For Rounds 4 and 5 of the Poppy in Crochet Bouquet (pp. 65-66), switch to your petal color yarn. I’m using Opus 1 (with aloe and jojoba) by Zitron, and distributed in the US by Skacel.
In Round 4, your challenge is to correctly identify the second sl st of each petal. I orient myself with the long sc (from Rnd 3) between the petals. Once I find that, I know the next st is the first sl st of the petal, and voila! I insert the hook into the next st (the second sl st) for each petal of Round 4.
The photo shows Round 4 completed, and the blue arrow shows where to insert the hook for the first st of Rnd 5 (it is the second sl st of Rnd 4).
Before you begin Round 5, you need padding/gathering cords. The pattern says to cut six 6-inch lengths of yarn, but don’t do that!
Instead, cut six 12-inch (30cm) lengths of yarn. Fold each piece of yarn in half.
Follow the instructions until you get to the part that says, “begin working over one 6-inch length of yarn.”
Instead, insert your hook into the next stitch, in preparation for the sc. AND insert your hook into the fold of one 12-inch length of yarn. (Shown in photo.)
Finish the sc, catching the padding yarn in the stitch. (Shown in next photo.)
Continue crocheting as per the instructions, working over this double strand of yarn as you go. Stop crocheting over it after the last sc of the petal. For the next petal, pick up a new folded strand of yarn.
Now why, oh why, do we need this padding yarn? Here is a photo of the first completed petal of Round 5. It’s flat. But poppies aren’t flat. So pull the ends of the padding yarn to gather the petal (the blue arrow in the photo).
And guess what?! The petal isn’t flat anymore! Here you see the first petal from above and from the side.
I recommend that you finish crocheting all the petals first. Then tighten the padding threads. Once you are satisfied with the shape of the poppy, tie together the two ends of each padding thread in a square knot. In the photo, the light blue circle surrounds the knot of padding cord ends.
Arrange the petals as described in the instructions: three petals to the front and three to the back. Use the ends to tack the petals in place. Probably you will feel you are having to overlap them quite a bit to get the desired effect. Finally, weave in the cut ends.
