Please join our September Crochet Bouquet Along! This month’s flower is the Mumsy, on pages 58-60 of Crochet Bouquet. It’s shown here with a Corrugated Leaf. Make whichever size you like or whichever size you have the patience for.
In the Japanese flower calendar, the Chrysanthemum is September’s flower, symbolizing long life and happiness. For the Chinese, the Chrysanthemum, a symbol of the Harvest, Rest, and Ease, is the flower for November.
Mumsy is our September flower for an entirely different type of calendar–the American football season!
Football is huge in my home state of Texas. High schools designate one game of the season as a Homecoming Game, where alumni reunite and go to the ballgame.
The big thing is to wear a Homecoming Mum on the day of the game. Homecoming Mums are decorated with ribbon streamers, glitter, football-related charms, and anything else you can think of. They can be very, very fancy and expensive.
My cousin showed me how to make homecoming mums. I’m planning to use Mumsy to make one for my daughter Eva tonight, because homecoming is this week! Thank goodness for the local newspaper, or I wouldn’t have known.
Watch for homecoming mum instructions in the next post. Meanwhile, here’s a photo of the pieces I made for a four-tier Mumsy:
First tier (a double round of petals)
First tier padding
Second tier petals
Second tier padding
Third tier petals
Third tier padding
Fourth tier petals
You can go all the way up to six tiers of petals—about 10 inches in diameter, if you work it in worsted weight yarn!
You’re welcome to save a Mumsy Crochet Along button to your own server and use it on your blog or web site.
Have fun crocheting, and let us hear your mum stories!