Knit Flower

It's taken me a very long time to make the knitted version of my crochet flower but here it finally is:

Step 1: Starting with a 12" or longer tail, cast on 3 stitches and work 22" of i-cord using a knitting spool or double pointed needles.

Step 2: K1, work a bobble stitch (How to Knit a Bobble Stitch), K1.

Step 3: Bind off, leaving a 12" or longer tail.

Step 4: Keeping the bobble unattached and out of the way, fold the length of i-cord like a fan into five petals, arrange into a flower shape and using the starting tail, stitch together.

Step 5: Position bobble over the center of the flower and using the yarn from the end of the bobble, tack down.

Looks almost identical to the crocheted version. Now you can enjoy it both ways!

Crochet Flower pattern

Baby Crinkle Toy

Every blog post should start with the picture of a beautiful baby! My nephew Miles had a very tough bout of colic for the first couple of months after his birth and there were only a few toys that could diverted his attention from the discomfort. One was a simple fabric square which made a wonderful noise when crinkled and almost always brought him (and us) a few moments of relief. I loved playing with this toy too and became fascinated with making one.

The only difficult part about recreating the crinkle toy was finding the right plastic to use for the inside. The plastic needs to keep its shape after repeated crinkling and at the same time make an interesting sound. I struck gold with the outer wrapping bag used for these Kirkland (Costco brand) seaweed packages.

Here are the project details:
Materials:
2 - 6" x 6" pieces of flannel, polar fleece or other soft fabric.
1 - 6" x 6" piece of plastic whose shape will bounce back after being scrunched and makes an interesting sound.

Assembly:

Place right sides of fabric together with plastic on top and stitch all three pieces together, using a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving a 2" - 3" opening for turning.

Trim the corners and, if necessary, grade the seam allowance (I needed to do this only with the polar fleece.)

Turn right side out and stitch 1/8" from the edge all around square being careful to make sure the the opening gets closed with this stitching.

This is the simplest version and there are lots of variations to try. A few of them are:

Different shapes such as circle, rectangle, star, heart.

Sew folded bits of ribbons in the seam to add visual interest and something additional to play with.

Make small simple stuffed animals and incorporate the plastic all over or in strategic spots to be discovered.

Not only do I love this toy but the now happy (non-colic) baby Miles does too!!