Last Minute Mom's Day Gifts!

Oh, no! It's the night before Mother's Day, and you waited until the last minute to get something for dear Mom! You really ought to know better, but instead of heap guilt on you, I'm going to help you out with a couple of last minute crafty knits you can give Mom. They are both air fresheners you can hang in your car (rather, she can hang them in her car!). Just be aware that there may be some fading due to sun exposure. I knitted I-cords for each one, but you may decide to use a single strand of yarn, or a piece of elastic cord. Each project will take you 3-6 hours, depending on your level of skill.

The first one is a sunflower:


You will need: yellow yarn (I used Red Heart Bright Yellow), and brown yarn (I used Lion Brand Homespun Wild Fire), and air freshener (4 large cotton balls sprayed with Mom's favorite perfume, air freshener pellets, cedar balls (if using in the closet), potpourri, lavender sachets, something of that sort).

To make the flower head: Cast on your flower loom with the brown yarn using the drawstring method. After you have completed the cast on row, you will knit 1 over 2 stockinette stitch for 6 rows, then cinch the flower head shut and knot. Do not cut the tail. Then knit 7 more rows and cast off. Do not cinch. Set aside.

Petals: On your pink straight loom, cast on 3 pegs with a 5"-6" tail, 1 over 2 stockinette stitch, to create a 3-peg I-cord, and knit for 16 rows. *Move bottom strand of yarn from peg 1 onto the middle peg and knit off. Move bottom strand of yarn from peg 3 onto middle peg and knit off. Repeat from *. Then cast off with a 5"-6" tail, tugging the yarn to snug the stitches together (this is the pointy top of the petal). Using your yarn needle threaded with the tail from the top end of the petal, poke the needle through the outer 6 stitch loops on one side of the petal. Pull the threaded yarn needle out just before the 7th stitch loop, and snug tail, pulling yarn through loops, taking care to keep the top of the petal pointy and straight. Make 16 petals. With your yarn needle, thread the bottom tail of one of the finished petals and set aside.

Gently cinch other end of the flower head (but not completely shut). Using your thumb and first finger, pinch flower head flat (as below)

and sew petal with yarn needle onto the outer edge stitches of the flower head, taking note of the side you are sewing the petal on (the side with the tail sticking out from the side middle of the petal is the back).

Do not knot the petals onto the flower head yet; sew each petal onto the flower head side by side until you reach the petal you first sewed onto the flower head. If you have petals left over that is fine; if there are wide gaps, sew on an extra petal to close the gap.

Once you have sewed all the petals on and facing the same direction, sew each one firmly into place, knot and poke the tail through to the inside of the flower head (using your threaded yarn needle). You may choose to knot them from the inside and snip the tail; I did not.

Next, using your yarn needle, thread one of the tails from the side of a petal, and sew it to the petal next to it.

Sew the petals together down to the flower head, knot, and poke the yarn through to the inside of the flower head (if needed). Repeat for each petal.

Add the air freshener to the inside of the flower head, using additional batting if needed. Cinch the flower head shut and knot, or cinch and tie the tail if you want to replace the stale air freshener at some point in the future.

Using your straight pink loom, knit a 2 peg 12" I-cord using 1 over 2 stockinette stitch and sew the I-cord to the top of one of the petals. You're done!




The second project: roses on a ball ornament. Will require nimble fingers and braiding techniques. I used some white yarn I had in my stash (gauge 4), Red Heart Paddy Green, Lion Brand Homespun Candy Apple Red.

Ornament ball: Cast on your blue round loom with the white yarn using the drawstring technique. After completing the cast on row, knit 1 over 2 stockinette stitches for 25 rows, cinch shut and knot, cast off, and turn ornament ball inside out. Set aside.

Flower stems: measure an 11" strand of green yarn. Fold it in two pieces, leaving a 2" tail, as below.
Carefully tie the tail around the bottom of the yarn, leaving a tiny loop, and knot. Cut the loop at the opposite end, so that you now have 3 strands, knotted together at the bottom.

Tightly braid the strands together, knotting near the top end of the braid.

Make 6 stems.

Rose Heads: Repeat the same process as the stems, leaving a 4 inch tail instead of a 2" one. Braid LIGHTLY, not tightly. Thread your yarn needle with the 4" tail. Coil the braid in a spiral, and use the threaded yarn needle to sew the coil together. (If you want roses of varying sizes, don't measure how much yarn you use; wing it after measuring out the first rose, always making sure you have a 4" tail.) Then knot the rose head to the stem by passing the yarn needle through the loop at the bottom of a stem and knotting the flower head to the stem.

Repeat until each stem has one flower head knotted to it.

Sew the roses onto the ball ornament in an asterisk pattern; i.e., one vertical stem with two diagonal stems crossing over each other, crossing the vertical stem. Do this on both sides of the ornament, taking care that the roses on side one are equidistant to the roses on side 2. Even if it isn't perfect, make sure it is aesthetically pleasing.

Knot the top of the rose to the inside of the ornament, and knot the bottom of the stem to the inside of the ornament.

Snip the excess yarn tails (otherwise, if you leave the long tails without snipping them, when you stuff the ornament, the red and green tails will show through.)

Add air freshener inside the ball, (4 large cotton balls sprayed with Mom's favorite perfume, air freshener pellets, cedar balls (if using in the closet), potpourri, lavender sachets, something of that sort). Stuff with batting, add more air freshener. Shape the ball and add batting as needed, cinch and knot the ball at the top (or tie instead of knotting so you can replace stale air freshener at some point in the future), then set aside.

At this point you may choose to create your I-cord, or you may choose to add ribbon around the rose stems and knot it to create a bow. I already had pre-assembled tiny knotted bows, so I glued them on to the stems.

Using your straight pink loom, on two pegs knit off a 12" 1 over 2 stockinette stitch I-cord, and sew onto the top of the ornament. And you're done!

You may decide to arrange your roses differently on the ornament, or add more roses also.

Let me know if you make them. Happy Mother's Day!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, ONE AND ALL!

For my wife, instead of cut flowers, veggies to grow in our garden.I got her that last year for Mom's Day, and she really enjoyed the crop of green and red peppers, romaine lettuce, and green beans throughout the summer.

And for my Mom, I made a 27 x 39 shawl on the long blue loom and the flower loom, using Homespun Colonial, Deco, and Tudor:

Here is a photo of me wearing it:

I knew I wanted to create a row of "flowers" to separate the two shawl flat panels, but I needed to experiment with different styles:

Here's what the back of the flowers looks like:

Finally I picked this one:

Each flower is unique and individual. They are not all the same size; some are even a little 3 dimensional.

I had a lot of fun working on this shawl and it was relatively easy to do. It took 4 skeins of Colonial to make. What I like about it is that is stretches easily, and is warm, yet will allow for plenty of air flow so you don't get too warm wearing it. I had been practicing and learning a lot of different kinds of stitches before I embarked on creating this shawl, so I used what I learned to make it.

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...

A small delay

in getting my next project posted, but Saturday will bring several posts on one day, including me "modeling" the gift that I made for my Mom this Mother's Day.

I'll also be posting something that I made for the teachers in my daughter's class for Teacher's Appreciation Week. They said it made all the other teachers jealous!

I'm currently working on a "baby" version of the sunflower and hope to have that posted next week.

SUNFLOWER POWER!

This beauty stands nearly 18 inches tall and the flower head is 9 inches across, as if it were the real thing! Requires more work sewing the petals on individually, but the results are great. I used one over one e-wrap stitches throughout (except for the stem, which uses 1 over 2). You will need the blue loom, spool loom, yarn needle, stuffing, green yarn, yellow yarn, brown yarn (I used some leftover Homespun Wildfire for the head), and a wooden dowel half an inch in diameter (or slightly larger).

The stem: I used the large end of the spool loom to knit a tube 11 inches long. After binding off I gently pushed the dowel up inside the stem.

The stem cup which supports the flower head: Using the blue loom, I did a drawstring cast on d then knit off 23 rows. After binding off I put the bottom end of the stem cup onto the top end of the stem and pulled the drawstrign closed. Then sew the stem cup onto the stem. Stuff the inside with batting.

For the flower head: Using the blue loom I did a drawstring cast on and knit off 16 rows. I pulled the drawstring and sewed it shut with the tail on the inside.

For the petals: Using one side of the pink loom, I cast on 6 pegs 1 over 1 and knit off 1 over 2 for 15 rows. I then decreased the two outer pegs to knit off 2 rows on 4 pegs and bind off. I made 20 petals. I then arranged them in a circle and knit the lower portion of each petal together. I slightly overlapped each petal. Next I sewed the petal to the back of the flower head. I made petals different lengths.

Next after I was sure I had stuffed the stem cup with as much batting as I wanted, I positioned the flower head with the petals over the stem cup to ensure that the flower looked centered. I then sewed the flower head and petals onto the stem cup. Carefully assemble all parts by sewing them together, and that's that!

Mother's Day floral projects

What follows swill be a series of posts regarding making loom knit flowers for Mother's Day (or for springtime in general). I had a lot of fun making these flowers, and even sold one before I was finished with it! Best of all, you won't develop any allergies to these beauties!

The first one is a daffodil. I made 3 different ones. The first one is the standard yellow:

Here is the back:

I took a little liberty with how I made the flower versus how the flower actually looks in nature. In nature, the daffodil has 6 petals; I made mine with 4 because it looked right and was less crowded that way.

You will need: the Knifty Knitter spool loom, the flower loom, the pink loom, scissors, yarn needle, yellow yarn, (I used red heart yellow for the flower and another brand of thinner weight yellow for the stamen), and green yarn (I used red heart paddy green). You will also need a drinking straw to insert inside the stem to make it stand up. I used ones from McDonalds and Wendys fast food restaurants because their straws are wider. You may also want to use an exacto knife, a small flower pot with styrofoam in it, glue, and I also used some fuzzy green contact paper to cover the pot, though you could just as well paint it green or some other color.

For the daffodil cup: On the flower loom I used the yellow yarn to make a drawstring cast on. After I knit off the cast on row, I e-wrapped the pegs and knit 1 over 1 for 15 rows. After binding off (don't pull the drawstring closed yet) you will find that the bind off side will curl up on it's own; though you may need to help it a little if you bind off too tight. Set it aside.

For the petals: Using the pink loom I cast on the two center pegs to start a flat panel. I knit 1 over 1 for 2 rows. Then I increased by one peg on both sides of the two center pegs to knit off 5 rows on 4 pegs. Then I increased by one peg on both sides of the 4 pegs to knit off 7 rows on 6 pegs. After binding off I pulled the bottom tail until the outer edges of the bottom of the petal pulled together. I reinforced that by sewing the edges close together in the center. Then I pulled the tail at the top of the petal so that it would come to a point, knotted the tail, then wove the tail down through the petal until I reached the bottom tail on the petal and tied the two tails together. Repeat this process 3 more times to make 4 petals total.

For the stamen: I made three 2 peg I-cords 2 inches in length and then tied the three I-cords together at one end.

Assembling the flower: First I put the stamen inside the daffodil cup until the stamen tails hung out the bottom. Then I pulled the drawstring tail on the daffodil cup tight and knotted the daffodil cup tail with the stamen tails. Next I positioned the petals around the daffodil cup in a way that looked good to me and, using the individual petal tails, I sewed each one onto the bottom of the cup. I had a little bit from each petal tail left, so I sewed the edges of the petals to each other. You may find that the petals tend to curl up at the tips once you have assembled the flower. If you wish you may want to use a little fabric stiffener to correct this problem; I did not.

For the stem: I used the 5 peg end of the spool loom and the green yarn, casting on 1 over 1. I knit off 20 rows. Then I carefully inserted the straw down through the center of the stem, with the straw sticking up through the top of the spool loom and the bottom of the straw meeting the edge of the bottom of the stem. I knit off 8 more rows, adjusted the straw inside the stem and then bind off. After binding off I adjusted the straw inside the stem again and cut the straw so that it was just under the top of the stem. (For my first daffodil (the one in the picture above) I cut the straw way too short because I wanted the daffodil to flop over like a real daffodil. It just wound up flopping over too much and looking wilted.) Then sew the top of the stem onto the bottom of the flower. Next, pull the tail on the bottom of the stem to close it up and sew it closed. And you're done!

I just repeated the process for the pink and white daffodil below:

I only made 2 stamen for the pink and white daffodil because I felt that three looked a little crowded in the yellow daffodil.

For the "leaves" I used the pink loom and cast on 4 pegs 1 over 1 to create a flat panel. I knit off until the leaves were 3.5 to 4 inches long. FOr the tip of the leaves I decreased the outer 2 pegs to the center two pegs and knit off 1 to 2 rows and bind off. Pull the tail to create the pointy look, knot it and, using the yarn needle, weave the tail back down through the leaf to hide it. I used the bottom leaf tail to sew the leaf onto the stem, but only after I had inserted the stem into the styrofoam in the flower pot to see where the leaves should be attached.

The pot I used already had moss and styrofoam in it; I just used the fuzzy green contact paper to resurface it. I used the exacto knife to cut a circular hole into the styrofoam, enlarging and deepening the hole as needed. You may want to glue the flower into the styrofoam so it will stay put, especially if you made the hole a bit too wide. I didn't, and I didn't glue it yet.

My last daffodil: a baby daff:

For the daffodil cup: I used the larger end of the spool loom, casting on 1 over 1 and knitting off 7 rows.

For the petals: I used the pink loom to create a flat panel, casting on 1 over 1 on 2 pegs and knitting off 2 rows. Then I increased on both sides of the pegs by one peg to knit off 7 rows on 4 pegs. Bind off.

For the stamen: I just tightly braided the thin yellow yarn to the desired length. I made two stamen and tied them together as I described above with the first daffodil, but as I think about it now you may want to braid just one long stamen and then you can tie a piece of yellow yarn around the center of the stamen to pull through the bottom of the daffodil cup. It will look like you braided 2 separate stamens. (Or is the plural of stamen stamii? I don't know.) Assemble the baby daff as above.

If you make the daffodils, let me know! I'd love to see what yours look like!