The trailing leaves look like the fiddly part of this one. They are not. Each strand is a single long chain with small loops worked back along it, so a whole cascade of leaves comes off one row of stitches instead of being made leaf by leaf and sewn on. Eight strands and the plant is done.
The pot is the same flat-circle-then-fold trick a basket uses, scaled down. The full pattern is below.
What you need
- 5-ply milk cotton yarn in light beige — about 30 g, for the pot
- 5-ply milk cotton yarn in brown — about 20 g, for the soil
- 5-ply milk cotton yarn in dark green and light green — about 40 g each, for the leaves
- 3.0 mm crochet hook
- A circle of cardboard, cut to the base of the pot
- Polyester fibre stuffing
- Sewing needle, scissors
Skill level: confident beginner. Worked in joined rounds from a magic ring. The only unfamiliar thing is the looped chain for the leaves, and that is one line of instruction repeated.
Finished size: about 13 inches from the top knot to the leaf tips, as written. There is a note further down on shortening it for a rear-view mirror.
On yarn choice: the pot needs a yarn with some body to it or the walls will not stand up. Milk cotton is what this pattern was written in; any firm cotton of a similar weight behaves the same. Keep all four colours in the same yarn so the pot and the soil meet cleanly at the rim.
A note on terms: this pattern is written in US crochet terms. If you are used to UK terms, our US to UK conversion chart will save you a lot of confusion.
Abbreviations
- MR — magic ring
- R — round ch — chain
- sc — single crochet
- hdc — half double crochet
- dc — double crochet
- inc — increase (2 sc or 2 dc in the same stitch)
- BLO — back loop only
- slst — slip stitch
The pattern
The pot
Light beige yarn, 3 mm hook. Rounds are joined. The ch 2 at the end of a round does not count as a stitch.
- R1: 12 dc into a magic ring. slst to join, ch 2. (12) Pull the ring closed.
- R2: inc in each st around — 12 times. slst, ch 2. (24)
- R3: (1 dc, inc) around — 12 times. slst, ch 2. (36)
- R4: 36 hdc around in the back loop only. slst, ch 1. (36)
- R5–9: 36 hdc around. slst, ch 1. (36) — five rounds
Do not cut the yarn. There is one more round to work later, after the plant goes in.
Round 4 is the one doing the real work. Leaving the front loops free gives the base a crease to fold up along, so you get a pot with a flat bottom and straight sides instead of a shallow bowl. It is the same round that makes a crochet basket stand up.
Now cut a circle of cardboard to match the base of the pot and set it aside.
The soil
Brown yarn, 3 mm hook. Same rule — the ch 2 does not count as a stitch.
- R1: 12 dc into a magic ring. slst, ch 2. (12) Leave the ring slightly open — the leaf tails have to pass through this hole.
- R2: inc in each st around — 12 times. slst, ch 2. (24)
- R3: (1 dc, inc) around — 12 times. slst, ch 2. (36)
slst, ch 1 and cut the yarn.
It is the same three rounds as the pot, which is the point — 36 stitches on both pieces means the rim joins without any fudging.
The leaves
Eight strands altogether: four long and four short, two of each in dark green and two in light green.
Long strands — make 4 (2 dark green, 2 light green):
- Chain 70.
- Into the third chain from the hook: 2 dc, ch 2, slst into that same chain.
- (slst into the next ch, ch 7, slst into the next ch) — repeat all the way to the end of the chain.
- Ch 1. Leave a long tail and cut the yarn.
Short strands — make 4 (2 dark green, 2 light green):
- Chain 55, then work exactly as above.
Each ch 7 is one leaf. They sit on alternating sides of the chain as you go, which is what gives the strand its plump donkey-tail look without any shaping. Do not pull the loops tight — a loose ch 7 reads as a fat leaf, a tight one reads as a knot.
Putting it together
- Push the long tails of all eight leaf strands down through the open hole in the middle of the soil piece.
- Stuff the pot with polyester fibre and set the cardboard circle into the base.
- Knot all the yarn tails together behind the soil piece, so the leaves cannot pull back out.
- Sit the soil piece on top of the stuffed pot.
- Work 36 sc around the edge, through both the soil piece and the pot rim, to join them.
That is what the pot's loose end was being saved for. Stuff the pot before the lid goes on, not after.
Hanging it
- Join the yarn anywhere on the top round and ch 40.
- Skip 11 stitches, join the yarn with a slip knot and ch 40.
- Repeat once more, so you have three chains.
- Knot the three chains together at the top.
Three or four strands both work — what matters is that the gaps between them are equal, or the pot hangs at an angle. Count the stitches between joins however suits you as long as you keep them even, and make the chains longer if you want it to hang lower.
Making it car-sized
As written this is about 13 inches of plant, which is generous for a rear-view mirror. To bring it down to charm size, keep the pot exactly as written and shorten the green: try ch 45 instead of 70 for the long strands, ch 35 instead of 55 for the short ones, and ch 25 instead of 40 for the three hanging chains. The loop instruction does not change. Those are starting points rather than a tested second size, so hold one strand up against your mirror before you make all eight.
Prefer a printable copy?
The whole pattern is on this page, free, and always will be. If you would rather have a tidy PDF to print or keep on your phone — with the step photos alongside the instructions — you can download it here. It is free too. No account, no waiting.
Want something smaller first? The lavender stem is free and takes an evening. If you have caught the hanging-plant habit, the string of pearls uses the same trailing idea with round leaves, and the hanging plants trio gives you three of them together. Everything free is in our free patterns collection.