Noni Flowers: 40 Exquisite Knitted Flowers

For years, I've been buying individual Noni bag patterns, just to get the directions for the gorgeous, realistic, decorative felted flowers. And now, at long last, Noni creative designer Nora Bellows has published this fabulous book, NONI FLOWERS, which includes instructions for 40 different Noni flowers. The flower patterns range from Sunflower and Dahlia through Pansy and Orange Blossom; the book also includes six lovely, well-worth-knitting, project patterns (May Violets Fingerless Gloves, Forget-Me-Not Pillow, Sunflower Infinity Wrap, Gossamer Fuchsia Wrap, Cherry Blossom Pauper's Purse, and Creeping Phlox Garden Clutch).For the technically inclined knitter, NONI FLOWERS has a wonderful two-page illustration of how one flower pattern will look when knit with 12 different yarns and gauges. The tiniest flower, knit with silk yarn on six-0 (.7mm) needles, is 3/8" high; the largest flower, knit with merino top on US 50 needles, is 8-1/4" high. All of the flowers can be knit at any gauge, because the instructions are given in rounds and rows (no charts). The flowers can be felted, or not. Felting will make the knitted stitches more dense, but will not dramatically shrink the flower size.Another beautiful two-page spread explains the anatomy of a knitted flower, and indicates the various small flower parts by their Latin names (the Latin names are used for the parts in the instructions). There are directions, illustrated with close-up photos, for special techniques, such as knitting with multiple colors in a single round, wiring stems and blossoms, or weaving in ends so that the flowers will not be marred by errant, poking-out ends.All of the flower patterns give the difficulty level: starting out (easy, 13 patterns), on the way (some experience, 19 patterns), intrepid (experienced, 3 patterns), resolute (expert, 5 patterns). For example, the Creeping Phlox is easy; the Crocus requires some experience; the Gardenia requires experience; the Oriental Lily requires expertise. The Tulip on the book cover is an experienced pattern. The book also has two indexes: an unconventional one using lovely thumbnail photos of each flower pattern; and a very good standard one that lists the flowers, techniques, projects, etc.This is a superb book that any knitter should welcome. Although there are many excellent knitted flower pattern books currently available, this is the one that I would select, if I could have only one in my knitting book collection.

Beautiful book. Patterns for unusual flowers as well as the usual.

What I like best is the execution of the flowers. I haven't tried to knit one yet, so I can only say they are elegant and beautiful!

I would give Nora Bellows’ book Noni Flowers, a ten-star rating if I could. I’ve knit for over forty years and yet am not known for my skill at following other people’s written patters. However, these are so straightforward and logical, rated by level of difficulty, and I’ve done almost all of the patterns, from the simple Violets to the more complicated Sunflower and Lily designs. Everything turned out beautifully. Don’t think this book is for the experienced knitter only. Indeed, rather than honing your skills on a larger item such as a sweater, expand your horizons on these smaller projects. If you make mistakes, it’s easier to back out, do over and felting covers a multitude of “mistakes” in the end, even if you sort of have to manhandle the yarn in your quest. You will learn all about increasing, decreasing, shaping, casting off, moving stitches over onto stitch holders, picking up said stitches later and managing Double Point Needles, rather like trying to waltz with a porcupine but essential in knitting. The pictures are beautiful, the tips excellent and Ms. Bellows explains the great mystery of gauge, the foundation of success in knitting, quite well. I can’t recommend this book enough.

I recently got back into my knitting. I was taught by my aunt around 10 years old and I've gotten into it and moved away from it various times over the last 30 years. She really only taught me how to knit and Pearl, Cast on and Bind off. So when I started getting adventurous recently, I had YouTube to rely on to learn new stitches!I'm getting married this year, so when I saw this book, I joked with my fiance that I could knit my bouquet. Then I started looking at the flowers that were offered, and decided, that was a really cool idea! Not only is my bouquet turning out beautiful, but it's unique, and I'm pretty sure you won't find another patch of deep red daffodils anywhere else in the world! The sky's the limit with this book and your own creativity!Granted, it may not be for the true "Beginner," but for even an "Advanced Beginner" or a "Novice," I think you could have a lot of fun with this book! And if there's a term or stitch you don't recognize? Search it on YouTube! There's lots of knitters out there that post how-to's on stitches!

Although the knitting techniques are complicated, and some may be unfamiliar to some knitters, the directions are very clear. The one thing that I might disagree with is the author's insistence on working from the bottom up, all in one piece. Sometimes it is easier to make separate pieces and attach them to each other. The resulting flowers are spectacular.

You may have to spend a little time getting the set up on track, but the instructions are well written, easy to follow and the photos of the finished flowers are large enough to see all the details. I love the variety of flowers included in the book, there's a lot of easy and medium flowers for beginners to intermediate knitters. She also has info on how to add wire to your flowers to make them even more realistic--wish other floral knitting patterns had that info!

Very good directions. Will take me awhile to master. Excellent winter challenge. The book is rated easy to difficult, the difficult part is learning to master the layers and having stitch holder and needles is a small space, at the start. Things can be made in a matter of hours.

Really great flowers to knit. I wish I were a knitter!!

Arrived as stated

I (kind of) collect books on this subject and my copy arrived just a few days ago.The flowers you can make with this book are very realistic.The author uses interesting techniques to achieve her aims, like 'kfbf' and 'knit row below' and a lot of the patterns include sections that involve DPNS.I would say she is quite fussy about precisely what she is trying to achieve and personally, the front cover alone shows the best knitted Tulip I have come across, that incorporates 'Short Rows with Wraps'.The other thing that's noteworthy, is she deals with the precise details of the centre of a flower, which few other books do.There are some good pictorial instructions about various techniques at the beginning of the book.My only disappointment about it is:a) there are only 2 rose patterns, and each is not very clear.b) there are a lot of Daffodil patterns.

found the instructions abit confusing in places but flowers very nice when done however would not buy again but a friend was very impressed with it

I really appreciate that there are gorgeous flowers for each level of knitting skill. I'm an experienced beginner, I would not tackle the more challenging project,but; there are plenty that I can do comfortably. The instructions are clear and concise, the techniques are really well demonstrated and the resulting flowers are breathtaking.