Daffodils

As promised, here's the pattern for my daffodils. I'm going to give a bunch to my Mum for Mothers' Day. It's not the most elegantly written pattern but hopefully it makes sense. I'd be really interested to hear of any additions or modifications that could improve it if anyone feels like trying to knit them!

For the darker flowers I did the petals using two strands of yellow, and the trumpet with one yellow and one red strand. The lighter ones have one strand of yellow and one of white on the petals, and two strands of yellow for the trumpet.

The amount of felting required will depend on the yarn used and the type of washing machine, but my flowers went through two 40 degree cycles.

Materials:

Lopi roving - yellow (plus bits of red and white if you wish) for the petals, green for the stems. 100g yellow should be plenty to knit a whole bunch of flowers, maybe 8 or 9. Knit with two strand held together for the petals, trumpet and stem.

2-3mm diameter modelling wire to thread through the flower stems once felted.

8mm double pointed needles, and 8mm crochet hook.

Directions:

Petals

CO 12 st, leaving enough of a tail to thread through the stitches later.

row 1: Knit.

row 2: K1, M1, K1. TURN WORK.

row 3: K1, M1, K1, M1, K1. TURN WORK

row 4: K1, M1, K3, M1, K1 (7st). TURN WORK

Work backwards and forwards on these seven stitches to complete the first petal:

rows 5-10: Knit.

row 11: K2tog tbl, K3, K2tog

row 12: K

row 13: K2togtbl, K1, K2tog

row 14: K

row 15: sl1, K2tog, PSSO.

Break yarn and thread tail through remaining stitch. Rejoin yarn to next live stitch and repeat rows 2-15 for the remaining 5 petals. Join the first petal to the last to form a ring, then use the loose ends to sew a few stitches between adjacent petals at their bases (so that they will be less separate around the centre of the flower once felted). Thread the cast on tail through all stitches at the cast on edge and pull tight until the opening is 0.5-1cm in diameter.

Trumpet

Pick up 12st around the centre of the ring of petals, and spread them between 3 double pointed needles. Join to knit in the round and knit 7 rounds garter stitch (knit one round, purl one round etc).

Next row: Knit into the front and back of each stitch - 24st. Bind off all stitches.

Stamens
With a single strand of lopi, crochet a chain of 3 st, break yarn and thread through the final stitch to bind off. Repeat twice more. Tie the three short crochet chains together.

Stem

With the green yarn, cast on 5st and knit an i-cord approx 40cm in length. Bind off stitches. Attach stamens to the top of the stem, and poke them through the back of the flower head through the gap in the centre so that they are inside the trumpet. Sew the stem to the back of the flower.

Finishing
Thread a length of non-feltable string through the centre of the stem, leaving a few inches hanging out at each end (this helps to leave an opening through the centre of the stem that the wire can be threaded through). Place the flowers in the washing machine together with an old pair of jeans and felt. Pull the petals and trumpets into shape whilst still damp. Once the flowers are dry, remove the string from inside the stem and push a length of wire through in its place. Bend the sharp edges of the wire in, and sew closed at both ends of the stem to prevent it from slipping out.

The real daffs on Magdalen Green have only just started to poke up through the ground but if a few weeks there will be a scene like this to enjoy...