Needle arrangement

When I recently acquired the large collection of yarn belonging to my Nana, I also became the proud owner of many, many a knitting needle. There was a bag full of needles which, once carefully sorted, came to 60-odd pairs, plus an assortment of double-ended needles, circular needles, Tunisian hooks,  and various pins and counters.


I don't even knit.


The paired needles have been set aside for that hypothetical day on which I suddenly overcome my aversion to knitting, but I still had a large number of mismatched and broken ones. It didn't seem right to throw them out without investigating possible uses, so I went to my good friend Google and asked for ideas on repurposing knitting needles.


There were surprisingly few results. Most of the suggestions that came up were for bending them into bracelets. I had no use for a knitting needle bracelet, but the knowledge that plastic knitting needles can be softened and shaped gave me ideas of my own.


Why not use knitting needles as stems for crochet flowers? It would look silly if all the 'stems' were dead straight, but the ability to bend those stems a bit would allow much more scope for arranging. (I guess it would be more appropriate to make knitted flowers, but crochet is my natural default).


I sorted through the  pile of mismatches to see what I had to work with, and played around doodling arrangement designs until I came up with something I liked. Given that I have no expertise whatsoever in either drawing or flower arranging, this took a while. Once I had a 'design' I thought I could replicate, I dug out a few odds and ends of yarn for use on flowers and leaves.


For the main flower I followed this lovely rose pattern, though I used a medium weight wool and a 4mm hook, seeing that I wanted quite a large flower. Actually I miscounted my stitches somewhere along the line, so I ended up with a couple more petals than I was supposed to have. It looked alright though, so I left it the way it was and moved on to the other flowers.


The idea was for the higher-up flowers to look a bit lilyish. I couldn't find a lily pattern I liked, so I experimented a bit and generally made them up as I went along. The basic concept was to make a cone with 5 chains spaced evenly around the rim, then form the petals around the chains. After a certain amount of experimentation and a couple of do-overs, I had some flowers that roughly corresponded to my mental design. The pattern can be found below.


The leaves are all different sizes, but were made in much the same way as the flower petals, i.e. a combination of stitches increasing then decreasing along each side of a central spine, attached to a base ring that grips onto the needle stem. I've included a basic pattern below - this is for a leaf the same shape as the flower petals, but you can change the size and shape very easily, by lengthening the chain or experimenting with the combination of stitches used to shape the leaf.


The next step was to bend some of the knitting needles into 'stems'. I approached this part with some trepidation - if I didn't manage to shape the needles the way I wanted, I might have had to scrap the whole project - but it turned out to be very easy. The plastic softens in boiling water almost immediately; all you have to do is fish the needle out with a pair of tongs, bend it into shape and hold it for a short time until it cools.


Most of the needles I used were red, green or brown, in keeping with the overall colour scheme, but I decided to include one typical grey needle, just to emphasise the knitting needle theme of the arrangement. I made a little twist in this one by winding it around the handle of a wooden spoon.

The final step was to fill a vase with floral foam and arrange my flowers. It didn't turn out quite the same as my 'design', but I was happy with it.


So, in short, I get given a bunch of knitting needles, and my immediate reaction is to make something out of the ones that can't be used for knitting. I suppose the next thing is to employ some of the usable ones for the traditional purpose, and actually knit something. That'll be interesting.

Crochet flower with knitting needle stem

Yarn: whatever you like.
Hook: a suitable size to make reasonably snug stitches in the yarn you're using.
Stitch marker
Old knitting needle for flower stem

Ch5, sl st to make a ring.
The base cone is stitched in continuous rounds, adding 2 stitches per round until you have a cone that is 15 stitches around. Use a stitch marker to keep track of rounds.
Round 1: 5sc in ring (5st)
Round 2: 2sc in first st, 1sc in next 2 st. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next st (7st)
Round 3: 2sc in first st, 1sc in next 3 st. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 2 st (9st)
Round 4: 2sc in first st, 1sc in next 4 st. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 3 st (11st)
Round 5: 2sc in first st, 1sc in next 5 st. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 4 st (13st)
Round 6: 2sc in first st, 1sc in next 6 st. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 5 st (15st)
Round 7:*Ch8, then 8 sc down the spine of the chain. sc in the next 3 stitches. Repeat from * five times.


 When you have a cone with 5 chains attached, fasten off and weave in ends. (If you don't want a two-tone flower, just keep going with the same colour)

With new colour, sl st between chains
*Make the following stitches up the 8 stitches of the chain:
hdc; dc x 3; hdc x 2; sc; sl st. ch3.
Reverse the order of the stitches down the other side of the chain:
sl st; sc; hdc x 2; dc x 3; hdc.
sc 3 st together between petals
Repeat from * 5 times. Fasten off and weave in ends.
Thread knitting needle through cone for 'stem'.

You can change the look of the flower with longer chains or different combinations of stitches to shape the petals.

Leaf to grip onto knitting needle stem

Ch5, sl st to make a ring.
5 sc in ring
sc in each sc around
Ch8, then 8 sc down the spine of the chain. sc in base ring.
Turn, and make the following stitches up the 8 stitches of the chain:
hdc; dc x 3; hdc x 2; sc; sl st. ch3.
Reverse the order of the stitches down the other side of the chain:
sl st; sc; hdc x 2; dc x 3; hdc. sc in base ring.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Mitten's Mittens

My sweet little niece, of an age to be parroting words when I last saw her at Christmas, had some difficulty pronouncing my name. Attempts at "Robyn" came out adorably as "Mitten". I'm sure she'd be able to say my name now, but I have to admit to encouraging "Auntie Mitten" as a nickname. It's just way cuter than "Auntie Robyn"!

When digging through my stash, I found I had two half-skeins of 8-ply merino wool, the familiar leftover amount that is seldom enough for a project in itself - but, as it turns out, sufficient if you happen to have two that can be used together.


The two half-skeins were different brands and different colours, but similar enough in weight and texture to work in a single project. And what else would Auntie Mitten make, but mittens? I immediately pictured fingerless mittens in a shell-stitch - simple enough that I could come up with a pattern myself, with a little trial and error.

It wasn't difficult to make a basic tube shape with a hole for a thumb. My biggest concern was whether I had enough yarn to complete both mittens. To ensure I didn't run out, I located both ends of each skein of yarn, and worked on both mittens at once, alternating from one to the other, making a few rows at a time. It takes a bit of manoeuvering to keep the four separate strands from tangling, but it means you can judge how much yarn is left and how many rows you can afford to make over the wrist and fingers.


The resulting mittens are really quite cute. Mum immediately put her hand up for a pair, so I made her some using leftover yarn from a baby blanket made some time ago. The baby yarn was finer than the merino, so I added an extra shell to each row, and used a smaller hook so the stitches weren't too open.


Below are the instructions for these very simple mittens. This is my first attempt at writing a pattern, so I hope I've made it clear enough. I've used US crochet terminology (UK terminology is actually more traditional in New Zealand, but I learnt to crochet online).


You can adjust the length by adding or subtracting rows, and/or widen them by adding shells - just keep to multiples of six in your foundation chain and the shells will work out fine.

Mitten's mittens

5.5 hook
8ply merino in two contrasting colours
Stitch markers (I use safety pins)

Ch = chain
St = stitch
Sk = skip
Sl st = slip stitch
Sc = single crochet
Dc = double crochet
Shell = 5 dc in same stitch

Note: Ch3 counts as dc throughout. In places you will be stitching past the stitch-marked loop on the round below. Keep the stitch-marked loop to the front of your work and continue as for any other stitch.

Base ring: ch 24 with colour 1. Turn chain over and sc in spine of each ch. Join with sl st to make a ring.

Row 1: (sk 2 st, shell, sk 2 st, sc) 4 times. 3 sl st to top of shell. Do not fasten off; place safety pin or stitch marker in loop.

Row 2: with colour 2, sl st into last sc in previous row. Ch3, 2dc in same st. Sk 2 st, sc in centre dc of shell. (Sk 2 st, shell, sk 2 st, sc) 3 times. Sk 2st, 2dc in same sc as beginning of round. Sl into top of ch3. Do not fasten off; place stitch marker in loop.

Row 3: remove marker from loop 2 rounds below and insert hook in loop. Sl st into sc immediately
above. Ch3, 2dc in same st. Sk 2 st, sc in centre dc of shell. (Sk 2 st, shell, sk 2 st, sc) 3 times. Sk 2st, 2dc in same sc as beginning of round. Sl st into top of ch3. Do not fasten off; place stitch marker in loop.

Row 4-11: repeat row 3.

Row 12: (create thumb hole): as for previous rounds, but replace sc between 1st and 2nd full shells with a ch1.

Row 13: as for round 3. When you reach the thumb hole, stitch into the ch1 as for sc in other rows.

Row 14-17: as for round 3.

Instructions for second mitten are identical except for row 12. In row 12, ch1 for thumb hole between 3rd and 4th (4th= shell with join) shells rather than between 1st and 2nd. This will mean both mittens have the chain-seams on the palm.