It's finished!!!

Here are the green leaves for the poinsettia completed and assembled:


And here is the poinsettia!!!

I am so proud of myself for doing it and I think it came out really nice! It measures 12 inches across, which is a bigger size than the instructions stated. But that is probably because I kept losing count of the number of rows I was knitting for the green leaves, so they aren't all the same size.


Most of the time you only get to see the front of a project. Well, here is what the back looks like. That little bit of red yarn is what is left from me knitting the red to the green:

Turkey

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL!!!

Lovin' that flower!

Everyone who sees my poinsettia is giving it raves!And it isn't even done yet! Next I am kntting the green leaves that will be attached behind it. I have finished 4 so far:

I only need two more, which I expect to complete tomorrow.The first 3 didn't come out so well. They are uneven and skinny to me. But I altered the directions a little bit and the last one I did came out better. Most of the green leaf will be hidden behind the red ones anyway, so it won't be too noticeable. See if you can pick out which one is the last one I did.

Leaves Assembled

Voila! The poinsettia! It only took a few minutes to assemble the red leaves.

I made the yellow part using Bernat Satin Sport Warm Yellow and 15 yellow pony beads. The instructions were to string the beads onto the yarn first and then knit them in. At first I thought this was going to create a tangled, loose mess, but I knit it taut and cinched the bottom closed. As I gathered the top it clustered into the neat ball that you see here. I didn't have the Knifty Knitter spool loom, so I improvised using the pink loom, removing one of the pegs, and using a loom clip, as below:

This was easy to do. Here is what the back of the poinsettia looks like:

So far I have completed 3 of the green leaves, which I will post shortly.

Here are the leaves!

My wife said they look like chili peppers. They do, actually. The way I arrranged them on the page could be a work of art unto itself.

Poinsettia almost half done...

I’m finally getting the hang of making these red flower leaves. I was able to get one done in less than 30 minutes today! I’m on the last one now, number 6. It was a little tight even though I kept the yarn loose; I’m not sure why. Once number 6 is done, I’ll post a picture of the leaves, then I’ll sew them together per the instructions and post a picture of them all sewn together. I was thinking last night that I could make the entire plant, but I don’t feel that ambitious (yet). The day may come.

But I did get an idea for Thanksgiving. It would be a nice little craft to put on each guest’s plate at the dinner. That is, if it turns out right when I make it. I don’t expect that I’ll have it ready in time for such a thing, but it will be a neat little something for later. Too bad I thought of the idea so late.

Finally Knitting Easier...

I finally figured out a good way to wrap the yarn on the loom. I wrap it on as gently as a feather. It isn’t loose but it doesn’t get taut like it was getting before, and I am able to knit without the difficulty and tightness I was experiencing.

Today I knitted the rest of the second flower leaf and completed another one. So now half of the flower is complete! Just 3 more red flower leaves to complete and I can start on the green leaves. I can tell it is going to look really nice when it is done. I'm excited!