Newsletter June 2009: A flower braceletNews:Manon, a jacket for stylish babies aged 3 months to 2 years, is now available in the shop, both as a pattern and as a kit, including the four yarn colours and custom-dyed buttons. 
Also, the flower bracelet presented in this newsletter is available as a mini-kit for only €5.00, including all the materials needed except the sewing thread (it’s just not practical to include a few yards of sewing thread in a kit).A flower bracelet:Flowery? Yes! Summery? Yes! Whimsical? Yes!This is the bracelet for your summer!
Worked in a fingering weight cotton yarn with a 2 mm hook (US steel hook #4, UK 2 1/2), the bracelet fits my wrist rather snugly, and my 12-year-old daughter’s a little more loosely. The easiest way to upsize the bracelet a little is to work it with a slightly larger hook (e.g. a US size B-1). 
The bracelet is easy to make, and a good introduction to flowers worked petal by petal. In the pictures below, the sample flower is crocheted in thicker yarn and a larger hook to make it easier to see. So, here we go!Ch 3 + 1 (turning ch). 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 1 dc in next ch, 1 sl st in last ch. One petal made.
Do not cut the yarn. Just repeat the instructions above for a second petal.
Continue repeating until 6 petals are made.
Close the flower by working a slip stitch at the base of the first petal (see the arrow in the picture above).But look – there’s a hole in the middle. For this project you don’t want that.
The problem is easily solved by weaving in the end. Just turn the flower over and use the end to cross between all opposite petals. Tighten the yarn so that the center hole closes up.There is only one more thing you need to know to make the bracelet pictured above: how to attach the flowers to one another. When working a new flower, decide which petal you want to attach to the previous one. When starting this petal, chain 3 as before, but replace the turning chain with a slip stitch worked into the tip of one petal of the previous flower.
Simply continue working the petal like the previous ones.To make the bracelet as shown above, work a total of 6 flowers, alternating the colours (here: hot pink and yellow) and attaching them as you go. Block the bracelet – I pressed it lightly on the wrong side with a steam iron.With sewing thread, sew a sequin and a seed bead to each flower, passing the thread from the back of the flower up through the hole in the sequin, through the seed bead and back down through the hole in the sequin and through the flower.Sew a clasp or bolt ring to one end of the bracelet and a simple ring to the other. Your wrist is all set for summer!Also, I’m sure you’re already thinking about all the variations possible with these simple flowers and how you could use them in other ways. So perhaps your crochet hook is all set for summer too!See you soon!
Annette Petavy Design – Newsletter June 2009 – A crocheted flower bracelet
