For Smashlee

Okay. So I was right- your problem is with the Cluster stitch. But it’s not really a problem.

Here’s the pattern:

Daisy Chain (multiple of 6 sts plus 1)

With B, cast on 43 sts.
Row 1 (RS): With B, knit.
Row 2: With B, knit.
Row 3: With B, k1, *[k1 wrapping yarn 3 times around
needle] 5 times, k1; repeat from * to end.
Row 4: With B, *k1, Cluster st; repeat from * to last st, k1.
Rows 5 and 6: With B, knit.
Rows 7 and 9: With C, knit.
Rows 8 and 10: With C, purl.
Rows 11 and 12: With B, knit.
Row 13: With B, k4, *[k1 wrapping yarn 3 times around
needle] 5 times, k1; repeat from * to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 14: With B, k3, *k1, Cluster st; repeat from * to last 4
sts, k4.
Rows 15 and 16: With B, knit.
Rows 17 and 19: With C, knit.
Rows 18 and 20: With C, purl.

And here’s the Cluster Stitch:
Wyif slip 5, dropping extra 2 wraps of each st, [bring yarn to back between needles, slip 5 sts back to left-hand needle, bring yarn to front between needles, slip 5 sts to right-hand needle] twice.

I think the instructions are unclear. They confused me, until I looked at a video for it, which confused me on a different level… mainly because the chick was doing it backwards and trying to make my head explode.

So here’s my swatch:

I did not change colors.  I cast on 19 stitches (18 + 1), and for the first cluster row- I only wrapped the daisies ONCE each. For the second time I wrapped them twice. If you notice- the bottom daisies have more space in between them, than the top ones do.

And here is my (hopefully better) Cluster stitch instructions:

  1. WYIF slip 5 stitches KNITWISE to the right needle, dropping the extra loops.
  2. Bring yarn around to the back of the work, creating a band across the stitches.
  3. Insert left needle and reclaim those 5 stitches for France! (Umm- I mean put them back on the left needle.)
  4. WYIF slip those same stitches KNITWISE (again) to the right needle. Make sure to pull tightly on your feed yarn. Put those girls in a corset!
  5. Bring yarn around to the back of the work, creating a second band across the stitches. Pull tightly now! They don’t need to breathe!
  6. Insert left needle and reclaim those 5 stitches.
  7. WYIF slip those same stitches KNITWISE (again) to the right needle. Make sure to pull tightly on your feed yarn.
  8. Bring yarn around to the back of the work, creating a third band across the stitches. Don’t forget to pull!

This will create a total of three bands on the wrong side of the work, and two on the right side. The slipping of your loops knitwise (you do it three times per cluster) will untwist your yarn, so you will need to be careful to not split the petals. The knit stitch that comes after each cluster is what anchors your corsets. The garter stitch rows before and after creates the fanning of the petals.

This is a really pretty stitch pattern!  I may have to use it in something now!