Taking your crochet to the next level
There are still pretty versions of flower number 1 to be seen – here’s the second part of the round-up!
Here are the lovely contributions from Myriam, Nathalie, Nathalie, Nathalie, Françoise,
And the beautiful flowers made by Sophie, Sophie, Stéfany, Sylvie, Sylvie, Sylvie, Sylvie, Valérie and Valérie!
This post and the previous one were only about flower number 1 – three more to go!
A million thanks to all who participated in my 2018 Advent Calendar!
Time hasn’t quite run out yet – you can still send in your pictures or publish them in the Facebook group until Sunday, January 13th.
But there have been so many entries, we need to get started on the round-ups now! Here are the first contributions to flower number 1 :
These pretty flowers were crocheted by Amandine, Annie, Brigitte, Camille, Caroline, Catherine, Claire, Claire and Claire!
Lovely contributions from Danièle, Esther, Eve, Fabienne, Flo, France, Isabelle, Janine and Katia!
Beautiful versions by Laurence, Martine, Ludivine, Marie-Aude, Marie-Hélène, Martina, Michèle, Mireille and Moucui!
More wonderful interpretations of flower number 1 coming soon!
Have you already seen the textile work of Swedish artist Anna
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.
On Anna’s web site, you can discover many other aspects of her work, such as the cardigan she created as a homage to Niki de Saint Phalle. You can also follow her on Instagram, where she is @annabauergbg.
All pictures are Anna Bauer’s.
We are going to finish our last flower!
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
Repeat for the two other small “cups”. Weave in the ends at the back of the
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.
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
Repeat from * to end of
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.
Almost finished!
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
You guessed it:
Make 4 more petals and attach them to the disc.
Tomorrow will be different, I promise!
Just a small step today, and you already know how to do it!
Make a second petal according to the instructions given yesterday.
Attach it to the disc in the 3 sts to the left of the previous one.
I think you might start to see where this is heading… See you tomorrow for the next step!
Let’s continue!
A special stitch today:
sc
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
Rows 3 – 6: As row 2.
Row 7: Ch 1, 1 sc
Work 1
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!
You can still join in my Advent Calendar adventure! The theme for this year’s calendar is “Flowers of Winter”.
The English instructions for the first three flowers are available as pdf downloads on my French blog.
The instructions for the fourth and final flower will be published here, step-by-step, from Monday December 24th!
