Pretty Petals

Hey everyone.  I have been meaning to get this blog posted for a while now but have been swamped with Etsy orders! :) I first want to start off with showing you all a new crochet gadget I found at Hobby Lobby.

The picture is a little blurry but it is a crochet needle that lights up! WHAT! I know that was my reaction too.  Its the small things...
It has a clear plastic needle with an LED light inside that you can turn off and on. 

I tried it on a few projects I had going and I don't think its something for everyday use but it was great on black and dark colored yarns that can be hard to see the individual stitches.  The plastic needle just doesn't allow yarn to slide along it like the metal ones do.  I also like the thick grip for the handle end. Definitely something I am going to keep in my most used sizes for projects that require darker yarns. 

Also I am doing my first GIVE-AWAY! Whoop! At the end of this post I will give instructions on how to enter to win one of these light up needles in the size of your choice! :) 

Now onto the flower pattern...

Several of you have requested my pattern for the flower I use on my barefoot sandals so here it is. :) 
To begin this pattern is a pretty loose pattern...You can make changes to it easily to make it fit your own crochet swag. :)  If you are making these for the barefoot sandals I reccoment using an F size hook.  I used an I hook for this blog because it was easier to get pics with the bigger stitches.  This pattern can be done in pretty much any size so play around with different gauges. :)

First off I start with a magic circle or magic loop(whichever you prefer to call it).  Again this is a loose pattern so if you don't prefer the magic loop beginning you can just chian 3-4 stiches and slip stitch to first to form a loop.  If you aren't familiar with the magic loop I reccomend "You-Tubing" it.  I frequently change pattern to begin with the magic circle because its so simple and fast.

SC into loop.

Ch 2 and SC into loop again.  Repeat that four more times.  Then Ch 2 and slip stitch to first SC. You should have 5 Ch 2 spaces.  This will make a five petal flower.  If you want more petals repeat until you have the number of ch 2 spaces you would like for your flower. For this example I am doing a five petal flower.

* The single crochets will be your base stitches. This will become important later on.

SS. Ch 1. HDC. DC. HDC. SS into first Ch 2 space.  This will create the first petal.

   Repeat that in each Ch 2 space around the flower.

Now you can finish off here and have a single layer flower.  Or to add layers continue with the following instructions.

Fold down first petal and SC around first base stitch.

You will now be working behind the petals you just created. 

Ch 3  and SC around next base stitch.  Repeat this around and SS to first SC.

SS. Ch 1. HDC. 2 DC. HDC. SS into first Ch 3 space.

Repeat that in each Ch 3 space creating a second layer of petals for your flower.

I finish here and use these on my barefoot sandals.  But you can keep going with the layers of petals.  Just increase each ch space by 1 ch and add an extra DC to the petals. These flowers are great for hats, headbands, shoes, hair clips....etc.

And now for the give away.  I love hearing about other projects everyone loves to make.  Leave a comment with your favorite thing to crochet or if you are a novice let me know what you dream of making! :) The contest with end and winner will be announced next Friday the 20th at 8:00 p.m.

UPDATE! The random number generator picked the fifth comment.  Congratulation to Jameelah!