Delightful rose bouquet

Here is a wonderful bouquet of roses that makes a great gift! You may discover other ways to make this, but this is how I did it:

You will need: a small clay pot and paints (or an already painted pot), the pink loom, the spool loom, red yarn, green yarn, glue, green permanent marker, a sturdy straw (like the kind from Wendy's or McDonald's) or a wooden dowel about .5 inches in diameter, a loom clip, a round plastic mesh grid (sold at Michaels as a Quick Count plastic canvas) that will fit inside the pot, scissors, yarn needle.

You may decide you want to paint the pot first; do that and set it aside. I simply made up a stencil-like design on paper, painted the clay pot white and set it aside to dry on wax paper, which is important because the pot may stick to other drying surfaces. Whatever you do, don't use newspaper! Once it was dry I drew the stencil design onto the pot (I didn't trace it or make a stencil out of it to do that; I just did it by eye). Then I painted it with the colors I wanted. Set it aside to dry on wax paper.

For the roses: Per the diagram below, do a drawstring cast on the pink loom on 13 pegs, using the anchor corner peg.

I'm left-handed, so casting on this way was easier for me. It may be easier for you to cast on the other side if you are right-handed. Knit off 20 rows 1 over 1 and loosely bind off. Then roll up the rose with the drawstring side on the bottom. Once you have rolled it up, gently pinch the bottom of the rose and slowly pull the drawstring, unrolling the rose a little if the yarn doesn't completely cinch. The tighter you pull the drawstring, the tighter the inner "petals" of the rose will be. The top of the rose will naturally curl; if it doesn't you can help it along. Shape the rose until it looks nice to you. Use the yarn needle to sew the drawstring tail through the very bottom of the rose to hold it in place, then knot it off. I then made two outer petals to attach to the rose. On one side of the pink loom I did a drawstring cast on and knit off 20 rows on 6 pegs for the left hand outer petal, and for the right hand outer petal I knit of 20 rows on 8 pegs. (You may decide that you want to increase the number of pegs or decrease the number of rows you knit, depending on the way you want your rose to look. Experiment.) After binding off each, I cinched the drawstrings and positioned them onto the side of the inner rose petals until it looked nice to me, then I sewed the drawstrings through the bottom of the inner rose petals. And your rose is complete! Do this 5 more times for a total of 6 roses.

For the stem: I used the green yarn on the pink loom to do a create a 5 inch I-cord on 3 pegs. Repeat 5 more times.

For the stem cup: (a stem cup is what I made to cover the bottom of the rose and attach it to the stem. It looks like a thimble made out of yarn. There is probably another technical name for it) Use your loom clip and a peg for the corner anchor peg hole on the pink loom to create an 8 peg "circle." Do a drawstring cast on and knit off 6 rows. Cinch the drawstring and bind off loosely, leaving a 5 inch tail. Then place the bottom of the rose inside the stem cup and sew it to the rose, using the 5 inch tail at the bind off end. Then sew the stem cup onto the top of a stem using the drawstring tail. Repeat 5 more times.

For the inner support stem: You may choose to use the large end of the spool loom, knit off an 8 inch stem and insert a dowel (painted green) inside the stem; I chose to create an inner support using a straw inside the stem so I could poke a miniature balloon on a stick through the hole. I didn't find a balloon I liked, so I wound up not using it that way, but I told my Mom she could add a balloon later if she wanted to.

If you choose to make yours with a straw in the middle, here's how I did mine: On the 5 peg end of the spool loom knit off an 8 inch tube and insert a straw inside the stem to create stem #1. Cut the straw as needed. Then, use your loom clip and a peg for the corner anchor peg hole on the pink loom to create a 6 peg "circle." Knit off an 8 inch tube and carefully insert stem #1 inside. You may want to insert stem #1 early on so that it will be less trouble getting it inside there.

Now carefully sew each rose stem onto the outside of the double stem you just created. As you sew them on, position the roses in a way that looks pleasing to you.

Knitting over the grid: You may decide you want to sew your yarn directly onto the grid; I didn't. Using the loom clip and a peg for the corner anchor peg hole on the pink loom to create an 8 peg "circle." Do a drawstring cast on and knit off 30 rows. Bind off loosely. Now stand the large "stem" you created onto the center of the plastic grid. Using your green permanent marker trace around the outer edge of the stem and cut out a circle inside the center of the plastic grid. (You may need to trim the outer edge of the grid as well if it doesn't fit into the mouth of the pot). See if your stem will fit through the hole. If it is too snug, cut off another row from the inside of the hole. You want it not to be too snug so that it can compensate for the yarn you are about to cover the grid with. Fit your grid inside the "circle" you just knitted and cinch the drawstring at both ends (one at a time.) Do not cinch tight, just enough to coverup to the inside hole on the grid. Then sew the yarn together around the inside edge of the center grid hole.

Check to see if your stem will fit comfortably through the hole before you sew it completely. If not, adjust as needed. Slide the gride up the stem so it is level at the mouth of the pot. You may then glue the stem to the bottom of the pot and then rise or lower the grid as needed, so it will fit inside the pot. And you're done!

I will post my Mom's Mother's Day gift tomorrow...