Spruce up your Thanksgiving table with a scattering of soft, colorful, crocheted autumn leaves. You need only a small amount of yarn for each leaf, so make as many as you like. You could string the leaves together to form a garland, make a wreath, or glue them to ribbon rings to create dinner napkin rings.

The leaf pattern, designed with American stitches, will work for any yarn weight with a hook that corresponds to that weight. The large leaves shown are worked in worsted-weight yarn (with a 3.75-mm, or F-5, hook) and measure 3 1/2 inches from stem to tip. The smaller leaf is worked with sock yarn (and a 3.0-mm hook, which is a Japanese size D, or between a US C-2 and a D-3) and measures about 2 3/4 inches from stem to tip. To eliminate a lot of confusing turning and moving while crocheting, I used almost every stitch height in the book for this pattern—so hopefully you have some crocheting experience. Try making a few and you will get the hang of it.

Abbreviations and special stitches

ch chain
st stitch
sl st slip stitch
sc single crochet
hdc half double crochet
dc double crochet
tr treble (also known as triple) crochet
picot chain 3, slip stitch in 3rd chain from hook

Leaf pattern

Round 1: Ch 4, 11 dc in 4th ch from hook, join with a sl st to top of beginning ch-12 dc.

Round 2: Ch 6, sl st in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), dc in first st, 2 dc in each of next 2 sts, (dc, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 3 chs to form stem, dc) in next st, 2 dc in each of next 2 sts, (dc, picot, dc ) in next st; (sc, hdc) in next st, (dc, picot, sc) in next st, (hdc, dc, tr, picot, tr, dc, hdc) in next st, (sc, picot, dc) in next st, (hdc, sc) in last st, join with a sl st to 3rd ch of round.

Fasten off and weave in the ends.

Now let’s break down round 2 of the pattern with some step-by-step instructions with images. First chain 6, then slipstitch in the 3rd chain from your hook. The ch-3, sl st combination is called a picot and you will make one of these a few times in the round (here you are just adding the picot to the top of your ch-3 beginning chain).

Next, make a dc in the first stitch and then make 2 dc in each of the next 2 dc stitches, as indicated. On the next stitch, you’ll (dc, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 3 chs to form stem, dc) all in the same space. Here’s a close-up of how to make the stem:

Continue following the directions around: 2 dc in each of next 2 sts, (dc, picot, dc ) in next st; (sc, hdc) in next st, (dc, picot, sc) in next st.

Finish by making the last point and joining the round: (sc, picot, dc) in next st, (hdc, sc) in last st, join with a sl st to 3rd ch of round. Fasten off. Pull the center end to snug up the center of the leaf, then weave in both ends.

Get creative

You can add beads, ribbon, and sequins or layer the leaves with fabric pieces to make all kinds of projects. A fall brooch would be fun, too.

See more of my projects on my personal blog, and look for my book, Crochet Adorned out now.