Walking along a dry creek bed in Colorado, the plants you find are different than the ones I'm used to on the East Coast. Foliage can be spare, shades of silver, leggy. Flowers are sparse and often a surprise. Delicate blossoms atop slender stalks swaying with the wind. Now and again there is a cactus, its bold spiky branches stark contrast to the lacy leaves and flowers of the wild poppy and chicory. The cactus blooms are as confrontational as their beefy arms: fuchsia, fire-engine red, bright orange, startling white, dandelion yellow. The petals are as delicate as the poppy's ephemeral ones. Only when the sun hits them do they open, bright translucent halo around solid yellow stamens. Bumble bees, solitary bees, and honey bees flock to their centers.

These particular cactus flowers can be made in hand-dyed silk that reminds us of the subtle earthy colors of the desert, as you see them here, or in worsted or fingering merino and then felted for a more rounded version of themselves. They can also be wired and left unfelted. Adorn the centers with sparkle rivets or make stamens out of lace weight yarn. Whatever you decide, these lovely desert-inspired beauties look wonderful tucked behind the ear of a flower-girl, decorating the Little Gems purse of a girl going to prom, or several in a spray across a sleeveless T.

Close your eyes, picture desert sunsets, and find the perfect place for these flowers.

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Intermediate: Requires knowledge of knitting and purling, increasing and decreasing, working in the round on double-pointed needles, and some simple hand-sewing

Gauge

24 stitches and 32 rounds = 4" (10cm) on a size 6 (4mm) needle or needle size to obtain gauge. Larger gauge yarn and larger needles create larger flowers.

Yarn Requirements

Per flower: 16 yds (14.5m) of worsted weight yarn

Needles and Other Materials

Size 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles (3) for flowers or size needed to obtain gauge 
Noni Sparkle Rivets to decorate flower centers
Locking stitch markers used as stitch holders
Sharp, large-eyed darning needle to weave in ends
Sewing needle to sew flowers to bags, shoe clips, etc.
Seed beads and Nylon Beading Thread
28 gauge beading wire
Noni Flower clips  to attach flowers to shoes, bags, necklines, and gifts

Pictured Samples

The samples pictured were created using ArtYarns Beaded Pearl & Sequins (worsted weight; 100" silk with glass beads & sequins; 80 yds [73m] per 13/4 oz [50g] skein) #142 with pink Sparkle Rivets. For a bag that features these flowers, see Les Tuileries.

Inspired by Wild Geraniums & Forsythia, these flowers are elegant through their simplicity and the classic flower shape. Beautifully dazzling when wired and embellished with a sparkle or cabochon rivet in the center, these easy-to-make and quick-to-knit flowers are lovely scattered across the front of a bag, as decorations on your latest Ella Coat, or sewn onto Noni Flower Clips and then worn in your hair.

They are also the perfect gift-knitting flower: sew to Flower clips and then fasten onto a ribbon that decorates the neck of a wine bottle, clip them to the neckline of your sweater or t-shirt, or onto your ballet slipper flats. 

Felt or wire and leave unfelted as you desire. Noni prefers worsted weight Shepherd's Wool for these flowers because the colors render flowers life-like. Add beads and the flowers look as though just opening on a dewy morning. 

Look at the Additional Details page for more information and a list of required materials.

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Easy to Intermediate: requires knowledge of knitting and purling, increasing and decreasing, picking up stitches, working in the round on double-pointed needles, and some simple hand-sewing.

Gauge

Work each felted flower with a single strand of worsted weight, feltable yarn held throughout. To make the flowers in the size pictured, use the recommended needle size. For smaller or larger flowers, change your gauge by going down in yarn and needle size, or up, respectively.

Yarn Requirements

Each large flower requires approximately 10 yds (9m) of worsted weight, feltable yarn; small flowers require slightly less.

Other yarn fibers also work well for unfelted flowers but make the flowers harder to work: silk makes beautifully glossy flowers, embellished yarns can add sparkle and depth, and hand-dyed silks are particularly pretty if the color gradation is long enough to allow all petals to begin at the same point in the grade (see my Cactus Flowers as an example).

Needles and Other Materials

Size 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles (set of 5) for flowers
Locking stitch markers as stitch holders
Sharp large-eyed needle for weaving in ends and optional wiring
Beads and Nylon beading thread for optional hand-beading and sewing flowers onto bags or other items
Noni Sparkle Rivets to decorate the flower centers
Noni Flower Clips so flowers can be clipped to virtually anything (optional)

Pictured Samples

Pictured felted flowers were made with Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in Zinnia Pink and Pink with pink sparkle rivet centers.