Crochet pine cone pattern — 32 rounds and six back-loop ridges

A free crochet pine cone pattern for a cone about 9 cm tall and 5 cm across with a 3.5 cm loop above it, worked on a 4.0 mm hook in three browns, about an hour and a half of work. The scales are ridges rather than scallops: rounds 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 go into the back loops only, which leaves the front loops standing proud in six tiers and changes no stitch count at all. Every round of both pieces — 32 of them — is written out below with the count it ends on.

Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 32 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
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Why it is rated Easy

Easy: one stitch and no shaping through nine of the eighteen cone rounds, but the back-loop rounds have to keep alternating or the tiers stop reading.

Sell what you make. Anything you crochet from this pattern is yours to sell — any quantity, no fee, no credit required.

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00

What you need before you start

gather it once, in one place
Expand

Yarn — three colours, all weight 4

Cocoasmall amount (~8 g)Worsted / aran acrylic or cotton
Chestnutsmall amount (~10 g)Worsted / aran acrylic or cotton
Warm tanscraps (~5 g)Worsted / aran acrylic or cotton

Tools

4 you probably own, 1 to buy

You likely have

Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins

You need to buy

Polyester stuffing (~15 g)

Optional

Row counter
A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the round start

Gauge and finished size

the last check before you cast on
Tension
Gauge is not critical here. Work tight enough that the stuffing cannot show between stitches — a looser hand gives a larger, softer cone.
Finished size
~9 cm tall and ~5 cm across, with a 3.5 cm loop above it

How to make the pinecone, piece by piece

32 rounds across two pieces.

Switching rewrites every round:US6 sc in mr→UK6 dc in mrWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01

The cone

Out to twenty-four stitches, a long straight middle, then a slow…18 RNDS
starts in cocoa· magic ring· Piece 1 of 2

Out to twenty-four stitches, a long straight middle, then a slow close to a point. Every other round through the middle goes into the back loops and leaves a ridge behind it.The back-loop rounds are 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 — every second round through the middle. Lose that alternation and the ridges sit against each other instead of standing as six tiers.

Rounds 1 to 6 of The cone: 6, 12, 18, 24, 24, 24 stitchesFirst six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [24] [24]

Opening out to 24

RND 1–4
16 sc in mr[6]
2inc x6[12]
3(sc, inc) x6[18]
4(2 sc, inc) x6[24]

Straight sides, ridge every other round

RND 5–13
524 sc in back loops[24]
624 sc[24]
724 sc in back loops, chestnut[24]
824 sc[24]
924 sc in back loops[24]
1024 sc[24]
1124 sc in back loops[24]
1224 sc[24]
1324 sc in back loops[24]

Closing to a point

RND 14–18
14(2 sc, dec) x6, warm tan[18]
1518 sc in back loops[18]
16(sc, dec) x6[12]
17dec x6[6]
18dec x3[3]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneThe cone is done.Run your thumb up the side and you should feel six ridges. Stuff it firmly before the last two rounds pull the tip shut.
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02

The loop

Three stitches picked up from the closed tip, worked round and round…14 RNDS
starts in warmTan· picked up· Piece 2 of 2

Three stitches picked up from the closed tip, worked round and round into a slim cord.Leave a tail of about 15 cm before you cut — you will need it for that seam.

Rounds 1 to 6 of The loop: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 stitchesFirst six rounds[3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]
13 sc around the tip[3]
23 sc[3]
33 sc[3]
43 sc[3]
53 sc[3]
63 sc[3]
73 sc[3]
83 sc[3]
93 sc[3]
103 sc[3]
113 sc[3]
123 sc[3]
133 sc[3]
143 sc[3]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneThe loop is done.Bend the cord back on itself and sew the last round down where it started. That gives a loop deep enough for a branch or a hook.

Seven notes on the pinecone

Read them
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Worked in a continuous spiral. Nothing is joined and nothing is turned.
03Rounds 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 are worked in the back loops only. This changes no counts — a back-loop round is still one stitch in and one stitch out, so round 5 is 24 sc in and 24 sc out — but the free front loops stand proud as a ridge, and the six ridges are what read as tiers of scales.
04The scales are a simulation. The sketch this came from made them with chained scallops, which this format cannot carry, so the tiers come from the back-loop ridges instead.
05To sharpen the scales once the cone is finished, thread warm tan on a tapestry needle and lay short vertical stitches over each ridge, about eight to a tier, spaced evenly around. It is surface embroidery, so no counts change.
06Stuff firmly through round 15, then top up once more before round 17 closes the tip.
07The hanging loop is a narrow cord worked straight out of the last three stitches, so there is no join to hide. Fold it over and sew the end back down beside its base.

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 many pieces make up the pinecone?

Two separate pieces, one written list each. The page writes out 32 rounds in all, the longest piece being the cone at 18 and the shortest the loop at 14.

How much yarn will the pinecone take?

Three colours, all weight 4 (worsted), and the pattern asks for cocoa: small amount (~8 g); chestnut: small amount (~10 g); warm tan: scraps (~5 g).

What hook will the pinecone need, and what is the finished size?

A 4.0 mm hook, US G/6. Finished, it comes out ~9 cm tall and ~5 cm across, with a 3.5 cm loop above it; the leading tilde is there because that came off the stitch counts rather than a tape measure.

How long will the pinecone take to crochet?

About one and a half hours. That is 32 rounds across two pieces, coming to 318 single crochet, 18 increases and 21 decreases, and the hours are an estimate rather than a timing of anybody making it.

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.
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Piece 1 of 2The cone0 OF 32 ROUNDS WORKED
Round1/186 sc in mr[6]