You’re spoiled for choice by the Topsy Turvy #2 flower on pages 95-96 of Crochet Bouquet. You can crochet it small, medium, or large; with or without picots; one way up or the other way up, all in two short pages of instructions.
The shading in Chinese embroidery was part of the inspiration for this design, which is why I crocheted the samples in the book in light, medium, and dark values of the same color. It will look good in other combinations, too, like this yellow-orange-red combination.
I crocheted these samples with Dale of Norway “Falk”washable wool. The Topsy flower has picots and the Turvy flower doesn’t.
In Photo A, you see the beginnings of both flowers: the first row or two of the flower, the stems which are slightly different, and the crocheted round that I used for embellishment. If you sew the flower to the stem at this point, it makes a cute bud.
To make the embellishment, make a loop with yarn, 5 or 6 sc into the yarn ring. Tighten ring to form a circle, cut yarn and needle-join the last st to the first. Weave in ends or use them to sew the embellishment to the flower.
If you like the flower without picots, you simply leave out certain rows, as indicated in the instructions. Photo B shows the picot flower with Row 4 finished, and the plain flower with Row 3 finished (Rows 2 and 4 are skipped). I couldn’t wait to sew the embellishment on the plain flower. You can stop here, if you want a smaller flower.
The calyx (the green spikes that are leftover from the bud of a flower) and the stem are made in one piece. To attach to the Topsy flower, thread the stem through the original chain loop, from front to back. Fold the calyx over, and sew it to the stem, which is coming out of the back of the flower. See Photo C.