Tulips!

Just a little word about my flowers before I continue... when I first decided I wanted to create flowers on the loom , I thought to myself, "I'll go online and look up what other people are doing." But then I decided not to; perhaps instead this would be an opportunity for me to challenge myself by just looking at pictures of actual flowers and trying to recreate them. So that's just what I did.

Tulips! I made two colors: one red and one yellow.

You will need the pink loom and the spool loom, yarn, yarn needle, scissors. Also a sturdy drinking straw like the ones from Wendy's or McDonalds. I made my tulips with one row of outer petals and one row of inner petals that I sewed to the inside of the outer petals. I experimented with the number of stamen; one flower has two, the other has three. I believe the yarn at the top of the stamen is Vanna White navy. The other yarns used are red heart yellow, paddy green, and red. Each petal is a flat panel. I e-wrapped the pegs knitting one over two, though you could probably flat knit them and get similar results. The tops of my petals always curled up, which I didn't mind. It still looked like a tulip.

For the outer petals: cast on the two center pegs on one side of the pink loom. Knit off two rows, then increase by one peg on both sides of the 2 pegs so that you will now knit off 4 rows on 4 pegs. Then increase by one peg on both sides of the 4 pegs, so that you will now knit off 23 rows on 6 pegs. Then decrease by one peg on both sides of the 6 pegs so that you will now knit off 3 rows on 4 pegs. Bind off, leaving a 4 inch tail and gently pulling to bring the two outer stitches toward the middle. Knot the top of the tulip petal and weave the tail down through the outer edge of the petal. If the tail is long enough, weave it all the way down to the bottom tail and knot the two tails together. Repeat this 2 more times to get three outer petals. Then, starting at the bottom of the petals, sew the sides of each of the petals to each other. Sew them about halfway up; you want the inner petals to show through the space between the top part of the outer petals. Do not sew the bottom of the tulip shut.

For the inner petals: cast on the two center pegs on one side of the pink loom. Knit off 2 rows, then increase by one peg on both sides of the 2 pegs so that you will now knit off 4 rows on 4 pegs. Then increase by one peg on both sides of the 4 pegs so that you will now knit off 18 rows on 6 pegs. Then decrease by one peg on both sides of the 6 pegs so that you will now knit off 4 rows on 4 pegs. Bind off. Knot the top of the tulip petal and weave the tail halfway down through the outer edge of the petal. Repeat this 2 more times to get three inner petals. Place one inner petal inside the tulip, so that it shows in between the space between two petals. Make sure the top of the inner petal is level with the top of the outer petal. Thread your yarn needle with the same color yarn you have made your flower petals. Poke your yarn needle through both inner and outer petal to hold them in place. Turn the outer petals inside out. Now carefully remove the yarn needle and sew the inner petal to the inside of the outer petal. Repeat for each inner petal.

For stamen: I used paddy green for the stem of the stamen, a simple 2.25 inch 2 peg 1 over 1 I-cord. For the top of the stamen I braided 3 two inch strands of the Vanna White navy and then tied the two ends together. Then I sewed the tied end on top of the stamen stem. Repeat this process two or three times, depending on how many stamens you want. Then tie them together at the bottom and sew the tail to the bottom of the tulip. Now use the remaining petal tail yarn to sew the bottom of the tulip closed.

For the flower stem: Use the 5 peg end of the spool loom to create a 1 over 2 e-wrap stitch 8 to 9 inch long stem. Gently push the straw down through the inside of the stem and bind off. Sew the bottom end of the stem together, then sew the top of the stem onto the bottom of the tulip.

For two leaves: Use 4 pegs on one side of the pink loom with a 1 over 2 e-wrap stitch to create a flat panel by knitting off 47 rows, or to the desired length. Bind off and carefully sew to the side of the stem. Sew the leaves onto the stem about halfway up, so that the top half of the leaves can flare out. And you're done!

Tomorrow and Thursday: these next two flowers will take a little longer to make, but they are worth it! You will like the results you get!