Sprout the Pot Pal

A two-leaf seedling in a little terracotta pot, worked in four small pieces and sewn together over one quiet evening. Beginner-friendly, with a stitch count at the end of every round.

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Sprout, on the table by the window

LevelBeginner
TimeAbout 2 hours
Hook3.25 mm (US D-3)
YarnWorsted cotton

About This Pattern

This is a four-piece amigurumi: a pot, a soil disc, a stem, and two leaves. The pot is worked bottom-up in a continuous spiral. A back-loop round gives it a flat base and a front-loop slip-stitch round gives it a rim you can feel with your thumb. The soil disc sits just inside the rim and hides the stuffing. The stem goes through the soil, the leaves go on the stem, and the face goes on the pot, because a pot with a face is a friend and a pot without one is a pot.

Nothing here uses a stitch harder than a single crochet decrease. If you can make a magic ring and count to thirty, you can make Sprout. If you can't make a magic ring yet, chain 2 and work the first round into the second chain from the hook. It leaves a small hole; the soil disc covers it.

It is a good first amigurumi, a sensible use for the last of a cotton ball, and the sort of present that fits inside a card envelope. Sprout sits on a desk, a shelf or a windowsill and asks for nothing at all.

What Makes It Good

I kill real seedlings. Every spring I buy a tray, every June I apologise to it. Sprout was the compromise: a plant that only needs a hook and a Tuesday evening.

The pot is a magic ring and a few increases. The leaves are two flat rows-and-turns pieces. If you've never sewn amigurumi parts together, this is a gentle place to learn.

Four small pieces, and nothing in them is harder than a single crochet decrease.
One back-loop round gives the pot a flat base; one front-loop round gives it a rim you can feel with your thumb.
It is a gentle place to learn how amigurumi parts get sewn together.

Materials

Tick each one as it lands on the table.

Yarn

Worsted-weight cotton in terracotta, about 25 g, for the pot
Worsted-weight cotton in dark brown, about 6 g, for the soil
Worsted-weight cotton in leaf green, about 8 g, for the stem and leaves
A short length of black yarn or embroidery floss for the eyes and smile

Tools and Notions

3.25 mm hook (US D-3), or the size that gives you a firm fabric with no gaps
Polyester fiberfill, a small handful
Tapestry needle, stitch marker, scissors, and four pins

Yarn weightWorsted (US 4), cotton preferred for a crisp pot
Hook3.25 mm (US D-3), smaller than the ball band suggests
Gauge6 sc and 6 rounds in 2.5 cm (1 in) after Round 4. Tight is right.
Finished sizeAbout 9 cm (3.5 in) tall, 6 cm (2.4 in) across the rim

Crochet Abbreviations

This pattern is written in US crochet terms. Brackets repeat as many times as the number after them says.

MR: magic ring
ch: chain
sc: single crochet
inc: increase, 2 sc in the same stitch
dec: decrease, an invisible decrease worked over 2 sts
sl st: slip stitch
BLO: back loop only
FLO: front loop only
st / sts: stitch / stitches
FO: fasten off

Assembly Instructions

Stuff the pot lightly: more in the base, less near the rim, so the sides stay straight. Press the base flat with your thumb.
Drop the soil disc into the pot so it sits on Round 10, just under the rim. Pin it at four points, then sew it to the rim stitches with the long tail, catching one stitch of each.
Thread both stem tails through the centre of the soil with the tapestry needle. Pull them inside the pot and tie them off against the stuffing. The stem should stand on its own.
Pinch each leaf at Row 1 (the wide end) and sew it to the top of the stem with its tail, one leaf a little higher than the other so they look like they grew.
With black yarn, embroider two small eyes on the pot on Round 6, four stitches apart, and a single-stitch smile one round below.
Weave every tail in twice, in two directions. Roll the pot between your palms to settle the stitches.

Important Notes

Move your stitch marker at the start of every round. It costs two seconds and saves a whole evening.
Round 5 in the back loop is what gives the pot a flat base. If you forget it, the pot will look like a bowl. A friendly bowl, but a bowl.
The invisible decrease is my default. A normal decrease works too, just a touch bumpier on the leaves.
Cotton splits if your hook tip is sharp. Slow down at the decreases and let the hook find the loop.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

The pot leans like a tired tulip
Too much stuffing near the rim. Pull some out and push the rest down into the base, then re-pin the soil.
The soil disc is bigger than the pot
Tension loosens on flat pieces. Stop the soil after Round 4, or go down a hook size for that piece only.
The leaves curl up
The turning chain is too tight. Keep each ch 1 loose, then press each leaf under a heavy book for an hour.

Variations

Sprout in bloomSkip the second leaf and sew a five-petal coral flower to the top of the stem instead. Five chain-3 picots around a 6 sc ring is all it takes.
A nursery of threeStop the pot at Round 8 and skip the flare. Three small straight-sided pots in a row look like the tray I keep buying.
Sprout on a keyringUse fingering cotton and a 2.25 mm hook, work every piece as written, and thread a jump ring through Row 1 of one leaf before you sew it on.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use acrylic instead of cotton?
Yes. It's squishier, so go down one hook size to keep the pot sides straight and the stuffing hidden.
Do I need safety eyes?
No. I embroider them, which is safer for small hands. If you prefer safety eyes, fit them on Round 6 before you stuff.
Why is there a visible line up my pot?
That's the spiral jog. Every continuous-round amigurumi has one. Turn it to the back and let the face be the front.
Can I make the pot bigger?
Add one more increase round before Round 5, following the same rhythm: [4 sc, inc] x 6 gives you 36. Add a round to the soil to match.
How do I keep the stem from flopping?
Pull the stem tails firmly through the soil and tie them to each other inside the pot. A short length of pipe cleaner inside the tube works too.
How tight is tight enough?
If you can see white stuffing between stitches, go down a hook size. Don't pull harder; that's how my wrist learned about ice packs.

About the Author

Tamsin Okoro writes the patterns on this site. I write small patterns at a kitchen table and make every one twice before it goes up here, because the first go is where the mistakes live. Say hello: hello@yarngallery.com.