Hello to Jan G. and her Knitting xxxx group! Jan asked for a tutorial about the Paired Leaflet Frond, which is part of the “Trillium and Fronds” pattern (pp. 126-127) in Crochet Garden. Thank you for asking!
The Paired Leaflet Frond’s delicate construction is worked from the top down, opposite of how we know a frond or vine grows. It does have a single top leaf, which you can see on page 16, where the Paired Leaflet Front is featured in the section on Steam Blocking. In the rest of the book, we used it as a stem, so the flowers are hiding the top leaf.
Reminder: In Crochet Garden, when you see a list of stitches, you are meant to put each stitch in the next st of the row below, unless otherwise instructed. For instance,
“2 hdc, sc, sl st” means
“hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next st, sl st in next st”
Once you have made the top leaf, *ch 15, which is the suggested number of stitches for the stem and first leaflet.
To make the first leaflet, sc in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in next 2 sts, 3 sc in next st. Those last 3 sts are going to cause this leaflet to bend back in the direction of the top leaf.
For most crocheters, this will be the left-hand leaflet. Photo A shows the frond up to this point. The arrow points to the st with 3 sc in it.
Now for the second leaflet: ch 6 (see Photo A2), sc in 3rd ch from hook, hdc2tog over the next 2 ch-sts, sc in next ch, sl st in the same st as the 3 sc from the first leaflet. This stitch will be stretched out, so you will be able to see it well.
Photo B shows the completed second leaflet. That last sl st is on the hook.
Here’s the tricky part. You need to turn the paired leaflets so that their base is up, their tips pointing down or toward you. When I rotate them counterclockwise, everything comes out in the right places: the top leaf hangs away from the hook, the yarn is behind the work and the hook in a sensible working position.
Now yarn over (see Photo C, which is at this point).
Pull the yarn through the st on the hook. The new stitch you create will show between the two leaflets (see Photo D, where the arrow points at this stitch). Now your are in the correct position to start again at the * and make as many leaflet pairs as you like.
You can make the distance between the leaflet pairs shorter or longer by chaining less or more than 15 sts at the beginning of each repeat.
Hope this helps, Jan!