15 February 2014

Knit a Daffodil for Irish Cancer Society



Last year my mum, myself and lots of lovely local ladies knit up lots of lovely daffodils which we then sold on Daffodil Day for the Irish Cancer Society (full details here)   It was a huge success, so much so that this year the Irish Cancer Society have asked me to make the pattern available for more people to get involved.




Daffodil Day is a yearly event in Ireland whereby daffodils are sold in order to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society.  You can find out lots more information here on their official website and how you can get involved in fundraising.    This year's Daffodil Day is on 28th March and we would love you to get involved, by stitching some lovely daffodils that will then be sold to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society.


How do you get involved?  

Simple.  Use the pattern below to knit the daffodils.  (There's a pdf version at the end of this post with step by step pictures and instructions).  Then when you have your daffodils knit up you can liaise with your local community fundraiser as to where you drop off the daffodils for selling on Daffodil Day.  You can find your local fundraiser by calling the free phone number 185060660

In Roscommon (Ireland) we are asking you to knit and make up your daffodils, then place them in a plastic bag (ideally with your name and the amount of daffodils you knit written on a piece of paper in the bag) and drop them off to the Coffee Morning on 14th March in JJ Harlows Bar, The Square, Roscommon.   They will then be sold on Daffodil Day (28th March).   If you are outside Ireland and wish to take part that would be fantastic, simply comment below with your email or email me direct at michlle AT michellemadethis DOT com and I can give you my address to post the daffodils to).

If you have any questions at all please feel free to comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  In the meantime let's get stitching!!


All you need to get started is:

Green DK (double knit) wool
Yellow DK (double knit) wool
Knitting Needles (4mm)
Safety pins 
Darning Needle

The pattern is as follows:

To make the daffodil

*Cast on 2 stitches (Yarn A)
Inc1 (by knitting into the front and back of the stitch) at beginning of each row until you have
11 stitches
Break yarn* and place on spare needle or holder.
Repeat from * to * 4 more times until you have 5 petals.
Knit across all 5 points
You should have 55 stitches in total
Knit 2 rows
K2tog, K1 (28)
K2tog (14)
K2tgo (7)
Cut thread and use tail to thread a darning needle.  Insert the needle through the stitches and secure. This forms the flower.
You will need to sew a few stitches to join the last petal with the first.
Then weave in all the end.  It is essential that you weave the ends in and do not simply snip them off as it will not look as neat and is likely to unravel.

This pattern is an original, copyrighted design. Please do not reproduce or distribute without
first obtaining permission. I am happy for items knitted from this pattern to be sold for charity
fund-raising but please do not knit up for commercial purposes (ie to sell for personal gain).
© copyright michellemadethis 2013 All rights reserved 

To make the trumpet

Cast on 14 stitches (YA)
Knit 4 rows
Cast off tightly (the cast off edge will be the bottom part of the trumpet that you will stitch to the daffodil)
Join short sides together to form trumpet and sew in centre of petals

To make the stem

Cast on 20 stitches (Yarn B)
K 3 rows
Cast Off
Sew long sides together. 

To make up

Attach the trumpet to the centre of the petals  
At the same time you can attach the stem to the back of the petals and then stitch a safety pin in place so it can be worn as a brooch. 

This pattern is an original, copyrighted design. Please do not reproduce or distribute without
first obtaining permission. I am happy for items knitted from this pattern to be sold for charity
fund-raising but please do not knit up for commercial purposes (ie to sell for personal gain).
© copyright michellemadethis 2013 All rights reserved 


A few tips and tricks on making the daffodils

  • Kniting a complete daffodil and sewing it together takes approximately 45 minutes and I wouldn't say I am a very fast knitter. 
  • I find knitting as many petals as I can on circular needles makes the process a little quicker. 
  • If you are in a knitting group why not share it out.  1 person could knit stalks, 1 person could knit petals, 1 person could knit the trumpets and another person sew them up?
  • We used small safety pins as the brooch part and they are just fine.  You can buy them very cheaply in discount stores or 2 euro shops. 
If you have any other comments, tips or tricks feel free to comment below.



Please make sure you have an up to date version of Adobe.  You can download it for free here 

Alternatively you can download the file from ravelry (no need to be a member)  HERE 



KEEEEEEEEP STITCHING  :O) 


**** addition to origial blog post 24th Feb 2014 *****

I am thrilled to say that since posting this I have had lots of people getting in touch saying they are going to knit the daffodils which is fantastic.  I have also had people asking for a crochet pattern.  I am delighted to say that I have one for you.

The lovely Lucy from the beautiful blog Attic24 has given permission for her crochet daffodil pattern to be used for the purpose of selling along with our knitted daffodils on Daffodil Day.


You can find the pattern and step by step instructions on how to crochet the daffodil here.

Thank you to everyone for taking part in this :O)




3 comments:

  1. I'd love to make some, I also hope to make hats for heros (for children with cancer). Thanks for sharing the pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  2. would I be able republish your pattern on the Dublin Knit Collective website?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi I made a few of those today and last night and modified your pattern just slightly, as I'm not a fan of sewing: instead of casting off when petals are finished and 7 sts on needle, I double the stitch number again (knit front and back) to get back to 14 sts and knit 4 rows before casting off so no need to sew the trumpet to the petals, just a few stitches to sew to close trumpet and join the edge petals.
    Then I pick up 5 stitches in back of daffodil and using green yarn, knit the stem for 8cm using icord method (Works with circular or 2 double pointed needles).
    These are really fun to make both ways and I'm even thinking of naking bigger versions and putting them in glass jars around my house for easy maintenance flowers (if only I could get a daffodil scented pot pourri mix for the bottom of the jars, it would be even better!)

    ReplyDelete

♥ Thank you so much for your comment ♥ The fact that you have gone out of your way to leave a comment totally makes my day ♥ Have a truly fabulous day! Michelle x

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin