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 
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.
Blue mohair crochet scarf with felted coloured circles
Take a look at my new scarf! Like it?
I took three days’ annual leave this week, because my niece turned 8 and I took her to lunch, and the weather in Melbourne has turned from searing to pleasantly mild. Having said that, there was a wind storm on day two that was strong enough to knock out the power for a few hours.
That didn’t concern me, however. I gathered kitties three in and got out my non-electric crochet to finish the latest scarf, pictured.
I enjoyed crocheting, watching the trees do crazy dances in the wild wind and keeping Peabody Wiggle, my Siamese, away from the Merino wool. Later I found a lump of pink Merino and it was soggy, so his wool-watching vigil was a great success.
Now I’ve moved on to making a butter yellow crochet scarf, which has hand-felted coloured circles, making it look a little like a FrootieLoops surprise. I didn’t like it that much at first but yesterday after I added the felt it’s become my new favourite. It’ll be the next post.
Hope your day is filled with creative thoughts and actions!
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.
Heart-warming scarf
As intended, I have knitted through most of Australia’s summer (eek). The ninth scarf in my inventory is now this: red knitted hearts and baubles on Country Spun grey.
I’m so pleased it’s cooling down. I love the comfort of scarves in winter, and am hopeful of some sales on etsy: www.handmade3777.etsy.com
I’ve approached a couple of shops by e-mail & snailmail, to get around the ‘no hawker/canvasser’ rule, to see if they’re interested in having a closer look. Sadly, there has been no reply.
I do remind myself this is not about remuneration, but it’s about being more creative, enjoying colour & texture and getting into a different headspace. Certainly knitting & crochet is doing this for me. I’m also brushing up on my knowledge of the web, of social networking and so on, so it’s good for my work brain too.
Having said this, a bonus would be seeing one on someone else, just because I think the scarves are nice and I hope someone else does too. I fear my poor friends will end up with one each for their birthdays this year!! Though they are supportive & coo the right words, so who knows, they may even be pleased.
Scarves
Having increased my travel time to work by 50ish minutes when I moved to the country this year, I was feeling a bit washed out when Friday showed up. The fix I settled on was to take an annual leave day each week, for nine Fridays, starting late July 07.
While it was a shocker in terms of keeping up with work, it was a great salve for my creative side. I was able to sleep in, to potter, to read, to admire the view, to hang out with the cats, to turn over and over in my mind the possibility of permanent part-time work in my current organisation and to consider the possibility of becoming a contractor.
During my part-time sabbatical, I found myself hankering for colour, for texture, for fabric. I bought some wool on eBay, augmented the selection with some purchases at Spotlight, dragged out my mother’s old knitting needles and began to knit. Here are the first three scarves I made during August. I hope you like them.
Two things you need to know about my mother and her family:
- Mum died in a car accident 16 years ago and while the memory of her is becoming paper thin, I find great comfort in doing things she did and using tools she used. As such, all the scarves are made using the same needles, the wool doubled or tripled if the ply is too thin for the needle!
- My mother’s mother’s maiden name is Meisner, which translates loosely to ‘weaver’. My sisters and I have a love of colour, texture, fabric, of creating stuff with our hands. No matter whether it’s nature or nurture, the pull for us is real.
While knitting, I created a label called 3777 Hand Knut in Healesville. The point of the label and my big run on scarf making is not really to earn money from them right now – let’s face it, it’s Spring in Australia – though if they make their way onto the necks of scarf lovers the world ’round because someone loved them, that’s great. The longer-term reason for doing this is to act on creative impulses and move toward the life I want to live rather than the one I find myself feeling like I have to live.
And by the way, since my nine Fridays are now done, I’ve negotiated to work each Friday from home. A small change, though one that’s moving me in the direction I’d like to go.
Until next time, remember it’s not how skilled your hands are, it’s how keen your mind is for those hands to create and whether you act on the impulse.
