Hope – A Triangular Bowl
Designed by Harpa Jónsdóttir
EXPERIENCE LEVEL
The knitting: beginner
The embroidery: intermediate
MATERIALS • Ístex Plötulopi (Icelandic unspun wool) in colourway 1030 – beige 1 plate. The yarn is used double in this project.
• Size 8mm (US 11) circular needle.
• 3 stitch markers or a yarn rest. One marker should be different from the others.
• A tapestry needle
• A sharp embroidery needle
• A small piece of white tulle
• Embroidery floss, for example in the following colors (all from DMC):
99 Pink Variegated
519 Skye Blue
632 Ultra V DK Desert Sand
745 LT Pale Yellow
703 Chartreuse
832 Golden Olive
TENSION : Loose. Exact tension is not important in this project.
TIPS ON PLÖTULOPI
The Plötulopi is used double. You can knit directly from the plate using the end from the outside and the one from the centre, or you can gently wind two strands together. Plötulopi is very fragile to knit. For this project it is best to keep the tension loose and if the yarn brakes, you simply overlap the ends a bit and continue as nothing had happened.
THE KNITTING
CO on 20 sts with two strands of plötulopi. K 12 rows in garter stitch. Dec one sts (k2tog) after the first sts and before the last sts of the next row.
* K 4 rows in garter stitch. Dec in the next row as before * Rep 5 x.
* K 2 rows in garter sts. Decrease in the next row as before.* Rep 3 x. K the last sts tog. Now you have a triangular base. 
Pick up 15 sts on each side plus one st in each corner, 1,5 cm (0,6 in) from the edge. Pm in the corner stitches and make the first one different from the others. 
Join the sts in a circle. 10 rnds. *Make one st (increase) on each side of the markers in the next round (6 sts increased).Knit 4 rnds.* Rep 2 x
*Inc in the next row as before. K3 rnds. * Rep 4 x.
*Inc in the next row as before. K 2 rnds.* Rep 2 x.
Cast off, loosely. Hide all ends.
THE FELTING
There are two schools of thought on this. Those who hand felt and those who use a washing machine. Machine felting is much faster, but requires some care as each machine felts differently. So my advice is use a short program, start with low heat 40°C and increase if that is not enough. It is a good idea to use a washing bag or something similar to protect your machine and two old towels or so to increase agitation. Spin very carefully to avoid creases. When done, you should have a dense even fabric than is at least 1/3 shorter (preferably a bit more) and narrower than before. It will probably look like a mess at this stage but never worry – you form the bowl by hand when wet. 
Don’t be afraid to use a little force, the felted fabric can stand a lot of tugging and pulling. Press the corners together and make sure that the edges are relatively straight. Let it dry standing, for example on top of a dryer.
To hand felt you need a basin or even a sink filled with hot water. Add a few drops of dish washing liquid and use your hands to swish the wool around in the water and rub it together. You need quite a lot of agitation so rubber gloves are a good idea. They can also add an extra bit of roughness if you use gloves with textured palms. Felting by hand can take a long time so patience is the key. When you are done, rinse the bowl well, squeeze out most of the water, form as described above and dry standing. 
THE EMBROIDERY
You can decorate the bowl as little or as much as you want. Embroidery is not nearly as hard as many people think, but it does take a little time and patience. Work with three strands at a time throughout (split the floss in half). Take care to hide all ends securely and invisibly, this is easy to do “inside” the felted fabric.
Use the drawings as a guide – if your bowl is bigger increase the space between the lines, do the opposite if it is smaller. The following working order is only a suggestion:
If you want “the whole deal”, start with the “branches” at the bottom worked in stem stitch with colour nr 623. Use the drawing only as a guide, don’t worry about exact placement of the lines, let them flow, make them your own. When you are happy with your branches, start with the pink leaves in Cretan stitch (floss nr. 99). When you are happy with them, the upper branches in chain stitch with the golden floss nr. 832 come next. Then it is time to place the butterflies. Cut a small square piece of tulle for each butterfly and tie it together in the middle and fasten it in place. Then you make the body with Casalguidi stitch using the yellow floss nr. 745 and the blue one nr.519 for contrast. If you find that too complicated you can also use satin stitch or skip the body altogether. Next in line are the flowers in daisy stitch (in yellow and blue) and perhaps a few in pink for contrast. Then the leaves, also in daisy stitch in green nr. 703 and a few in 623 too. The small dots come last; they are French knots in yellow, blue and pink.
The Embroidery Drawings.
Use these only as a guide. If you really like flowers, make more. Not that keen on butterflies? Skip them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: let the lines flow and make them your own. The pattern is not the law, you are the boss.
Side one, outside:
Side one, inside: 
Side two, outside:
Side two, inside: 
Side three, outside:
Side three, inside: 
A Short Embroidery Stitch Tutorial
Chain stitch: Bring the needle up through the fabric and hold the floss with the left thumb. Insert the needle back where it last emerged and bring it out a short distance away. Take care to wrap the floss under the needle point and pull the needle through the fabric. 
Daisy stitch, also called detached chain stitch, is often used to make leaves, flowers and similar things. To work this stitch, first bring the needle up through the fabric and hold the thread with the left thumb. Then insert the needle back into where it first came out. Take the needle through the fabric, taking the point of the needle out a short space away. With the thread wrapped under the needle point pull the needle through the fabric. Fasten the loop made with a small stitch. 
French knot. Bring the needle out through the fabric and hold the thread taut. With your right hand twist the needle round the thread three times (or two times – or four – what ever you like). Still holding the thread firmly, take the needle back into the fabric, a very short space away from where the floss emerges from the fabric and insert the needle. Pull carefully to form the knot. 
Stem stitch has many names, among them are crewel stitch and stalk stitch. It is worked from the left to the right taking small regular stitches with a forwards and backwards motion. Bring the thread up from the back of the fabric on the line you want to stitch. Make a stitch forward and bring the needle up, a little to the back of the first stitch. Pull the thread through the fabric. Make the second stitch forward, bringing the needle out a little to the back of the second stitch. Repeat, keeping the thread always on the right of the needle. 
Cretan Stitch is also known as Persian stitch and Long- armed feather stitch among other things. To work Cretan stitch bring the needle up through the fabric at the beginning of the line being worked, move it slightly down and a bit to the side, take it down there and bring it up again a short space away from the point where you brought it up first, while pointing the needle to the centre of the design and keeping the thread under the needle. Make sure that with each small stitch the thread is caught under the needle before the needle pulls the thread through. 
Casalguidi stitch. This is a “short version” of this traditional Italian stitch. First take two threads of plötulopi and make foundation stitches over them. Take care to make these stitches radiate around any curves you might want. Do not make them too tight as they become tauter as you sew stem stitch over them. Using a tapestry needle work stem stitch over the foundation stitches in one direction only (always from the same end that is). Apart from the start and end of each stem stitch row you do not take the thread through the fabric. Pack each row gently down as you finish and avoid splitting the foundation stitches.
References: Thomas, Mary. 2007. Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. Vermont, Trafalgar Square Books. Boggon, Sharon.2009. Sharon b´s Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework. http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html
This pattern is copyrighted. ©2009 by Harpa Jónsdóttir. All rights reserved. It is for private use only. Please do not copy or reproduce this pattern in whole or in part. Not for items to be sold.
The decorations:
