I found this cute flower pattern on Ravelry while I was looking for a project to make for my mom and Redbeard’s mom for Mother’s Day. I couldn’t resist, even though I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the flowers, once completed.

Inspiration struck halfway into the second one – add a thin stem and make it into a bookmark! Both of our moms are avid readers and have not (yet) succumbed to the siren’s call of the Kindle, so cute and functional – perfect! Then, I just had to figure out how to add a stem. This is one of those obvious-in-hindsight things, but I admit at first I was at a loss. I tried knitting a three-stitch row garter stitch, which twisted. That surprised me, which I guess reflects my rookie-knitter status. It worked for the part of the stem near the flower, though. For the rest of the stem, I ended up braiding three strands of yarn, which worked even better!