Knitted Flower Petals Lace Border: A 19-Stitch Edging with 3D Flowers
A narrow lace strip with a little three-petal flower popping out of the edge every 12 rows. Use it as a border, or join strips into a stole or scarf.
This is an easy border pattern where little flower petals are knitted right into the edge. The border is 19 stitches wide, with a simple eyelet lace down the middle. You can also knit the middle plain if you prefer.
I made the flowers on one side only, because I want to pick up stitches along the other side and carry on knitting. You could make them on both sides and join strips together to make a stole or scarf.
What you'll need
- A slightly thick yarn, so the flowers stand out
- Knitting needles to suit your yarn
Layout
Cast on 19 stitches. There are 5 edge stitches on each side, always worked as knit 1, purl 3, knit 1 on right-side rows (from row 3 on, slip the very first stitch instead of knitting it). The 9 stitches in the middle are the eyelet lace, a 4-row repeat. Every wrong-side row is simply purled.
Rows 1–8: eyelet lace
- Row 1 (RS):right side
Knit 1, purl 3, knit 1. Then yarn over, slip-slip-knit, yarn over, slip-slip-knit, knit 1 (the centre), knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, yarn over. Knit 1, purl 3, knit 1.
- Row 2 and every WS row
Purl every stitch.
- Row 3 (RS):right side
Slip 1, purl 3, knit 1. Knit the old yarn over, yarn over, slip-slip-knit, yarn over, knit 3 together (as for a V-neck centre), yarn over, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit the old yarn over. Knit 1, purl 3, knit 1.
- Rows 5–8:
Repeat rows 1–4.
Row 9: the flower
The petals are made on the very first stitch of the row:
- 1:
Knit the stitch, then put the new stitch back on the left needle and knit it again. Do this 7 times in all, so you get a little knitted chain.
- 2:
Pick up a stitch from the base of the chain and pass the working stitch over it. That closes the chain into a loop petal.
- 3:
Knit the same stitch 7 times again, pick up from the same base point, and pass both over. That's the second petal.
- 4:
Make a third petal the same way. One stitch is left, which is your edge stitch.
- 5:
The stitch that's left is your first edge stitch. Bring the yarn forward, purl 3, knit 1. Now work the 9 middle stitches exactly as in row 1, because row 9 is the first row of the lace repeat again. The one difference: wrap the yarn twice around the needle for the very first yarn over. Finish with knit 1, purl 3, knit 1.
- Row 10 (WS):wrong side
Purl all.
- Row 11 (RS):right side
As row 3.
- Row 12 (WS):wrong side
Purl all.
Repeat these 12 rows, and a flower appears every 12 rows along the edge.
A note on rows 3, 7 and 11: I pinned a correction for these rows under the video, and the rows above already include it. Between the edge stitches they read: knit 1, yarn over, slip-slip-knit, yarn over, knit 3 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 1.
- knitted flowers
- lace border
- knitted edging
- flower petals
- eyelet lace
- stole pattern
- hand knitting
- handmade
