Make Your Own Native "Flowers"

Calling all crocheters, knitters, and those who are craftily inclined! Help us bring native "flowers" and "pollinators" to Framingham!

SVT is joining a public arts project to install a field of crocheted and knitted flowers at the Arlington Street Park in Downtown Framingham this year.

Led by Framingham MakerSpace, and with the support of the mayor’s office, the project will enliven a chain link fence at the park. The organizers are seeking knitted or crocheted flowers of any color, size, or design. This offers a great chance to use up leftover yarn.

The installation, which was originally scheduled for May 2, 2020, was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wen encourage you to contact MakerSpace to learn how to drop off any flowers that you make.

Not sure where to get started? We've listed some sources of patterns below.

To put an SVT twist on the project, we encourage you to try to replicate native flowers (such as purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and Carolina rose) and also to create a few butterflies and bees.

Why native flowers? Native flowers provide the habitat needed by our native pollinators. Together, native pollinators and native plants protect the health of local forests, fields, and wetlands. By creating yarn versions, we can demonstrate the beauty and variety of native plants and maybe encourage a few people to plant real ones in their backyards. (Learn more about native plants and pollinators.)

Maria Defelice of Framingham MakerSpace commented: "An important piece of the project has always been sustainability, to use only yarn that might otherwise go into a landfill. Sudbury Valley Trustees' inspiration to include the crisis facing pollinators in the project is a perfect fit with that goal."

So pull out your field guides for inspiration, or check out some of the amazing nature images on our Pinterest page for ideas. 

To participate

  • Crochet or knit flowers (and pollinators) out of yarn. All sizes, colors, and interpretations are accepted!
  • We encourage you to use up odd lots and yarn left over from other projects to maximize sustainability.
  • Acrylic or cotton yarn will hold up the best, but wool is fine too. If you use wool, you could try felting as well! 
  • Save your creations until SVT and MakerSpace reopen our offices, when we'll ask you to drop them off for us to install.
  • Sign up to receive updates about the project.

Virtual Knitting Circle

Instead of working on this project in isolation, let's share the results of our efforts and encourage one another to try new designs.

  • Take a photo of your creations and share them with SVT through email or by tagging us on social media: #FramFlowerFence #SVT. 
  • We'll post as many photos as we can on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
  • We're also linking to patterns and to inspiring images of flowers and pollinators on our Pinterest page.
  • Part of a local Facebook knit or crochet club? Share this project with others in your craft network and compare your creations.

SAMPLE PATTERNS

You can search the web to find free and low-cost patterns for crocheted and knitted flowers and pollinators. One good source is Ravelry.com (you'll need to create a free account to download patterns).

To get started, try these super simple forget-me-nots in knit or crochet.

Free Crochet Patterns

Some of these are from Ravelry.com and will require you to create a free account before you can download them.

Free Knit Patterns

Knitters will have to search a little harder to find flower and pollinator patterns, but Ravelry.com has a few free and low-cost patterns (you'll need to create a free account to download them).

We look forward to seeing all the great creations of our SVT members!