Tea for Tuesday - Crocheted Tea Cozy - Part 2

Sorry for the delay, and thanks for your understanding!  Hope you had the chance to go visit Between U & Me!

Last time, we crocheted what will be the base for our tea cozy, which looks like a basket.  Today we are going to make the flowers for the basket.  And hang on to your hats - you will need about 29 of them.  Ok, ok, ok!  Don't panic - they're really easy!

For the flowers, you'll need scrap worsted weight yarn in a variety of colors (or whatever colors you choose), a size F crochet hook, and a large-eyed yarn needle.

Oh, and did I mention, we're learning another new stitch today?!

Start by chaining 48 stitches.  Seems simple enough, right?

In the 4th chain from hook, *double crochet and dc in the next stitch.  You remember this from the HeartScarf pattern on Saturday.

(first dc)

(2nd dc)

Ch 2, and slip stitch in the next stitch.  You just made your first petal!

Ch 3*, and rep from * to * 2 more times (remember how to do a repeat?) so you have 3 small petals.

Now we'll make 3 medium-sized petals, and learn our new stitch - treble crochet.  Start by yo twice.

Insert hook into next chain, and pull up a loop.  You should now have 4 loops on your hook.

Yo, and pull through 2 loops.

Yo, pull through 2 again.

And you guessed it!  Yo, pull through 2 again.  See how the stitch gets its name?

Treble crochet is abbreviated tr in a pattern.

According to the pattern we are following in the book, we are now going to make 3 medium petals.  After this tr, make 3 more.  Ch 3, and sl st into the next chain.  *Ch 3, 4 tr, ch 3, sl st into next ch* two more times, so you have 3 medium petals.

To make the 3 large petals, follow the same pattern, but make 6 tr instead of 4.

After you've made the last set of 6 tr and made the ch 3, sl st to the last base chain.  Fasten off and leave a loooooooong tail.  Like a foot long-ish.

We will use this really long tail to stitch together the rose, and to fasten the rose to the tea cozy.

So let's make the rose...

You've probably noticed that your product right now is already curling, which is a good thing.  This will help the rose keep its shape.

First, thread your long tail of yarn through a large-eyed yarn needle.  Place your work face down and flat on a table or other work surface, with the small petals on the left.  Fold the first petal over the second petal.

Then, I fold this in half, and just keep rolling to the right.  I adjust so that the petals overlap the spaces between petals in the previous row - like a real rose.  Feel free to pull and stretch (gently) as necessary.  It's not like it's a fitted garment, so a little stretch here and there won't matter.  It should look similar to this when you get all the way around.  Hold it firmly!

Now turn your flower over.  Start stitching the base together by inserting the needle through the nearest free loop, and 3 or 4 loops next to it, toward the center.

Then, do the same thing, from the inside toward the outside edge.  Once you've gotten across, now you can thread your needle through the loops from one side to the other, through the center point.

Repeat this process, going around until you've made several passes from one side to the other.  I try to work in a clockwise motion to help me keep track of my direction.  Do what works for you.

When you are all done, leave the remaining long tail (that's what you'll use next time to stitch these to the base), and remove your needle.  That's it.  For now, anyway.  Make 28 more, and next time we will attach them to the base, and put this baby all together!

Because of St. Valentine's Day, we will pick up this project again on the 21st.  That should give everyone, me included, time to finish all the flowers.

Have fun!