Anna often uses knitting in her work and gives a large place to the type of free stranded knitting Scandinavians call “hönsestrikk” (the name itself is a mix of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian). In “hönsestrikk” you work with bands of freely chosen motifs, mixing colours and not caring the slightest about evening out stitch repeats.
This is not ski wear, but a costume by Anna for dancer Fanny Kivimäki. Fanny created a performance on the topic of homesickness for Kiruna, the town in the north of Sweden that has to move entirely not to be swallowed up by the ground.
Take one of the round “cups” made yesterday. Cut both yarn tails to the same length and thread them on a tapestry needle.
Weave the yarns through the stitches in the second round and tighten to form a small ball.
Sew this ball to the round disc at the center of the flower.
Repeat for the two other small “cups”. Weave in the ends at the back of the center disc – I took the opportunity to tighten the middle hole in the disc when doing this.
Special stitch: sc2tog in two tips: insert hook in the first tip and pull up a loop, insert hook in the second tip and pull up a loop, yo and pull through the 3 loops on the hook.
Border around flower: Each petal has 7 tips.
Attach yarn with a sc2tog in the last tip of a petal and the first tip in next petal.
Repeat (ch 4, 1 sc in next tip) twice
ch 4, [1 sc, ch 3, 1 sc] in the tip at the top of the petal
Repeat (ch 4, 1 sc in next tip) twice
ch 4, sc2tog in last tip of petal and first tip of next petal;
Repeat from * to end of round, replacing last “sc2tog” by a sl st in first “sc2tog” of round.
Optional:
If you want to, you can mount your flower in a metallic circle (sold as dreamcatcher circles here in France). The size of the circle depends on the size of your flower. For this flower, which is larger than the previous ones, I used a 15 cm (6″) circle.
Attach the yarn by working 1 sc around the circle, leaving a relatively long yarn tail. Insert your hook under the cercle, as you would with a ring of chain stitches at the beginning of a motif worked in the round.
Work 1 sc inserting your hook under the circle and through the 3-ch space at the tip of a petal.
Continue working in sc around the circle, to the point where you attach the next petal. Since the circle is larger than the previous ones, there are more sc to be made between the petals. I worked 26 sc between each petal.
The finishing is the same as previously :
Once all leaves are attached and sc’s have been worked all around the cercle, fasten off and knot the two yarn tails (start and end) together firmly. Pass the two tails through the eye of a yarn needle. If you are not happy with the positioning of your flower, you can work the yarn tail through the stitches at the back of the flower to the tip of the leaf you want to have at the top center.
Insert the yarn needle from back to front through the “foot” of the sc attaching the leaf to the circle.
Insert the needle from front to back in the top of the same stitch.
Remove needle and make a loop with the yarn tails to suspend your flower
This is the last flower in the 2018 Advent Calendar. The English instructions for the three previous ones were published on my French blog (as downloadable pdfs in each blog post). If you want to enter the prize drawing you have until January 13th, 2019 to publish a picture of your finished flower(s) in the dedicated Facebook group or to send one to me by email.
And today’s step is definitely different from the previous ones.
When working this step, leave a good length of yarn as tails at the beginning and end of each little item.
Ch 4, close to a ring with 1 sl st in 4th ch from hook.
Round 1 : Ch 1 (do not count as a st), 6 sc in ring, close the round with 1 sl st in first sc.
Round 2 : Ch 1 (do not count as a st), 1 sc in each st, close the round with 1 sl st in first sc.
Fasten off.
Flip over the little “cup” (the wrong side is facing out and you are looking at the first round). Thread the starting tail on a tapestry needle. Weave through the stitches in the first round.
Push the needle down through the hole in the middle of the ring formed by the starting chain and tighten.
Set aside.
Make 2 more pieces in the same way.
Tomorrow is the very last installment in this year’s Advent Calendar – the finishing of this flower.
A special stitch today: sc blo = single crochet in the back loop only. If needed, please refer to my newsletter from January 2011 for explanations on how to work in only one loop.
Ch 8.
Row 1: 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 1 sc in each of next 5 ch, 3 sc in last ch; place a locking stitch marker in the second of the 3 sc just made;
rotate work to insert hook in the loops at the bottom of the starting chain;
1 sc in each of next 5 sts. Turn.
Row 2: Ch 1, 1 sc blo in 2nd st, 1 sc blo in each st to marked st; remove marker, make 3 sc bloin st, replace marker in the second of the 3 sc just made; 1 sc blo in each st until 1 st remains at end of row. Turn.
Rows 3 – 6: As row 2.
Row 7: Ch 1, 1 sc blo in 2nd st, 1 sc blo in each st until 1 st remains before marked stitch. Take the round disc worked yesterday and place it right side facing behind the petal you are working on.
Work 1 sl st in each of next 3 sts, inserting the hook under both loops in the stitch in the petal as well as in a stitch at the edge of the round disc.
Fasten off.
Happy Christmas if you celebrate it, and in any case, have a lovely day! See you tomorrow for the next step!
This week, many of us are busy with celebrations, family and other things. Don’t let the Advent Calendar be another item on your to-do list. The instructions will come step by step this week too, and may provide a reason to take a quiet moment just for yourself in a busy day. But everything will still be here later as well!
Ch 4, close to a ring with 1 sl st in 4th ch from hook.
Round 1 : Ch 1 (do not count as a st), 6 sc in ring, close the round with 1 sl st in first sc.
Round 2 : Ch 1 (do not count as a st), 2 sc in each st, close the round with 1 sl st in first sc. There are 12 sc.
Round 3 : Ch 1 (do not count as a st), 1 sc in first st, * 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next st ; repeat from * to last st, 2 sc in last st, close the round with 1 sl st in first sc. There are 18 sc.
Fasten off. Weave in ends.
Next step tomorrow! Have a wonderful Christmas Eve if celebrating, and otherwise, have a really nice day!
I’m so happy to be blogging in English again. This is the place where you can stay up to date with my ideas, tutorials, patterns and general inspiration.
Expect at least a blog post per week, and perhaps even more!
