Designer’s Notes
Beautiful flowers are yours to enjoy as you stroll through this Estonian Flower Garden. Nupps and beads add texture and sparkle to this delightful landscape. This is a lightweight bit of knitting to carry along during the warm summer months.

The Estonian Flower Garden MKAL begins on July 15, 2017. The clues will begin on that day and wander their way through three months for plenty of leisurely and botanical knitting pleasure: July 15 and 29, August 12 and 26, September 9, 2017.

Both lace weight and fingering weight yarns knit beautifully for this project. You have the option of adding beads in place of, or in addition to, nupps. If you use only beads, you will need 670 6/0 or 8/0 beads.

Yardage for the Estonian Flower Garden will be: 600 yds for beads only; 700 yds for beads and nupps; and, 850 yds for nupps only.

Join us in A Big Comfy Doghouse for the fun and excitement of knitting this beautiful, botanical scarf.

Yarn weight: Lace ?
Gauge: 6 stitches = 1 inch in Stockinette Stitch blocked, in fingering weight
Needle size: US 4 - 3.5 mm OR US 5 - 3.75 mm
Yardage: 600 - 850 yards (549 - 777 m)
Sizes available: Approximately 10” / 25 cm wide and 72” / 183 cm long.

My notes
16 June 2017. Purchased pattern today and started pattern page. I must evaluate my stash, and decide if there is something appropriate that also has enough yardage! In the meantime, green Mountain Colors it is!

Sometime in July.
I went yarn shopping and found the most beautiful orange Shepherd’s Sock by Lorna’s Laces. Orange is the new black? Orange Blossoms? Estonian orange?

8 August 2017. I am, of course, slow in getting started. (This seems to be the story of my life recently.) I have already missed the first check point’s contest. I plan to cast on tonight at Knit Night.

You will LOVE the orange!

22 August 2017. Completed the third clue. Amazing design! However, I find that the nupps show up better on a reverse stockinette ground -- that is, on the wrong side!!!

25 November 2017. In the last couple of months, I’ve tried various methods of creating crocheted nupps. I have discovered that, by putting the crochet hook through the stitch purlwise instead of knitwise, I am getting better, plumper, more consistent nupps than I have in the past 3 clues of my Estonian flower garden.

What to do?

I find that I am dissatisfied with what I have done so far. Rather than simply rip-it all out, as I am tempted to do, I will start the second half, working the nupps as described, and see if it’s better. Also, if one side is seriously NOT like the other. And, if there is little discernable difference, I will continue on and finish. If the difference is remarkable, then I will, indeed, rip out the first half and reknit.

11 February 2018
This attempt at a flower garden is hereby an acknowledged failure, officially frogged. I am using the yarn for another project, which doesn’t mind the tonal variation.

I will probably come back to nupps in the future, and knit either this flower garden or the symmetry pattern. Both? Maybe. But with 100% merino, not a wool/nylon blend.