How to Crochet a Peony


  •   Posted on: 2020-08-11
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  •   Views: 2449
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  •   Category:
  • How-To's
  • Crochet

Originally published May 6, 2015

I’ve been crocheting a lot of flowers lately!  And these are not just any flowers, these are the flowers that will comprise my good friend’s bridal bouquet at her wedding this July, which she asked me to make for her a few months ago.  We talked about what kind of flowers she wanted, picked out a color scheme from the yarns we have here at the shop, and I’ve been cranking out 2 flowers a week!

Here’s one of the main stars of the show: a peony.

It’s a fun construction (based upon this pattern), starting in the center and spiraling outward; then turning back in on itself to spiral inward, then back outward again to the outer edges, creating layers upon layers of petals.  I used two strands of our linen held together, a much lighter weight yarn than this pattern calls for, but I like the delicate, wispy look that it creates, contrasted with the stiffness of the linen that holds its shape despite the small gauge.

It begins by working 8 stitches into a small circle, and then slowly increasing over 5 rounds, the way you would with a crocheted hat.

I’m using a coil-less safety pin here to mark the beginning of my rounds.

The key here is that these increase rounds are worked through the front loop only.  Typically, this technique is used to create ribbing, or texture, on one side of the work.  But here, it’s a super creative way to allow you to do two different things on either side of the same stitch — on one side we increase, then as we go back along the other side in the next section, we can work actual full stitches into the other loop.

Then, once you reach the center again, you turn for the next round and begin to spiral back out towards the outer edge, working a combination of triple crochets and skipped stitches until you get back to the very outside stitch.

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