The Thirstle Tutorial is a set of photos, describing the process of knotting of the simpler version of the thirstle flower and leaf. There is no instruction to assembling the elements into final piece of ornament. There is no instruction to individual knots (you can find them at the “school” section). The knots used in this tutorial are: all types of VHH, the wrapping technique. The technique which is used for the Leaf is also described in the “Cornflower earrnings” tutorial and the “Butterfly” tutorial. Cut nearly all threads for the project approx 30 cm (12 in) long. Some photos are accompanied by verbal explanatlions.
The difficulty is above average. The tutorial is aimed at experienced knotters or very enthusiastic beginners.
Dimensions: Flower is about 3 cm (1.2 in), the large leaf is about 7 cm (2.76 in)
Materials used: polyester thread, TOHO beads #15.
Petals. The Petal bundle.
Each petal is made with the wrapping technique.Petal length is about 2.5-3 cm (1-1.2 in)Knot petals together one by one with VDHHsAll petals are knotted in a bandRoll the band tightly and fix it with several VDHHs.
TheCalux
Connect the peaks with DHH.Add/remove peaks so that the length of the band could be wrapped tightly around the bundle of petals.Turn the ready band of knotted together peaks back side up. Add a new thread to be an AC for the row of HDHH.Make a row of HDHHLeave the outer sides of the last diamonds on both sides of the row unknotted.Every next row will be shorter by two diamonds.The height of the element should be roughly half of the height of the petal bundle.Knot one-two rows without beads.Roll the tube.Usind DHH connect the ends of the AC from the row od HDHH.Remove the ends of the AC from the work. Make the first triangle.Knot the sides of both diamonds from the first row.You will get threads for the new diamond.Knot the diamond, than knot the sides of the unfinished diminds from the secind row. You will get places/threads for two new diamonds.Knot the whole height of the tube. The last row (or two) knot without beads.To reduce the number of cords to curve the bottom part of the tube: for each dimond remove two central threads from work.Use middle threads from both sides of the diamond as AC and WC. Tighten firmly.You can reduce threads in two consecutive rowsюMake sure to connect edges of the diamonds in the last row.Insert the petal bundle and pull it firmly into the tube by the thread bundle.Make several bundles of 5-6 longer threads around the flower. Turns them upwards.Fix the rest of the thread bundle with tight VDHH.Knot each of the small bundle in a sepal as shown further on.Fix the last thread of the sepal with a knot. You can remove other threads of the sepal, or knot them in a bundle and add to the large bundle of threads.Sepals are of different lengthes.Make several fixing DHH around the whole bundle.Wrap a part of the stem. You can use the longest thread from the bundle, or add a new one. Reduce the thickness of the stem to your liking by removing abundunt threads from the middle of the bundle.
The Leaf
The Leaf consists of two halfs. The left half is knotted from the bottom to the top, than the right part is knotted from the top to the bottom. Each branch consists of two halves also. First part of each branch In the order of knotting runs along green arrows; the second half runs along orange arrows. It is important to exclude threads from time to time when knotting first parts of each branch (along the green arrows) and include these threads back into knotting on the way back, when knotting second parts of each respective branch (along orange arrows). Thus we connect all halves together.
The drawing of the leaf is illustrative. The number of threads in the initial bundle is random (7 in my case). The length of the threads is convenient for you to handle. You can add or remove threads during knotting at any time. The Start point is at the green arrow at the bottom of the leaf.
One thread is excluded from knotting, two threads will form the middle vein, four threads go to the first branch.Two new threads added.Threads excluded from knotting (first half of the branch along the green arrow) Second half of the branch along the orange arrow; include all excluded threads back into the knotting.Knot the last threads of the branch onto the two middle vein threads.Second branch.First half of the second branch – green arrow-exclude threads.Second half of the second branch – orange arrow – include threads.The left (the first) part of the leaf with excluded threads.Knot the right (the second) part of the leaf from the top to the bottom, including all the threads back into knotting.Make several DHH around both parts of the finished leaf at the bottom.Finished elements.
