Lest We Forget

At this time of year we start to see poppies for sale.  The Royal British Legion sell these to raise money to provide welfare, comradeship, representation and Remembrance for the Armed Forces Community.  This Poppy Appeal culminates in the Remembrance Day services that I'm sure you're all aware of.

Every year I go to the Cenotaph to pay my respects and I wear my poppy with pride but this year I wanted to donate a little time, as well as my cash, so I decided to knit myself a poppy.  I've not had a lot of experience in writing patterns for others to follow (my rushed scratchings are usually something even I struggle to read) but I've had a go at putting together a pattern for you to knit your own Remembrance Day poppy.  Here goes...

I used acrylic Double Knit yarn in red and black and 4mm needles.  Tension isn't important here.


Petals (make 2)
Using red, Cast On 7 stitches, leaving a tail for sewing later.
ROW 1: Knit
ROW 2: KFB, K5, KFB (9 sts)
ROW 3: KFB, K7, KFB (11 sts)
ROW 4: KFB, K9, KFB (13 sts)
ROWS 5-8: Knit
ROW 9: SSK twice, K5, K2tog twice (9 sts)
ROW 10-12: Knit
ROW 13: SSK twice, K1, K2tog twice (5 sts)
ROW 14-19: Knit
ROW 20: KFB twice, K1, KFB twice (9 sts)
ROW 21-23: Knit
ROW 24: KFB twice, K5, KFB twice (13 sts)
ROW 25-28: Knit
ROW 29: K1, SSK, K7, K2tog, K1 (11 sts)
ROW 30: K1, SSK, K5, K2tog, K1 (9 sts)
ROW 31: K1, SSK, K3, K2tog, K1 (7 sts)
ROW 32: Knit
Cast off

This should make a "bow-tie" shape like so:

 

Once you've made another set of two petals you need to place one over the other and stitch them together like this:

 

Now things are starting to look a little more poppy-like!  The only thing missing now is the centre, which is really easy to make.

 

Using black, Cast on 20 stitches.  Then cast them off again!  You're left with a small, slug-looking piece of knitting that you need to coil up, sew into shape and then stitch it into the middle of your petals:

 

 

 To my finished poppy I also added a leaf that I crocheted from a book called "201 Crochet motifs, blocks and ideas" by Melody Griffiths.  It's actually an oak leaf but it looks ok!  I think stuck a brooch fastening on the back with some hot glue but I was very tempted to add it to a hair slide instead...

 

 

 

Bearing in mind that the Royal British Legion sell poppies to raise money I would suggest making a donation yourselves if you are knitting/making a poppy as we don't want them to lose out.  It's a noble cause and I, for one, will be making sure that The Monkey understands all about it.  I can never get through a Remembrance Day service without shedding a tear for all thise who have sacrificed for us.  There's a line that they use in the service that sums it all up:

 

"For our tomorrows they gave their todays"

 

 

I hope we never forget.

 

 

Happy knitting Dear Readers!