Tutorial: How to knit a picot flower

Adding flowers to a hat, cardigan (as in the design below), cushion or headband is a great way to add an individual crafty touch - this tutorial will show you how to knit a very simple flower in one piece to add to your project.  If you can cast on, bind off, pick up stitches and use the knit stitch (no purling needed), you can make this flower.

Carina Seamless Top Down Cardigan Knitting Pattern

  

You will need:

• A small amount of spare yarn (double knitting or worsted weight yarn) in a main colour and a second colour (if you want to add spokes).
• knitting needles (I used 2 4mm (US size 6) DPNs as this is a small project)
• 1 button (for a button centre)
• yarn needle and scissors

Abbreviations:
KFB: Knit into the front and back of the stitch to increase 1 stitch.
K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together to decrease 1 stitch.
st: stitch
sts: stitches

First make the centre:
Cast on 3 sts.

Row 1: KFB, K1, KFB. (5 sts)

Rows 2: KFB, K3, KFB. (7sts)

3- 6: K all sts.

Row 7: K2tog, K3, K2tog. (5sts)

Row 8: K2tog, K1, K2tog. (3sts)

Bind off sts but put final st back on the left hand needle.

 

Pick up sts round the centre to make the picot petals:

*Cast on 3 sts to the left hand needle (4sts), bind off 3 sts, pick up and knit 1 st from the edge and slip the last st on the right hand needle over this st and put remaining st back on the left hand needle.  Rep from * aiming to create 10 – 12 picots round the centre.

When you have worked all the way round the centre, cut the yarn leaving a long tail end and thread this through the final stitch. 

 Finishing off:

Thread the yarn onto a needle and work a circle of running stitch round the edge of the centre, just below the picots.  Pull the yarn tight to gather the centre and pull the picot petals into a circle, secure on the reverse.

You can finish off the flower in different ways:

1.  Sew a button to the centre.

2. Thread your coordinating yarn onto the needle and secure to the back of the flower.  Bring the needle through to the very centre of the flower and then place the needle and yarn between 2 petals to create a spoke and bring the needle back through the centre of the back of the flower to the front - repeat until you have sewn a spoke in between each of the petals.  Secure the yarn at the back.

3. Complete step 2 and then step 1 for spokes and a button centre.

You can make a larger flower by using thicker yarn and needles.  You can also make longer petals by increasing the number of stitches you cast on and bind off for each picot petal.