DIY Easy Little Crochet Leaves

A friend of mine wanted to make a garland to decorate her banister this holiday season, so she asked me to help her make some crochet leaves for the garland. After searching through all the usual sites, I came across a few designs that looked promising, but none of them really matched what I had envisioned, so I decided to make the pattern from scratch.

I know that not all folks read crochet "code", so I'm going to present this tutorial with minimal coding. In other words, I will explain in good old-fashioned words. For those of you who do enjoy those crazy industry-standard crochet patterns, you can scroll down to the bottom to find the quickie pattern.

Stitches to know: You will need to already be familiar with the following stitches...

a. Chain

b. Slip stitch

c. Single crochet

d. Half-double crochet

e. Double crochet 

f. Picot 

**You can go this site if you need help with any of the stitches listed: 

Annie's Catalog

Materials:

You can use any yarn you have along with any matching size hook. In other words, if you have thin yarn, use a size c or so, whereas if you have regular red heart yarn, use an H or I hook, etc. Feel free to use the suggested hook size that was printed on the label of your yarn.

Here we go...

Making the Foundation: 

Make a chain-4, then slip stitch the two ends together to form a loop. If you have a tendency to make tight chains, feel free to make a chain-5 instead (either is fine).

Row 1: 

Make a chain-1. Then, make 7 single-crochet stitches ... All into the center of the loop you created for your foundation. Now make a chain-3, and turn your work.

Row 2:

(This entire row will be worked in double-crochet)

Make a double-crochet stitch onto the first stitch below ( see the pic if youre not sure where this is) , then make 2 double-crochet stitches into each of the remaining six stitches below. When you reach the end, you must have a total of 14 stitches (the chain-3 counts as a stitch). Afterward, make a chain-1 and turn your work.

Row 3:

Onto the 2nd stitch below, make a single-crochet, a picot *, and another single-crochet... All onto the same stitch below. Now make a slip stitch onto the next stitch below. This creates the 1st of 5 peaks.

*The picot is formed by making a chain-3 and then forming a single-crochet onto the top of the same stitch that the chain-3 was formed on. 

Now, all onto the next stitch below, make a single-crochet, a half-double-crochet, a double-crochet, and a picot. Onto the following stitch, make a double-crochet, a half-double-crochet, and a single-crochet. Then, onto the next stitch you will make a slip stitch.[[ Now, repeat the instructions in this paragraph two more times. When you're done will have one tiny peak, and three larger peaks]].

Lastly we form the fifth peak by making the following all into the next stitch: a single-crochet, a picot, and a single-crochet. You will close up the last edge by slip stitching along the chain-3, down toward the foundation loop. I usually form one last slip stitch into the center of the foundation, and then make a chain-8 for the stem.

Official Pattern:

Begin: ch 4. Sl st to join.

R1: ch 1. Sc 7. Turn.

R2: ch 3. Dc in same. Dc 2 nxt 6 st - tot 14 st.

R3: ch 1. In nxt, sc 1, picot, sc 1. Sl st in nxt. **In nxt, sc 1, hdc 1, dc 1, picot. In nxt, dc 1, hdc 1, sc 1. Sl st in nxt. Rep from ** 2 more times. In nxt, sc 1, picot, sc 1. Sl st 5 down to foundation. Ch 8. Tie off. Weave in ends.

Here's a garland I made with all my little leaves. I gifted it to one of my lovely co-workers at the College. 

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I hope you all enjoy these. They were very easy, and very fun to make.