Crochet leaf pattern — one piece, 7 rounds, two faces

This free crochet leaf pattern makes a motif about 6.5 cm long and 2.5 cm across at the widest, worked on a 4.0 mm hook in three colours, about forty-five minutes of work. It opens on an oval foundation rather than a ring, and the six increases in round 2 and the six in round 3 all sit at the two pointed ends — spread them evenly around and you get a circle instead. The 7 rounds are written out one by one below, each with the stitch count it ends on.

Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 7 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 Beginner

Beginner: seven rounds, one stitch, and the only unusual step is round 4 worked in back loops, which changes no count and leaves a ridge round the edge.

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

What you need before you start

gather it once, in one place

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Yarn — three colours, all weight 4

Fern greensmall amount, about 12 mWorsted cotton, CYC 4 / medium

Sagescraps, about 6 mWorsted cotton, CYC 4 / medium

Deep forest greenscraps, about 2 mWorsted cotton, CYC 4 / medium, split to two plies for a finer line if you like

Tools

4 you probably own

You likely have

Tapestry needle

Scissors

Stitch markers

Pins

Optional

A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the start of the round

Polyester stuffing (about 2 g) if you would rather the leaf sat padded than flat

10 cm of florist wire laid inside before closing, so the leaf holds a bend

Gauge and finished size

the last check before you cast on

Tension

Work tight enough that no light comes through the fabric. The leaf is pressed flat rather than stuffed, so the stitches are the only thing holding its outline, and a loose hand gives a limp one.

Finished size

~6.5 cm long and ~2.5 cm across at the widest

How to make the simple leaf

7 rounds in one piece.

Switching rewrites every round:US12 sc on the oval base→UK12 dc on the oval baseWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.

The leaf

Twelve stitches around an oval base, out to twenty-four, and back…7 RNDS

starts in fernGreen· picked up· Piece 1 of 1

Twelve stitches around an oval base, out to twenty-four, and back down the same way. Keep all the shaping at the two ends and the piece stays a leaf.Cotton, so it washes. Press it flat again while it is damp and it holds the shape.

First six rounds[12] [18] [24] [24] [24] [18]

Opening the oval

RND 1–3

112 sc on the oval base[12]

2(3 inc, 3 sc) x2[18]

3((sc, inc) x3, 3 sc) x2[24]

The edge, worked even

RND 4–5

424 sc, back loops[24]

524 sc[24]

Closing in sage

RND 6–7

6((sc, dec) x3, 3 sc) x2[18]

7(3 dec, 3 sc) x2[12]

US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasebloback loops onlyst(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat

When this piece is doneThe leaf is done.Twelve stitches are still open. Press the piece flat between your fingers, line the two edges up, and whipstitch across them so the end closes to a point. Then run one long stitch of deep forest green from tip to tip for the vein, with short stitches angling off it toward each side.

Nine notes on the simple leaf

Read them

01An original Crochet Genie design.

02The leaf opens on an oval base rather than a ring: round 1 is 12 stitches worked around both sides of a short foundation, six along each side. That foundation sets the length of the leaf, and no later round can change it.

03Every increase and decrease belongs at the two pointed ends, three at each end per round. The long sides stay plain sc. That placement is the whole shape — spread the increases evenly and you get a circle.

04Round 4 is worked in back loops only; that ridge runs right around the outline and is what lets the leaf press flat with a crisp edge. The stitch count does not change.

05The yarn changes to sage at round 6, so the leaf finishes fern green on one face and pale on the other, the way a real leaf is paler underneath. Work the change at the start of the round and weave the ends in between the two faces where they will not show.

06Round 7 leaves 12 stitches open. Press the leaf flat, line the two edges up and whipstitch across them so the end closes to a point. No stuffing.

07The centre vein is embroidered last, in deep forest green: one long stitch from tip to tip, then short stitches angling off it toward each edge.

08The finished size is computed from the stitch counts at the stated hook and yarn — 24 stitches around the widest round reads as about 10 stitches long by 4 wide once flattened. A looser hand gives a bigger leaf.

09Worked as a continuous spiral. Mark the first stitch of each round, and move the marker up as you pass 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.

Is there a gauge to match for the simple leaf?

No stitches-to-the-centimetre figure to match, because nobody has swatched this one; what the pattern asks for instead is a technique: work tight enough that no light comes through the fabric. The leaf is pressed flat rather than stuffed, so the stitches are the only thing holding its outline, and a loose hand gives a limp one.

How much yarn will the simple leaf take?

Three colours, all weight 4 (worsted), and the pattern asks for fern green: small amount, about 12 m; sage: scraps, about 6 m; deep forest green: scraps, about 2 m.

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

A 4.0 mm hook, US G/6. Finished, it comes out ~6.5 cm long and ~2.5 cm across at the widest; the leading tilde is there because that came off the stitch counts rather than a tape measure.

How long will the simple leaf take to crochet?

About three quarters of an hour. That is 7 rounds of the simple leaf, worked as one piece, coming to 96 single crochet, 12 increases and 12 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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