Ponga tree 12" square

by Jenness Fulton May 31, 2019

Introduction

I designed this square for the Friends Around The World 3rd Anniversary CAL. It represents a native New Zealand fern tree known as the Ponga fern (Cyathea dealbata). The underside of the leaves is white or silver in colour so it is sometimes known as the silver fern and has often been used as an emblem of New Zealand.

This square was designed to show a bird’s eye view of a Ponga tree from the top or the view from looking up at the tree from underneath (if you choose a silver or white colour for the fern fronds).

Notions

Hook: 5 mm (H)

Aran or Worsted weight yarn. I used Naturally Loyal Aran/10 ply yarn in kiwi (colourway 959) (42 g, 185 m, 203 yds) for rnds 1-13 and Naturally Loyal Aran/10 ply yarn in “Boy blue” (colourway 924) (26 g, 115 m, 125 yds) for rnds 14-17.

Size

12” (31 cm)

Skill level

Easy

Written pattern

English (US terms)

Hebrew (to be added)

Please consider linking your project to my Ravelry page. I cannot wait to see your unique versions of my Ponga Tree square.

Video tutorial

A video of my pattern in English by Tania Leis can be found here. She has done a lovely job of making the video. The only thing she gets wrong is the pronunciation of the word "Ponga" (totally understandable since it is only found in New Zealand). If you wish to hear the correct pronunciation of the word, please go to the webpage Maori Dictionary (the second definition is the one for the native fern tree).

I made 2 versions of this square. The first below has the fern part all in green (colourway "kiwi")and then I changed to a contrasting colour (colourway "boy blue"). The second version was also made using 2 colours. However, I changed colour frequently in the first 13 rounds so that all of the front post stitches are in white (representing the underside of the ferns) and the rest of the stitches are in green (representing other trees in the forest).

Crochet Abbreviations

US terminology used

ch(s) Chain(s)

dc Double crochet

fpdc Front post double crochet

fptr Front post treble crochet

hdc Half double crochet

rnd Round

sc Single crochet

sk Skip

sl st Slip stitch

st(s) Stitch(es)

() Indicates everything within these brackets is crocheted into the same stitch

** Repeat between * and * the number of times indicated

Important notes

The first stitch of each round will be worked into the same st if it starts with ch 1.

Ch 1 at the beginning of a rnd does not count as a st. This pattern mostly uses just 3 stitches - hdc, fpdc and fptr. However, placement of these stitches can be a little tricky, especially if the next st needs to be made behind the stitch you have just done. I have tried to include plenty of photos to make things easier to figure out, especially near the beginning of the pattern. This square has been designed to be done using just one colour. However, for the tutorial I have started each new round (between rnds 2-13) with a different shade of green to show where the stitches go and then redid each round in the same colour as the previous round. I have also used a contrasting colour for the final 4 rounds so that the Ponga tree pattern stands out more.

Once you get the hang of it, you will notice a pattern starting to form with how some of the front post stitches are made. The first set of fpdc represent the stems of each fern frond and from rnds 2-13 there will be a fpdc in the same position around (8 fpdc minimum per rnd for these rnds). The fptr are made around one of these central fpdc’s and any other fpdc’s are either made around the fptr’s or the fpdc that is already around a fptr (to make the longer leaves on the fronds). Sometimes you will be crocheting into both the top of a stitch and around the front post of it. Because there are both front post dc’s and front post tr’s it is important to check which one is written in the pattern (though it will probably look fine if you do all of the fptr as fpdc - you just might get confused when you extend the fptr’s).

Instructions

Begin with a magic ring

Rnd 1 Ch 1, 8 hdc into the magic ring, join with a sl st to the first hdc. Pull tail to close magic ring. (8 hdc)

Rnd 2 Ch 1, hdc in the first st, fpdc around the post of the same stitch. *(Hdc in the next st, fpdc around the post of the same stitch* 7 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st. (8 hdc, 8 fpdc)

Rnd 3 Ch 1, *2 hdc in the same hdc from rnd 2, fpdc around the fpdc from rnd 2* 8 times, join to the first hdc with a sl st. (16 hdc, 8 fpdc).

Rnd 4 Ch 1, *2 hdc in the first of 2 hdc in same st from rnd 3, hdc, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 3* 8 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st (24 hdc, 8 fpdc)

Rnd 5 Ch 1, *hdc, fptr around the previous fpdc from rnd 4, fptr around the next fpdc from rnd 4, sk next st, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc {NB: this is the same fpdc that you put the second fptr into}* 8 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st (16 hdc, 16 fptr, 8 fpdc)

Rnd 6 Ch 1, *hdc, fptr around the previous fpdc from rnd 5, fptr around the next fpdc from rnd 5, sk next 2 sts {skipping the two fptr from rnd 5}, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 5* 8 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st. (16 hdc, 8 fpdc, 16 fptr)

Rnd 7 Ch 1, *2 hdc in the hdc from rnd 6, fpdc around the next fptr {this is the first fptr you made in rnd 6}, fpdc around the next fptr from rnd 6, hdc in the same fptr, hdc, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 6* 8 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st. (32 hdc, 24 fpdc).

Rnd 8 Ch 1, *hdc, fptr around previous fpdc from rnd 7, sk next st, hdc in the next 2 sts {these are worked in the fpdc around the fptr in rnd 7}, fptr around the next fpdc from rnd 7, sk next st, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 7* 8 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st. (32 hdc, 16 fptr, 8 fpdc)

Rnd 9 Ch 1, *hdc, fptr around previous fpdc from rnd 8, hdc in next fptr from rnd 8, fpdc around same fptr, fpdc around next fptr from rnd 8, hdc in same fptr from rnd 8, fptr around fpdc from rnd 8, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 8* 8 times. Join to the first hdc with a sl st (32 hdc, 16 fptr, 24 fpdc)

Rnd 10 Ch1, *hdc, fptr around previous fpdc from rnd 9, hdc in next fptr, fpdc around same fptr just worked into, sk next st, hdc in the next 3 sts, fpdc around next fptr from rnd 9, hdc in same fptr just worked around, fptr around next fpdc from rnd 9, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 9* 8 times, join to the first hdc with a sl st. (56 hdc, 16 fptr, 24 fpdc)

Rnd 11 Ch 1, *hdc, fptr around previous fpdc from rnd 10, fpdc around next fptr from rnd 10, fpdc around next fpdc from rnd 10, 2 hdc in the next st, sk next st, 2 hdc in the next st, fpdc around next fpdc from rnd 10, fpdc around next fptr from rnd 10, fptr around next fpdc from rnd 10, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 10* 8 times, join to the first hdc with a sl st. (48 hdc, 16 fptr, 40 fpdc)

Rnd 12 Ch 1 *hdc, fptr around previous fpdc from rnd 11, fpdc around next fptr from rnd 11, sk next st, hdc in the next 7 sts, fpdc around next fptr from rnd 11, fptr around next fpdc from rnd 11, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 11, join to the first hdc with a sl st. (72 hdc, 16 fptr, 24 fpdc)

Rnd 13 Ch 1, *hdc, fptr around previous fpdc from rnd 12, sk next st, hdc in the next 10 sts, fptr around next fpdc from rnd 12, hdc in hdc behind fptr just worked, fpdc around fpdc from rnd 12* 8 times, join to first hdc with a sl st. (96 hdc, 8 fpdc, 16 fptr)

Rnd 14 Change colour at the start of this round if you wish. Ch 1, *sc, hdc in the next 3 sts, dc in the next 3 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc), dc in the next 3 sts, hdc in the next 3 sts, sc in the next 16 sts* 4 times, join to the first sc with a sl st. (68 sc, 24 hdc, 32 dc)

Rnd 15 Ch 1 *hdc in the next 2 sts, dc in the next 6 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) in corner ch sp, dc in the next 6 sts, hdc in the next 2 sts, sc in the next 15 sts* 4 times, join to the first hdc with a sl st. (60 sc, 16 hdc, 56 dc)

Rnd 16 Ch 1, *sc in the next 3 sts, hdc in the next 3 sts, dc in the next 3 sts, (dc, ch 2, dc) in corner ch sp, dc in the next 3 sts, hdc in the next 3 sts, sc in the next 18 sts* 4 times, join to the first sc with a sl st. (84 sc, 24 hdc, 32 dc)

Rnd 17 Ch 3 (counts as a dc), *dc in the next 9 sts, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in corner ch sp, sk hidden st, dc in the next 25 sts* 4 times omitting last dc from final repeat, join to the top of the ch 3 with a sl st. Fasten off and weave in all ends. (38 dc per side plus ch 2 sp in each corner)

Copyright Information

This is a FREE pattern, and by using it, you’re agreeing to the following legally-protected conditions.

You’re welcome to sell what you make with it; for online listings, please link back to my website: https://nessiesnotions.com/pages/ponga-tree-pattern

Here are the “do nots”:

Do not resell the pattern, either altered or in its original form.
Do not copy and paste the pattern onto your own Blog, in a Facebook group, or anywhere else. Simply link to my Ravelry page instead. Anything beyond this is copyright theft, regardless of what your pattern-sharing buddies tell you. You are welcome to copy/paste it into a document for printing, for personal use only.
Do not pull any of my photos or photos from this pattern to promote yourself or your crochet business on your own Blog, Facebook page, or anywhere else. The exception to this is when you want to share my pattern; in this case, you are welcome to take MY photo for use on your site as long as it is accompanied by a direct link back to my pattern and does not include any portion of the pattern itself.
Do not post a translation of the pattern anywhere – this is copyright theft.
If any translators would like to help with translations then please contact me.

Pattern by

Jenness Fulton of Nessie’s Notions