(This was originally published at Suzann’s TextileFusion, back when Curious and Crafty Readers was having technical difficulties. It really belongs here, so here it is!)*
My cousin Phyllis was paging through Crochet Bouquet, when she saw the Oval Center Rose on pages 28-29. “Is this photographed at an angle, or does it really look like that?” she asked.
Yes, it does! It is photographed straight-on, and it really is oval, like so many of the stylized roses I see on china, tin boxes, and other decorative objects.
The Oval Center Rose is our crochet along project for May. It starts with a round of single crochet (Photo 1). The lovely pink yarn is Universal Yarns Cotton Supreme.
The Rose starts going oval in Round 2 (Photo 2), with graduated stitch heights. To give the flower a lighter appearance, this round has ch-spaces between the stitches.
Photo 3 shows the last round of the oval center. The graduated stitch heights make the oval even longer.
Round 4 (Photo 4) sets up the petals of Round 5. The sc-sts between the ch-loops serve as anchor sts for Round 6.
In Photo 5, you see Round 5 finished, except for the final joining ch-st. It is worked around the first sc of Rnd 4 (an anchor st). To do this, take the hook behind your work, insert it under the petal you just finished. Now take the hook in front of the anchor sc, and back to the back under the next petal. Yarn over and draw the loop around the stitch and through the original loop on your hook.
Round 6 is where you add the final ruffly finish, worked in the back loops only. That’s what creates the subtle outline around the stitches of Rnd 5. The first petal is different than the others, so check the instructions.
To keep the petals from melding together on this last round, you ch 2, sl st around the anchor stitch, ch 2, between the petals. Sometimes it’s easier to fold the flower at the anchor stitch, and sl st around it from the back, as in Photo 6. The plum circle surrounds the 2nd petal, and the hook is under the anchor stitch, to which the yellow arrow points.
At the end of Rnd 6, turn the flower to the back. Find the very first anchor stitch with the sl st around it. Insert your hook under the loops of this sl st, yoh, and complete another sl st. In Photo 7, you’re looking at the back of the rose, and the hook is under the loops of the sl st around the first anchor st. All that’s left to do is finish the final sl st, end off, and weave in the ends.
* Originally, textilefusion.com had two blogs: one for book-related posts and one for all other posts. The book blog was titled “Curious and Crafty Readers,” and the other blog was “Suzann’s TextileFusion.”