OP i-}-e- SUZANN THOMPSON CR®CHET BMUQUET EASY DESIGNS FOR DOZENS OF FLOWERSContents INTRODUCTION Basics. WILD FLOWERS Aster-oids Center-or-Not. Circles within Circles Fancy Five. Millefiori Off-Center Round Oval Center Rose, Petal Arches. Ray Flower Simple Five Small Flowers & Centers. Sunflower on a Gri. Topsy Turvy #1 Psychedelic Blanket Flower Shower Curtain Way Cool Pillows BOTANICAL BEAUTIES Columbine Daffodil and Narcissus. Flower Bell. Gazania Loopy Mumsy. Orchid Plain Pansy. Poppy. Ribbon Rose Rolled Rose Sunflower. Thistle Chic Garcen Hat Blooming Gift Boxes & Bag 49 51 53 54 57 58 61 63 65 67 9 n 3 76 78 STACKED & LAYERED Crazy Eight, Fire Wheel Five Point Pear! Trillium Popcorn in the Middle Primrose Layers Star Flower. Sweetheart Rose Topsy Turvy #2 Traditional Rose: Flower Power Jeans Chenille Scarf & Hat Born to Be Wild Backpack. FANCIFUL FOLIAGE Compound Leaves. Corrugated Leaf. Fern. Palm Leaf Rose Leaf Ruffle Edge Leaf. Scallop Edge Leaf Shamrock. Small One-Row Leaf. Spiky Leaf. Veined Leaf Bistro Curtain Greeting Cards ‘ABOUT THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, ‘CROCHET HOOK SIZES CHART INDEX. a1 3 85 87 88 90 92 93 95 97 100 102 104 107 109 110 12 113 us 116 1g 120 121 123 126 128 130 131 131 132Introduction Te been a flower gil foraslongas an remember. My patents planted lsh flower gardens outside our home, and beyond the fence lay the wildflowers ofTenas. Inside the house, we enjoyed flowery chinaware and embroideries from my mother’s natve Germany. remember one quilt in particular, made by my Texan grandmothers red seshing seemed to wind ikea path through gardens of oral fabric. ‘Yeasts, escovered ish crochet ace, with ts ‘anc oral motifs | was “hooked had been roceting since junior igh schol, but nothing captured my imagination ike the wonderful crocheted lowes found in ld sh crochet patter books. nearly wore out thelr pages, ‘Mew crafters still make the time-consuming fine laces and prety dle of days pst, but most of us today caochet not pass the hours, butto show ou love forothes or ‘werpress our indviualy Inaworld ofmass- produced merchandise We have iitedtime to accomplish those things 6 Crochet Bouquet ‘Gocheted flowers tothe rescue! They'equick toma, don't require ch yarn andjustone «an personalize anything from housewares to handkerchiefs couple of flowers ane aleaf con ress up an entire garment One ite spray of flowers juedto a greeting ard cen makea loved cone’ whale week And thy are easy to complete, especially with the pattems inthis book The more flowers, the betey say. Whether they e bright (Poppy, page 65) orsubdued (Simple Five, page 33), whether theyre modem (Crazy Eight, page 81 or retro (Cirles within cles, page 22), you can sew them together ‘to make flower fbricorarange crochet wer bouquets for embellishing larger projets ke Shaws and blankets. often use ceocheted fowersin my val hangings. Beads buttons, and embroidery ad to the variety oftextures andeffectsyoucan achieve, ‘As you brighten your wort with crocheted flowers hope yout joinmeontineat hitpvitextilfuson. com/bookblog tsa blog ‘spell for you, my readers. Youll id tp, sources, and moreideas for using crocheted flowers ad leaves. Youte welcome to comment ‘on what post, oryoucan register and post photos ofthe projects you've made fam this book. I also host“FlowerCrocet-Alongs” Best ofall you'l belong toa community of people who love to make prety things by hand So begin your adventure inthis unique foal cat. Iyoutea new cachet start withthe simpler pattems. s you ain experienc, youl find mre and morecomple patterns and poectsinthe book to kep you earring and exploring. | bet youlsoonbeashooked asl was when! ist Ascovered crocheted flowers.we” Crocheted Flower Basics yarns Take this opportunity ttyl kinds ofyamns. Crocheting a lower takes very itl yar, so nowis thetime to use leftover yams or counted orphan yams. Rai your yam stash I ferent brand of yam and experiment mixing textures together, Play with handspan yarns, justo see what happens, othe owes in fancy and lan yarns, or ever aochet thead, But dot stop ther; try altematve ier, oo Natural or synthetic raf gives crs, rss ook: plastic acing loos clean and bright. Hay-baling twine, wie, blast fabri and cu-uparocery bags ad special quikinesstoany caocheted lowe. & 3 Fora vast color range, ry embroidery flossand wools, One hankis adequate tomake many ofthe flowers hee, so embroidery threads are an economical choice forcolorenthusasts Some othe flowers have multiple pars Ifyou use similar weight yams forthe different pats, your flowers will have the proportions shown, inthe photos. Please dont accept this asa Limitation ofthe pattem, because lencourege yout experiment with different weights of yam, Just be aware that your results may differ from the sample. ‘When youre ready to settle down toa project, consider ist what wil required ofthe flower. Does it med to stand up to machine washing and drying? Are you going to glue itor sew itto something? Do you plan to fet the ower? The answers to these questions wil help you choose ‘the yar that is most appropriate forthe project.YARN SELECTION TIPS Here are some facts toque you in finding the ght yarn for your crocheted flowers: + Bulky yams make big lowers * Fine yarns make small flowers. + Smooth threads or yarns show stitch details best ‘+ Bumpy fuzzy, and fringed yams obscure the etait, and shaping must extreme to show at al. preferto us these novelty yams for accents asin the Peat Tilium (gage 87), orin Aver centers (se the Fire Wheel, page 83), you love a particular yam, lokat the other yarns offered by is manufacture. Yam companies often specilze na spect ook or marke. Chances are thatifyoulove oneftheiryans, you wil also be pleased wit other ars theicllecton, Yams ae subject the whims of fashion, so within afer years ofthis book’ debut, many ofthe yamst've used for making samples wll no longer be available. Fora while you night find discontinued yams through the internet, ventualy even those willbe gone. Dont fet aboutyams you cant GAUGE get Instead letthe yarns —_Tryfora frm gauge as you crochet the owes in here open youreyestothe greater yan wold. thisbook fem gauge wl ela lower hold ts ‘oul fndthiling new yamsevery season. You shape fr the mast part Flowers crocheted with willremain blsflly occupied, andyou worthave very soft oslck yarns may never hold their shape, time to brood over yarns-gone-y. but they shouldbe neat, rim, and fe of wild loops or gaps even ifthey are foppy. STANDARDS & GUIDELINES FOR CROCHET AND KNITTING Standard Yarn Weight System ‘CATEGORIES OF YARN, GAUGE RANGES, AND RECOMMENDED NEEDLE AND HOOK SIZES B12 34 5 6 Category Tomes Superfine Fine —‘Light-—=—‘Medium—~Bulky Sur Bulky o Typeetamsin gS Sport, I Light ee Chunky, Bulky, coon ge, Syed MBS tg Concha Gauge? Somtnoe DNBsts 162sts sts T-4sts BTSs 5-9 Sts tos inc Recommended Mestnwerse 22535 354smm 455mm 55-65mm 659 mand sueRange ™ mm lager frommerdsi pip Edie 7 BSD HA saeege 4 7 9 10% = M13 andlarger “Gudeines On Theboverefetthemast omen‘ CAC end ‘sad gauges and needle ar hook sizes for specific yarn, Crochet Bouquet 9Some yarn labels sugges a hook size and a gauge forthe yar, lusually reach fora hook that isthe next size smaller than the suggested on, because flowersineed a tighter gauge than, say, crocheted garments. this doesn’t wor, ty different nook sives unt the lower looks the way want, ‘What ifthe yarn abe is missing or only suggests needle izes for the hitters? The charton page, developed by the Craft Yarn Council of America, il hep you chose hook. Find the size of yarn youate going tous, then follow the column down tothe suggested range of hook sizes Begin with the smallest size inthe range After a couple of dozen stitches, you wll know whether the hook Istight. the crocheting i too tight, try a larger hook. is too lose, go toa smaller hook il 10 Crochet Bouquet tools Imaddition to crochet hooks, 4 you will need thes: Good scissors. The blades should be sharp, Yarn needles. Use thesebig-eyed, blunt-ended needles ta weave in (or hide) yar ends and for some sewing. (Quilting pins Long, rusiprof pins ‘with good-sized glass or plastic heads are easy to see among the crochet stitches Sewing needles. You'll need these for attaching flowers to garments, and for sewing multipart flowers together. Beading needles. These.are thin enough to go ‘through seed beads Iron and ironing surface. For best results, use adam press cloth between theiron and the lower Any clean lth wl do It should be white orun- ‘ed, to avoid transferring unwanted colort the flower. supplies Your flower-making success increases dramatically when you havea few extra tems on hand, suchas No-fray adhesive Use histo stabilize yan ends ‘that fay easly. No-fray adhesive helps with yarn ends that refuse to sty hidden General adhesives. Make sure the glue will bond the materials used in the projectand check other Important features, such as drying time and ‘hetherits washable, paintbrush wth short, st bristles helpful for applying glue Stiffener, Sometimes you ned a flower to hold its shape beyond the yar’ abilty todo so. nthat case usea sent Powdered lau starch ‘works well Mia directed on the package, depending on how stif you want the finished piece tobe. Caftstifeners are equally good. They are like glue and ry quite hardcrocheted flower anetomy CALYX STAMENS When we blooms, The center fhe foweriswhere ispetalsbustoutof youn the stamens, wich atl ren cat, ave thexc-hestuctures vic sual stays tata pal natthe back ofthe Craft stamens can be fone Thais the urchased and cmein owerscale. several shapes and cls. Fora startinglyrealisic Joo, lung them to your SEPALS ower centers Sepals result rom the cl ‘una mall cic of glue around the center of the loner Pac the stamens ane byone aca the dice of oe. ress them into ‘the glue and et iy. Toadd more stamens, se more lu. Sew abuttonorglue crocheted ‘ower centerto cover te center wherethe stamen tems rss. sliting open. Sepals can look ike spikes or small leaves, which sometimes show ‘rom the font ofa Hower, adding to its character ‘The convincing stamens onthe pink Poppy (page 65) arelong embroidery stitches, reiting ftom the cater ofthe ower and tipped with seed beads. ASimple enter (page 34), cochetedin antes yar, looks ike stamens aswel Luckily, our fewers doit have to be realistic, so you can suggest the presence fstamens with beads, buttons, and ter embelishments. anc brads an foam pom poms fom the craft tore adda styled Sinshing touch . asfower centers To atac a pom- pom, fatten it with your fingers and Crochet Bouquet ‘Tlalue one fatend STEMS tothe flower. Hold he pom- Stems forthe flowers inthis book pon place wit aheavy book arefeoos thr than support unt the gues Primary you wil se stems when Flowers employ ll kinds of visual pate Doeeratrngenes cna project suchas the isto ‘rcs to ure pointing insects, You cn mimic theirspots, slashes lil ics deo Cards (page 128). The typeof of bright coor, and come-hither ‘