Popping in to share a fun quick project in honor of Earth Day (April 22, 2013) and International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day (May 1). Sunflowers have much symbolism worldwide and in Native American culture as the "fourth sister" to the better known three sisters combination of corn, beans, and squash when gardening. It has also played an important part in American history and became the state flower of Kansas.
So, what better way to say "green" than to knit up a stack of sunflower coasters? These are such a fun and quick project to do, once you've mastered the cast on/bind off technique for the petals. Not only are they great for coasters, but these large six inch diameter sunflowers can be incorporated into hats, handbags, scarves, afghans, kitchen accessories and home decor.
Nighttime is the right time! It's that wonderful time when everyone in the household is in bed, except for me. It's a time when I can finally sit down, uninterrupted and test a project that I've been knitting in my head all day. Last night that project was the patriotic coaster pictured above. This coaster was actually a test of techniques that I had theorized about over a year ago, loom knitting edging directly onto a project and creating a perfect circle on the looms without using short rows or seaming. I'm pleased to say that these techniques are indeed possible.The four inch diameter coaster was made on the Knifty Knitter 10" Long Loom using KK Loom Clips and Red Heart Super Saver yarn in White, Soft Navy and Cherry Red. Attaching the KK Loom Clips to the Long Loom, I knit the center of the coaster (white star & navy background) in the round using ten pegs. The last row of the navy background incorporated an I-cord bind off technique I developed to allow for increases. Once removed from the loom, the outer white & red borders were knitted directly onto the outer edge of the coaster using two pegs. Two strands of yarn held as one were used throughout the project, except for the red edging which used a single strand.This pattern, along with many more, is part of a project on which I'm working, so it is currently unavailable, but hopefully will be in the future.
