home again, again

back in town again after a long weekend away - a much overdue visit home to see mum, nicely timed to avoid the horrible hateful airshow (hate it as much as i do? call 416.263.3653 to let them know! so many people hate it that they set up a special complaint line, yet it still drones on... sigh).
i freestyled a few garter-stitch leaves to go with the felted poinsettia wreath i am knitting. whee! i made 3 holly-esque ones, and 3 smaller, more generic "leaf" types. and here's how i did it:

holly style:
cast on 2
row 1: k
row 2: k front and back of each st
row 3: k
row 4: k front and back of st, k to last st, k front and back of st
repeat rows 3 & 4 till you have 12 sts; repeat row 4 again so you have 14 sts
next row: k
next row: dec 1, k to end of row, dec 1
repeat these two rows until you have 8 sts in a row
continue knitting in garter for an inch or so
next row: k front and back of each st
next row: k
repeat these two rows until you have 14 sts
next row: dec 1, k to end of row, dec 1
next row: dec 1, k to end of row, dec 1
next row: k
repeat these last two rows until you have 2 sts
k 2 tog and bind off!

generic leaf
cast on 4
row 1: k
row 2: k front and back of each st
row 3: k
row 4: k front and back of st, k to last st, k front and back of st
repeat rows 3 & 4 till you have 8 sts
continue knitting in garter stitch for another 3 or 4 rows
next row: k to middle of row, k 2 tog, k to end
next row: k
repeat these two rows until you have only 2 sts left
k 2 tog and bind off!