knitting pattern for a throwing bouquet knitting pattern for patchwork flowers

Throwing Bouquet (F2)

throwing bouquet of 12 roses

The ODDknit throwing bouquet – suitable for all your ballistic flower needs. Unlike our other knitted flower designs this pomander style arrangement is made without wires. It's entirely safe for small hands and bridal enthusiasm.

A printable version of this pattern is available.

You will need:

  • green/cream yarn (double knit)
  • toy stuffing
  • knitting needles (3mm)
  • tapestry needle
  • scissors
  • pen/pencil for winding

Pattern:

(A list of abbreviations is available.)

Rose

Cast on 3 stitches in cream and work as follows:

  1. Row 1: kfb x 3 (6)
  2. Row 2 (and every even row): p –
  3. Row 3: k4, kfb, kfb (8)
  4. Row 5: k6, kfb, kfb (10)
  5. Row 7: k9, kfb (11)
  6. Rows 9 and 11: k –
  7. Row 13: k9, k2tog (10)
  8. Row 15: k6, k2tog, k2tog (8)
  9. Row 17: k4, k2tog, k2tog (6)
  10. Row 19: k2tog x 3 (3)

Repeat rows 1-20 seven more times, until there are 8 petals in total. Cast off.

Knit 12 roses total.

Stem

Cast on 5sts in green and I-cord 40 cm. Cut yarn, thread through remaining sts and pull tight.

Making Up:

Wind each set of petals around a pencil. Sew the bottom edge in place as you go to form a flat base.

Diagram showing how to form the rose from the knitting.

Remove the pencil from the centre of the rose. Close up the hole by sewing back and forth across it.

We now need to sew the flowers together to form a sphere – or more accurately a dodecahedron. A dodecahedron has 12 sides and each side is pentagon. Imagine the base of each rose is a pentagon to see how we will arrange them.

Diagram of a dodecahedron.

Sew the roses together in two sets of six. For each set chose one rose to centre the sewing on. Arrange five other roses around it. Sew a fifth of the circumference of the centre rose to each of the others. Sew the neighbouring roses to each other. Only a fifth of a rose should be sewn to each of its neighbours.

Firmly attach one end of the i-cord to each set of roses, then sew the sides together, stuffing at the last minute to help the bouquet keep its shape.

Variations:

We have based our bouquet arrangement on the dodecahedron, but there are other regular and semi-regular polyhedra you could use. For a different arrangement with the same number of roses you could use a cuboctahedron. For a bigger bouquet you might consider basing the arrangement on an icosahedron (20 faces), or a truncated icosahedron. (32 faces).

Notes:

Propulsion Techniques

The throwing bouquet is carefully designed for use with a variety of propulsion techniques. Please find some suggested methods below. Please note that not all methods described are suitable for use with a wedding dress.

Throwing method 1. Throwing method 2. Throwing method 3. Throwing method 4. Throwing method 5. Throwing method 6.

Needle/Yarn Size

As with most ODDknit patterns the yarn and needle sizes in the "you will need" section are just a guide. Feel free to improvise with whatever needles and yarn you have lying around - that's half the fun!