Thursday, November 26, 2009

Crocheting Through the Darkness


My church is having its annual December craft fair and I've decided to make flower pins. This has been a great reason for me to go through the many flower patterns I've been collecting for years but have made only once or twice, because, really, what are you going to do with flowers? I've made a flower here and there and it seems that I've given most of them away. The few I have at home, I just don't seem to know what to do with. Guess I'm one of those pragmatic people who sort of need a reason for doing something (I'm a Taurus); creativity alone is not reason enough for me.

As I work through the various patterns and post my projects to Ravelry (I'm MissMookus over there), I have been thinking about what I like and don't like about various patterns. I think I'll do another post with links to those patterns, but this post is about what I've come up with as a result of my deep ruminations on the subject of yarn flowers.

First of all, I should thank Ska Mama, because it's her 5 Petal Flower on which my creation is most closely based. She generously shared her pattern on her blog and I've been having fun trying to make it, failing, trying again, succeeding, trying again, and getting it wrong in new and exciting ways.

So here is my own version of a 5 Petal Flower, which I need to rename because it sounds too derivative. How about....

"I Dream of the Number 5, in yarn"
Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted, Victorian Pink
Hook: H (5.0 mm)
My flower was 3.25" in diameter

Chain 2

Round 1: 5 sc in 1st ch; sl front loop only (flo) to join. Mark the blo of this stitch, you'll need it later and it may be hard to find. Guess how I know.

Round 2: ch 1, sc in same st (flo); *(sc, ch1 or 2, sc) in flo, repeat from * around. Join in marked blo of Round 1 stitch. Sorry, don't know the stitch count on it, but it will resemble a pentagon.

Round 3: (same as ska mama's) *ch 2, sl st blo of next sc (again, you may want to mark this, things get confusing); repeat from * around ending with sl st in first ch-2 space

Round 4: *ch 3, 3 dc, sl to next ch-2 sp; repeat from * around. Join with sl st into base of first petal of round

Round 5: ch1, sl to back of 3rd st in petal; *ch 3, sl to back of 3rd st in petal; repeat from * around. Join with slip st to base of first petal

Round 6: *ch 3, 8 dc, sl to next petal around. Slip to base of first petal. Finish off. OR (sl, hdc, 6 dc, hdc) around.

Add a pin to the back or add to a barrette or headband and enjoy!