P1, K2

Row 7: K1, CD3, K1

Row 8: P3 tog

Pull yarn through remaining stitch.

Arrange 5 petals in a circle with final tail pointing out and cast on tail pointing to the side. Sew to base. Place flower center on top of the inner points of the petals and sew down. Sew leaves wherever desired in the vicinity of the flower.

Variation: Make another set of 5 smaller petals from the leaf pattern and sewn them over the seams between the larger petals. These may be from a contrasting color.

Get the pattern for the afghan here.

Barrettes

   When the plastic coating fell off my Walmart barrettes, first one and then the other, I used the bare hardware for a while. Finally I got around to snazzing them up.

   The blue one is made from my handy little buttons. The one pictured below is made of a felted rose from my stash of extras.

Buttons and Bobbles

   Even if you only know how to cast-on you can "knit" these handy little discs. I have used them instead of a bobble to cover a button and so made a smaller version of my sturdy felt button.
   I also use them as a knob on a flap with a snap or velcro underneath.

   Or just to form a flower to decorate a bag.

   Both of my pictures show felted discs, but they can also be used without felting.


The method:


Using any yarn and a correspondingly sized needle, Cast on 12 -18 stitches. Then pull each stitch over the last stitch you cast on. (Start by pulling the second to last one over and work your way down the needle.) Cut your yarn and pull through the remaining stitch. You will have a circle with a pie shaped piece missing. Using the tail of yarn, sew up this pie shaped gap.  If the opening is too large to sew up neatly, try again with a couple more stitches. 


If you want a bigger disc, you can also knit one row before removing the stitches.


The blue discs in the picture above were made with Reynolds Lopi, size 13 needles and 16 stitches.

Variation on the Easy Flower

I've enjoyed the ease of the Easy Flower, but I was getting bored with the results. Here is a variation that has a little more ruffle. It takes a little longer to make, and it uses a little more yarn, but it is still easy. The only change is in row 6.

A New Easy Flower

Using size 11 needle, and worsted weight yarn,

Cast on 7 st. leaving a long tail (6-8 inches)

Knit one row. Purl one row.

Change color.

Row 3: K1, YO across, ending K1.

Row 4: Purl

Row 5: Repeat row 3. (25 stitches)

Row 6: *Purl 1, then K1 P1 in same stitch* (This will be your YO from previous row.) Repeat across row.

Row 7: Repeat row 3. (73 stitches)

Row 8: Bind off in knitting.

Thread tail from cast on in tapestry needle. Run the needle through the cast on stitches and pull into a circle. Tie off. Sew up the edges of the flower. Weave in yarn ends.

After felting:

An Easy Knitted FLower

This flower is very quick and easy to make.

Worsted yarn with large needles. (10 -13)
Cast on 7 st. leaving a long tail (6-8 inches)
Knit one row. Purl one row.
Change color.
Row 3: K1, YO across, ending K1.
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Repeat row 3.
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: Repeat row 3.
Row 8: Bind off in knitting.

Thread tail from cast on in tapestry needle. Run the needle through the cast on stitches and pull into a circle. Tie off. Sew up the edges of the flower. Weave in yarn ends.

Viola!

If you felt them, they look like this:

If you make two, one with larger and a second with smaller needles, and layer them, they look like this:

I used size 13 for the red layer, and 10 1/2's for the pink and yellow layer.

Felting Is Fun

Flowers are not my favorite thing to make.  They require too much thinking and counting to make truly relaxing knitting.

But it is pure fun to put this in the washer:

 And pull this out:

Flower Pattern

Flowers are a great project for using little scraps of yarn.

There are a number of flower patterns available online.  I thank Nezumi World for the ingenious idea of starting the petals on the outside end, and knitting the middle last.  http://nezumiworld.blogspot.com/2009/06/world-wide-knitting-in-public-day.html

I make a similar five petal flower but start it with a puffy center.


Nita's Flower

Any yarn and any size needle will work.  I used worsted weight wool and size 9 needles.

CO 3
Kfb in each stitch (6 st)
K garter stitch for 4 rows.
K2 tog across.
Don't BO. Cut long tail.
Thread yarn.  Run yarn through stitches and along all edges.  Tighten into a ball.  (This is similar to what you do at the top of a stocking hat.)  Knot yarn, weave in ends and cut. (If you aren't going to felt the flower, you can leave the ends for ties.)

PETAL:

Holding button-like center right side up, pick up 3 st along the edge.
PKP in each st. (9 st)
K across
Next row, and all wrong side rows until the last: Purl
On each K row, k2 tog each end until you have 3 st.
S1 P2 tog, PSSO, cut yarn and pull through.

Weave the end into the back side.

Pick up three more stitches along the edge of your puffy center, and repeat 4 times.

As you weave in the yarn ends at the base of the petals, sew the bottoms of the petals together so that they overlap slightly.

I felted mine, so it came out like this:

Then appliqued it to a purse: