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Time: 10 mins

Sweet, snug little slip stitch roses for embellishing anything.
The two most common ways to crochet roses are in the round (crochet stitches into a ring, and then add rounds for petals), or in rows: crochet a strip then roll it up and sew a few stitches to secure the coil shape.

I'm fascinated by the strip method of crocheting roses.

Here's a way to make them with the simplest crochet stitch of all, the slip stitch. Slip stitch flowers are rare, but why? This stitch makes a snug, sweetly compact rose for fiber jewelry, or as the perfect finishing touch on a sleeve cuff, headband, phone cover, etc.

To attract flower devas and fairyfolk, use tiny leftover amounts of your finest cashmere, silk, and hand painted yarns like I did here. The thinner the yarn, the smaller the rose.

Posted by vashti b. • Published 19th December 2016 • See vashti b.'s 7 projects »

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Jen S. added Slip Stitch Strip Roses to stuff for me 13 Jul 17:51
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vashti b. published her project Slip Stitch Strip Roses 19 Dec 09:00

Step 1
Choose a smooth-textured yarn. My favorite roses so far are those made with a very smooth single ply merino wool, and a double strand of cashmere-silk yarn by Filatura di Crosa called Superior.

The yarn's thickness will determine the final size of the rose. When I use fingering weight yarn (aka sock yarn), my roses come out the size of a US penny. A much thicker yarn size, worsted weight, results in a larger rose.

Choose a crochet hook size that is 1 or 2 sizes larger than you normally would for the yarn weight. Most of the roses shown were crocheted with a 3.5 mm hook. For the smaller single-strand Superior roses I used a 2.5 mm hook (see photo for Step 2).
Step 2
Row 1: Chain 16. (For some roses I chained 15, for others 17 or 18.) Slip stitch in one top loop of the second chain from your crochet hook, slip stitch in a top loop of each remaining chain. Chain 1 tightly, turn. 

Here are the abbreviations I'll use for the rest of the pattern instructions:
ch=chain,
Fss=slip stitch in the front top loop,
ss=slip stitch in both top loops of the stitch,
st(s)=stitch(es).
Step 3
Row 2: Fss in each Fss to the last st, ss in both top loops of the last st, ch 1 tightly, turn. 
Rows 3 - 4: Repeat Row 2. At the end of Row 4, ss 2 or 3 times along the edge of rows to the first foundation ch of Row 1. You'll end up with a strip like the ones pictured here. Fasten off leaving a 6" or so (15.5 cm) yarn end.
Step 4
Thread a yarn end through a needle and then let it dangle while you start rolling your strip from the other end toward the end with your needle threaded. Roll so that the top two loops of Row 4 face out. Start the rolling pretty tight and then you can roll looser as you get to the end of the strip. (Roll it however you like. I mention this because I liked the rose look of a tightly coiled center with a relaxed outer rim.) 
With the needle, sew the layers of your rolled strip together at the very base of it. I stick the needle straight through the center of the coil to the opposite side, then repeat at a few different angles. Pull it tight to gather the flower base a bit, knot, and fasten off.
 You can use the other yarn end to sew the rose to a headband, barrette, fingerless mitt cuff, etc.   Pictured is issue #53 of my Crochet Inspirations newsletter about slip stitch roses. Access the archived issue here: http://eepurl.com/DiV0X .