Flower pins are hot embellishments, useful for everything from bags to jackets to hats. You can knit one — or two, or an entire garden's worth — lickety-split with this simple pattern.
Here are the materials and vital statistics for this project:
Yarn: Worsted-weight yarn for flower, 50 yards, any color; worsted-weight yarn for leaf, 25 yards, contrasting color
Needles: One pair of size US 8 (5 mm) needles (or size appropriate for yarn); sharp yarn needle for assembly
Other materials: Pin back (available from craft stores, or cannibalize your jewelry drawer); straight pins to hold piece during assembly
Create the flower:
Cast on 40 sts.
Follow this stitch pattern:
Row 1 (and all odd-numbered rows): Knit.
Row 2 (and all even-numbered rows): * K1, inc 1; repeat from * to end of the row. (Note: You're making a ruffle by increasing into every other stitch on every other row.)
Rep Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 1-1/2 inches from beg.
Bind off.
To mold the knitted piece into a flower shape, follow these steps:
Starting at the short edge, roll the piece until it resembles a rose or a peony.
Stick straight pins into the flower from the sides to hold it while you stitch the bottom.
Using a sharp yarn needle threaded with the same color yarn as your petals, grasp the top edge of the flower and sew around the bottom edge, placing your needle all the way through from one side to the other as you go to hold the layers together.
Don't be afraid to pull your stitches tight. It looks more flowerlike if the bottom edge is smaller than the top.
To make a leaf, knit a small square with your contrasting yarn and seam the right and bottom sides together to make a cuplike leaf shape. Sew the leaf to the back side of the flower, and then sew on the pin back.
