Crochet tree pattern — a bonsai in 14 pieces, 113 rounds
A free crochet tree pattern for a wired bonsai about 20 cm tall with a canopy roughly 20 cm across, worked on a 4 mm hook in six colours over about six hours. The bark shading is one cocoa groove rather than a stripe: three stitches wide on trunk rounds 5 to 8 and two stitches wide on rounds 13 to 16, stacked over each other in the same place both times so it reads as a single shadow running up one side. All 113 rounds are written out below across fourteen pieces, and each one shows the stitch count it finishes on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 113 rounds was checked against the round before it by machine — the counts, the increases and the decreases all add up. What nobody can promise you yet is how it sits in the hand.How we check
6 of 8 checks ran on 2026-09-04
- 1 format and stitch chainscripts/validate.py — 113 patterns, all counts chain.
- 2 catalogue auditscripts/audit-patterns.py — 113 audited, 0 errors, 66 warnings.
- 3 geometrygeometry-check.py — 113 checked, 0 errors, 4 warnings.
- 5 not a duplicate113 distinct display names across 113 patterns
- 6c target on the recordseo.headKeyword, confidence and demand present and cross-checked by scripts/validate.py
- 8 page readinessscripts/check-completeness.py --gate — 0 required fields missing, 114 editorial flags, 0 unearned claims.
Not yet checked
- 4 render matches the pattern — no image has been compared against its own prompt, so a render showing a piece the rounds do not make would not be caught here. Nothing has counted how many do.
- 6a recognisability — provenance.recognisability is empty in every pattern, so there is no feature list to check the parts against.
Why it is rated High
High: two separate stretches of colourwork run inside single rounds — a stacked cocoa groove across eight trunk rounds, and per-stitch moss speckles across four rounds of each of the three pads.
Sell what you make. Anything you crochet from this pattern is yours to sell — any quantity, no fee, no credit required.
00
00What you need before you start
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What you need before you start
Yarn — six colours, all weight 4
1 skein (~50 g)Worsted / aran cotton or acrylic, CYC 4
small amount (~20 g)Worsted / aran, same weight as the bark brown
1 skein (~50 g, all three pads)Worsted / aran, same weight as the bark brown
small amount (~15 g)Worsted / aran, same weight as the bark brown
small amount (~15 g)Worsted / aran, same weight as the bark brown
1 skein (~40 g)Worsted / aran, same weight as the bark brown
Tools
6 you probably own, 3 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
A chopstick for pushing stuffing into the trunk
You need to buy
Pipe cleaners ×4, 30 cm — two down the trunk, one shared between the branches
Polyester stuffing (~60 g)
Dry rice or a handful of small stones to weight the tray (~80 g)
Optional
A third green for extra speckles
Embroidery floss in pale green for French knots on the foliage
Wire cutters, if your pipe cleaners need trimming
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Tight enough that stuffing and pipe cleaner do not show between stitches. Exact gauge is not critical — a looser hand grows the whole tree evenly.
Finished size
~20 cm tall and ~20 cm across the canopy, on a 4 mm hook
One green for the pads drops the speckling and takes four colour-changing rounds out of each one. If your pipe cleaners are thinner than 30 cm chenille, double them in the trunk; a single thin strand will not hold the curve.
How to make the bonsai tree, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US6 sc in mrUK6 dc in mrWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The trunk
A tube that steps in twice. Wide at the soil, half as wide by the…28 RNDS
starts in barkBrown· magic ring· Piece 1 of 8
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [18] [18] [18]
Opening the base
RND 1–31[6]
2[12]
3[18]
The thick lower trunk
RND 4–94[18]
5[18]
6[18]
7[18]
8[18]
9[18]
Stepping in through the middle
RND 10–2010[12]
11[12]
12[12]
13[12]
14[12]
15[12]
16[12]
17[12]
18[12]
19[12]
20[12]
The narrow top
RND 21–2821[9]
22[9]
23[9]
24[9]
25[9]
26[9]
27[9]
28[9]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneLeave the top open and stuff as you go. Two pipe cleaners run the whole length, folded over at both ends — put them in around round 12, while you can still reach.
2
02The lower branch
The longest of the three. Six stitches at the tip for twelve rounds…18 RNDS
starts in barkBrown· magic ring· Piece 2 of 8
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[6]
13[6]
14[8]
15[8]
16[8]
17[8]
18[8]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneSlide a folded pipe cleaner in before you finish, and leave a long tail. Sew the open end to the trunk around round 8, angled slightly upward.
3
03The middle branch
The same shape, two rounds shorter, and it comes off the other side.16 RNDS
starts in barkBrown· magic ring· Piece 3 of 8
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[6]
11[6]
12[8]
13[8]
14[8]
15[8]
16[8]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneSew it to the trunk around round 15, on the opposite side from the lower branch so the tree balances.
4
04The upper branch
The shortest. Eight rounds at six stitches, then out to eight for the…14 RNDS
starts in barkBrown· magic ring· Piece 4 of 8
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
9[6]
10[8]
11[8]
12[8]
13[8]
14[8]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneThis one joins near the top, around round 23, pointing forward and up. Once all three are on, bend the trunk into its curve before you sew anything else.
5
05The foliage pads
Three the same. A dome out to thirty stitches, five rounds across the…14 RNDS
starts in deepJade· magic ring· Piece 5 of 8· make 3
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [30] [30]
Opening out
RND 1–51[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[30]
The speckled top
RND 6–106[30]
7[30]
8[30]
9[30]
10[30]
Closing in
RND 11–1411[24]
12[18]
13[12]
14[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff each one flat rather than round — a thin layer, pressed between your palms as you close the last rounds.
6
06The soil
A flat cocoa disc, six rounds out to thirty-six. It caps the tray and…6 RNDS
starts in cocoa· magic ring· Piece 6 of 8
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [30] [36]
1[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[30]
6[36]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneDo not sew it down until the trunk is standing in the tray. It goes on last, over the rice, with the trunk pushed through the middle.
7
07The tray
A shallow round dish. Seven rounds flat out to forty-two, then a…14 RNDS
starts in charcoal· magic ring· Piece 7 of 8
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [30] [36]
The flat base
RND 1–71[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[30]
6[36]
7[42]
The wall
RND 8–138[42]
9[42]
10[42]
11[42]
12[42]
13[42]
The rim
RND 14–1414[42]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneThe last round changes to slate grey and is worked in back loops only, which leaves a clean ridge around the rim.
8
08The pebbles
Five of them, three rounds each. Out to twelve and straight back in…3 RNDS
starts in slateGrey· magic ring· Piece 8 of 8· make 5
First three rounds[6] [12] [6]
1[6]
2[12]
3[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneA pinch of stuffing in each. Scatter them on the soil, unevenly, and sew each one down with two or three stitches.
You are here
Ten notes on the bonsai tree
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Everything is worked in a continuous spiral — nothing to join, nothing to turn.
03Rounds 8 and 14 of the tray are worked in back loops only. That is still 42 single crochet in and 42 out, so the count screen reads the same; the front loops left behind are what make the fold at the base of the wall and the ridge at the rim.
04The trunk and the branches carry pipe cleaners. Fold each one over at both ends so no wire can work its way through the fabric, and feed it in before the tube gets too narrow to reach into.
05The bark shading on trunk rounds 5 to 8 and 13 to 16 is a single cocoa groove that runs up one side. Keep the cocoa stitches stacked over each other and the groove reads as a shadow in the bark.
06The foliage speckles are worked stitch by stitch in moss green over deep jade. Carry the resting colour loosely along the inside of the pad — the pad is stuffed, so nothing shows.
07The original sketch textured the pads with front-loop leaf picots. Picots need a chain and a slip stitch, which this format cannot count, so the texture is carried by the two-green speckling instead. If you want the raised leaves, add French knots over the moss stitches once the pad is sewn on.
08The tray is a round shallow dish rather than the oval one in the sketch — a chain foundation is outside what this format can count, so the base opens from a magic ring.
09Stuff each foliage pad flat, not round. Press it between your palms as you close it and it reads as a horizontal cloud instead of a ball.
10Weight the tray with rice under the soil disc. A bonsai this top-heavy will tip without it.
Four questions this pattern answers
Not questions anybody asked. Each one is written from this pattern's own record, and every answer is read off the fields it names.
How is the colour worked into the bonsai tree?
How much yarn will the bonsai tree take?
What hook will the bonsai tree need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the bonsai tree take to crochet?
A round that will not add up?
Tell us the piece and the round number — the stepper already knows where you are.There is nowhere to send one yet.
Put the laptop down mid-round
The iPhone app keeps your place — piece of 8, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
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