Knitted Primrose

How to Knit a Primrose

Complete Size - 20cm width x 20cm depth

What you will need...

Total time - 6 Hours 30 Minutes Each Knitted Primrose

3.25mm knitting needles (UK 10, US 3)

Double knitting yarn - any desired colour

Sewing up needle

Scissors

Before You Start...

Abbreviations

K = Knit   P = Purl   St = Stitch   Sts = Stitches

Cast On - I use the thumb method.

St-st = stocking stitch. Alternating a row of knit stitches (right side), with a row of purl stitches (wrong side).

G-st = Garter stitch. Every row knit (no purl stitches).

Inc = Increase - by knitting into the front and the back of the same stitch, to make two stitches out of one.

K2tog = Decrease by knitting two stitches together, making one stitch from two.

Yrn = 'Yarn Over' - Loop the yarn around the end of your needle (under and over) to create a new stitch.

Cast off - P wise. US - bind off.

TOP TIP

To help with counting rows and to allow you to remember whether you are on an odd or even row, it is useful to look at the cast-on edge and see which side the yarn end is dangling from, or use any completed pieces as a template.

As nature throws up all shapes and sizes, you could make some smaller or larger leaves by adding or removing rows in the centre of each piece (currently at 15 rows). Keep this an odd number to keep the pattern in sync! For example, making this 9 rows forms an 8cm leaf.

How to Make it...

Made from three knitted flowers each made from a single piece, three finger-knitted stems, and sixteen knitted leaf pieces to form 8 leaves.

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Want to Start Knitting a Primrose?

Download the Primrose Knitting Pattern PDF

‘Progress in Pictures’ short video of items being made can now also be seen on my NEW YouTube Channel!! See – https://www.youtube.com/@Fittinginknitting


Leaves

Make 2 for Each Leaf

Make 16 Pieces total (to form 8 leaves)

Time - 15 Minutes Each Piece

Size 11 cm

Needles 3.25 mm


Primrose Flower

Make 3 for Each Plant

Time - 20 Minutes Each

Size 4 cm

Needles 3.25 mm

 

Piece it Together...

Sewing-up Time - 60 minutes

Oversewing Leaf Ridge


Leaves

Place two leaf pieces together back to back, aligning straight edges together. Sew through these pieces at this straight edge (rather than over-sewing row ends.) When complete and on opening out the leaf, this will produce a more prominent centre line, and a slight ridge on the reverse of the leaf.


Flowers

Beginning at the junction where the colours change, over-sew row ends together, working towards the centre of the flower at the cast-on edge. Fasten off the loose end, and all other loose ends apart from one yarn-end in the colour of the outer part of the flower. Continue to work from the cast-off edge over-sewing row ends. Work towards the centre, fastening off the yarn where the colour changes. Push gently into the centre of the completed flower to form a gentle concave shape.


Stems

Using two lengths of yarn together, finger-knit a length of approximately 3-4cm to form the primrose flower stem. Attach the top of this to the base of the primrose flower.

Final Plant

Place four leaves together centrally as shown in the picture and sew together, fastening off loose ends.

Sew the base of the finger knitted stems to the centre of this, before adding the remaining four leaves.

Gently curl the stems to add a little bounce to your flowers and allow them to rest lightly on the leaves underneath.

There you have your cheerful decorative piece!

Hidden Cup inside Plantpot!


Make it Different...

Change the number of flowers or leaves to make bigger or smaller plants.

Change the petal colours to add a splash of colour to a room.

Pop it in a nice plantpot (I put an upside down plastic cup in the bottom of a pot as a surface to sit the primrose on!)


Now for the Maths!

To get the correct number of petal tips I used a bit of maths. Skip this bit if you fancy but it's helpful to know if you want to try and get a different number of petal tips for a different kind of flower...

So... The primrose flower must have the correct number of stitches by the time you reach the row containing the 'yrn' stitches. This is because the flower is formed with a single piece bent around, and the 'yrn' forms the dip between the tips. Therefore, the number of 'yrn' stitches should be one less than the desired number of tips i.e. 10 - 1 = 9. This is because the join will form the gap for the tenth tip.

As the pattern is 'yrn, K2tog', there needs to be double the amount of stitches on the row as number of 'yrn' stitches. i.e. 9 x 2 = 18 sts.

I then added 2 knitted sts for the start of the row, before the first 'yrn' and 1 knitted stitch at the end of the row after the last K2tog to form the first and last tips evenly.

Total number of stitches = (9 x 2) + 2 + 1 = 21 sts

It is therefore this number of stitches that you need to achieve, on row **. It will also correlate that this number will need to be reduced in the same way on row ***

For example if you want 8 tips - (7 x 2) + 2 + 1 = 17 sts. Good luck with making up some of your own designs!

Handmade-Knitted-Primrose-Plant-Completed-Fitting-in-Knitting-Children-Quick-Craft-Ideas-300x300.jpg__PID:fae27a22-1dd6-4dbf-be95-53e7ee27eb64

Behind the Scenes!

These patterns are all made up as I go along, learning from mistakes along the way. Every time I create a new pattern, I record it in the Updates part of this site (effectively my blog…)  There is a story behind each creation, and this can help give you some more ideas and inspiration.

See the Update info....


All done?

Feel free to share your successes or any other tips or suggestions by emailing me. If it's all gone swimmingly and you're ready for you next challenge, have a look at what to try next!

My next pattern!

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