Felting ‘flowers’ into scarves
Swirls of Merino wool flowers, ready to be felted into a scarf or two
I did a felting course on Thursday and Friday last week, so on Saturday I wanted to play around with what I learned.
I dragged out an old bag of leftover Merino bits. The bits were all mixed together and not that inspiring. A bit like when you mix too much paint and all you get is brown. I set about untangling and sorting and had a lovely time creating these ‘flowers’ above.
I am not an experienced felter yet, so thought I’d experiment with embedding them into a scarf. I didn’t know how they would take, given they were a bit worked already, just from hanging around with other bits of wool in the same bag. I placed a thin layer of wool fibres over the top of each flower before felting, just to see if they’d anchor in place.
I am delighted with the result!
Emmylou - felted scarf with 'flowers'
So delighted, in fact, I made another one straight after it, though this time I shaped the scarf around the flowers shown in the first picture.
Felicity - purple, blue and orange felted scarf with 'flowers'
New mohair crochet flower and knit scarf
Rose Red - crochet mohair scarf made of flowers and leaves
Meet Rose Red. She’s the latest in my crochet series of wearable sculptures.
I am thinking of making another like this, and felting it, now that I understand the felting process.
You can see more pictures on my etsy site, in the crochet category.
Erika – knit scarf with crochet flower, includes pattern for flower
Eirka, knit scarf with crochet flower. Pattern included for flower.
I’ve named Erika after my mum, not because it looks like her, though. It’s because when I finished the edges in maroon, it started to take on a Teutonic look (Ma was German). The scarf is knitted, the edges and flower crocheted in complementary colours.
The pattern for the flower is this:
Close up of Erika, knit scarf with crochet flower. Pattern included for flower
Use any wool in complementary colours and pick any crochet hook that’s easy for your thickness of wool and your tension of crochet. You might have to experiment it you’re new to this.
Note, this pattern uses Australian/UK stitch names, not US.
- Form chain ring:
5 chain then slip stitch into first chain to form a ring. - Create 8 spokes with spaces in the ring:
5 chain (the first 3 chain form the first spoke of an eight-spoke wheel you’re about to make).
Make the next seven spokes by crocheting 1 treble then 2 chain seven times.
Slip stitch into the top of the 3rd chain in your original spoke. - Create petals:
1 double crochet into the first gap, next to the first spoke you made from chain stitches.
Follow it with 2 chain, 2 trebles, 2 chain and 1 double crochet.
Repeat this in the remaining 7 gaps until you have 8 petals.
Put a slip stitch near where the first double crochet was, to tighten the flower shape.
Sew in the ends.
You now have a flower.
Note.
- You can either make many of these in different threads (thick, thin) then sew them together like a layered pancake stack, with pancakes decreasing in size; or
- You can crochet another layer or two onto the back of the first round. See extended pattern below.
Creating more petal layers:
After you’ve created your first flower, if you want more layers, work the thread to the back any way you know how, near your first spoke. Make sure the front of the flower is facing you (you’re working behind the first layer).
- Create chain loops behind the flower, anchoring them onto the spokes:
4 chains, anchor the string of chains into the 2nd spoke.
Do this until each spoke has a string of chains behind it (8 sets of chain, strung along the back of your flower, anchored to the spokes. You’ll use these as the base for crocheting more petals, behind the first round of petals. - Create more petals:
When you have your eight strings of chain, slip stitch again into your starting point.
Now, into the first string of chain, 1 double crochet, 2 chains, 3 trebles, 2 chains, 1 double crochet.
(If you want a fuller petal, substitue the 3 trebles with this routine: 1 treble, 1 double treble, 1 treble.)
Now, move to the next chain string, again, with the front of the flower facing you, and keep creating petals as outlined in step 4, above, until all 8 petals are complete.
Slip stitch near the start again to give the flower a strong, uniform shape. - Complete, or keep going: Sew in the ends, or make another layer. Try another texture or colour. Sew in a few French knots. This is the fun part and it’s all up to you!
Visit my etsy store to see more pictures of this scarf. Also, checkout the recycled and upcycled section and let me know what you think. I’m loving recreating from something that existed before.
Lisbeth – recycled and upcycled sheet turned into rag knitting scarf
Lisbeth - recycled and upcycled rag knitted scarf
I love the combination of chocolate and raspberry, both in a culinary sense and when it comes to combining colours.
I also love to recycle then upcycle fabrics, and play around with textures and colours.
Lisbeth is my latest rag knitting scarf, with an op shop shredded sheet as a base, knitted with a sequin yarn and a lovely alpaca blend in raspberry and chocolate. I’ve made this scarf a little shorter, so you double it up and put the flower at the end. It’s probably more like a cowl or scarflet, though it’s still around five feet long.
The flower has five layers, one made out of the shredded sheet, and the centre picking up more of this theme. The flower looks good enough to eat.
I’ve put a long fringe on one of the long sides, to enhance the notion of doubling the scarf over to wear it as a cowl.
There are 12 stitches and three strands of yarns/sheets. It’s done in garter stitch (plain, pearl), and took around 100 metres of each of the three yarns to make.
You can see more recycled and upcycled scarves on my etsy site.
Lisbeth - rag knitting scarf, front view
Recycled and upcycled orange silk remnant, now a new scarf
Raw silk rag knitting - voila, a new scarf
Montmartre, this raw silk and cotton rag knitting scarf, is the second of two I made this weekend.
I bought the remnants from my local op shop and paired them with a bobble trim yarn in varying shades of oranges, browns and greens. To add a bit ot pizzaz, in came the sequin yarn. To finish, I crocheted a two-layered flower with some of the ripped up cotton and paired it with some silk, some complementarily coloured wools, and a bit of spangley sequin yarn.
I used 13 mm needles, and three strands of yarn: the rag shreds, the bobble yarn, the sequin yarn. There were 13 stitches. I knited pearl stitch (garter stitch) for about six feet.
Use any two-stage flower pattern from the net. Use the rag knitting thread as your bottom layer. Put a bit of rag knitting thread in the middle. Go crazy with coloured french knots. Make it pretty, then sew a pin on the back. You’ll feel artsy if you do this 
A breakthrough in recycled knitting
In the last few weeks I found, felt thoughtfully, then tore up and knitted a soft white doona cover with pale olive green flowers on it, into a really interesting and engaging scarf. I added some olive green sequined wool and a knitted flower in a variation of the sequined wool, and am delighted with the results.
So delighted, I made a second. (Note for potential doona cover ripperupperers – you can get about 2.5 average-length scarves out of one doona cover )
I feel great about this project:
a) because I don’t think the doona cover would’ve made it onto a shelf in an op shop: it was past its use-by date; and
b) because I feel like the most virutous & artsy person in the world because of it, which makes me feel like painting!!
So, hurrah to creative pursuits that support reducing, reusing and recycling, and from turning non-desirable items back into items d’art and of desire.
I hope you get a brainwave soon that makes you feel as good as this project made me feel!
P.S. I just bought another sheet from an oppy shop in Warrandyte. It is white with pinky tulips on it. Who knows what she’ll be combined with and what she’ll look like when I’m through. One thing I know for sure, though, is . she’s going down the same track as doona cover number 1!!
New green scarf, done in part of a day
I started this scarf last night because the lure of a new bag of wool was too tempting to leave alone. It’s acrylic and a lovely soft, muted olive green colour.
I really like how the pink and red trim works to set it off.
Of course, couldn’t leave the trim at that and crocheted a flower to sit at the throat.
This morning I went to the Yarra Glen market and saw the most beautiful scarves in one lady’s stall. The woman who makes them has such a great eye for matching colours and textures – a real gift. And what I love is she’s got hubbie in on the act. He makes magnificent finger knitting (yes, that’s right) tops. They’re like a loose-weave crochet that you’d wear over a singlet top or skivvy. I was very impressed and looked at my little collection and felt I have a long way to go! If you’d like to see the rest, go to www.handmade3777.etsy.com
Hope you’re having a happy & creative day.
Three new scarves
Since my last post, I’ve created three more scarves, as a way of integrating more creative pursuits into my life. The most recent is a free-form crochet number with felting, the second a knitted scarf, with a knitted flower and leaves, and the third is an orange mohair number with feather ‘wool’ stripes and baubles.
On Friday when I took all thirteen scarves, ensconsed in an IKEA tin, to a local shop I like. The shop owner, Louise, agreed to look at them.
And while I’m not hanging all hopes on this vendor buying some, I’ve done a small thing that scared me and I believe it’s good to venture out of one’s comfort zone sometimes.
I have confidence in the product too – I think the scarves are lovely and, at some point, they’ll appeal to someone else with my taste. I have them listed on www.handmade3777.etsy.com and some people have marked a few as favourite items.
So, I am taking small steps in the creative journey and I’m sure it’s doing my brain some good.
Until the next post, I hope you uncover some some time today to do something you love.
