Rhododendron Pattern and instructions

By Pippa Patterns
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 Rhododendron crochet pattern
Your personal guide on how to make a
realistic Rhododendron

Here at Pippa Patterns all of our designs are carefully created to ensure
your final product has the most realistic and detailed effect. Enjoy!

Skill Level: advanced beginner

Skill needed: crochet

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 Materials:
Crochet hook: 1.5mm
Garden Wire: 2mm, 3mm or 3.5mm (for the
stem) optional. Any of those will work. You
could also youse wooden garden stakes.
Personally I prefer the flexibility of the wires.
The 3.5mm is the one I used for this flower.
Florist wire: 0.46mm -28 gauge
for the leaves
Green floral tape: any green
Sewing Pins
Hairspray

Specific yarn used for this model

Yarn: DMC Petra no5

Flower Ball 1 Flower 2 & 3

54461 54458 5151 5905

I made 3 flower balls in the 3 colors above but you could make them
all in the same color or make them in any color of your choice.
Clover Amour Steel Crochet Hook (1.50mm)

However you can use any type of yarn or wool, just be aware that
the size of the flower will be different.
Gauge is not important as long as you are consistent.
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 Additional Materials:
If you are using a plant pot then I suggest to use either styrofoam, or
dry florist sponge. (you can easily purchase both of these items from
ebay) along with the wires, floral tape etc…
Cut the sponge/styrofoam to the size that fits your pot, place it inside
and push the stem of your flowers in to it. Start from the centre and
place the other flowers in a circle around it.
Cover with pebbles or soil. Alternatively you could just fill the pot with
pebbles.

Paints
It is not necessary to paint your flowers to make them look pretty, it is
just an added variety for you to try if you want.
For this flower I used Acrylic paint,
but if you prefer you could also use oil pastel crayon.
These items are also available on ebay and most likely your local Artist
shop, supermarket etc.…

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 Abbreviations
This pattern uses US terminology

rnd/rnds – round/round’s
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
sc inc - single crochet increase
sc dec - single crochet decrease
hdc - half double crochet
hdc inc - half double crochet increase
hdc dec - half double crochet decrease
dc - double crochet
dc inc - double crochet increase
dc dec - double crochet dec
tc -triple crochet
tc inc - triple crochet increase
tc dec - triple crochet decrease
tog - together
slst - slip stitch
st - stitch
f/o - fasten off
**** repeat
Copyright Policy / Terms of Use
This is a Pippa Pattern original design, you do not have
the right to resell, redistribute, copy or rewrite this file,
its text content or the included patterns and photos.

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 Pattern Instructions
Notes: When you see stitches in brackets, it means that all the
ones in the bracket are worked in to one stitch.
Example: (sc inc) means 2sc worked in to one stitch.
(3sc) means 3sc in the same stitch.
(3sc) x 2 means 3sc in each of the next 2 stitches.

Each Rhododendron ball is made of 18 flowers. Following the

tutorial and using the recommended yarn, your finished flower Ball
will measure approximately 5”(13cm) circumference.
Each single flower measures approx. 2”(5cm).
The leaves are in 3 sizes : Large 4”(10cm), Medium 3.5”(9cm),
Small 3”(7.5cm). I made 3 of each for this model.

Flower ball 1 is made of 15 flowers of color 54416 and 3 of 54458.

Flower ball 2 is made of 15 flowers of color 54458 and 3 of 5151.
Flower ball 3 is made of 15 flowers of color 5151 and 3 of 54458

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 Creating the Flower
Make18

Starting with the base of the flower,

Ch3 and slst to join in to a ring,

the chain of 3 is not counted as stitch,

only to join the rounds. This applies for all 3 of the rounds.

Rnd.1: ch3, work 9dc in to the ring = 9dc - slst to join

Rnd.2: ch3, (dc inc), 2dc around = 12dc - slst to join

Rnd.3: ch3, (dc inc), 3dc around = 15dc - slst to join

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Creating the Flower continued
Petals:

skip the first chain Work 1slst in each of

and work 5sc down the next 3 stitches at
ch7 the chain the base,

Ch7 again and repeat for 5 petals. After the 5th patal, work
only 2 slip stitches instead of 3.

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 Creating the Flower cont …
**** work In the second, work
(1hdc, 1dc) In to the 1st stitch of the next petal, (2dc),

In the third, work also in the fourth, work and in the fifth, work
(2dc), (2hdc) 1hdc,

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 Creating the Flower cont …
Going down the other
side, work 1hdc in the
Chain2, 1st, (2hdc), in the 2dn,

(2dc) in the 3rd (2dc) in the 4th, (1dc, 1hdc) in the last,

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 Creating the Flower cont …
Back at the base, skip1, (1hdc,1dc) in the 1st stitch of the next petal,
slst1, skip1,**** Repeat for 5 petals.

After the last petal, slst in to the base of the next petal, F/O

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 Shaping the Flower
Pin the 5 petals with sewing needles and spray with Hairspray.
Leave to dry.

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 Painting the Flower Petals
Use a medium to dark brown shade of acrylic paint. Only 3 of the
petals will be painted. It doesn’t matter which 3 petals you paint as
long as they are next to each other. I find this works best using a
sewing pin as we want the dots to be only very tiny. Just dip the
sewing pin in to the paint and push it through the yarn.

Start by painting 3 tiny dots on the side of

the center row as shown in (picture 1).
1

Now put 2 dots to the 2

right and in between
the first 3 as shown in
(picture 2).

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Painting the Flower Petals cont…
Paint the left side of the petal in the same way but
mirror image (picture 1).
1

Finally paint 3 dots on the inside edge of both the petals to

the left and right (picture 2). Leave to dry.
2

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 Creating the Stamen
Cut 4 strands of white yarn or in the colour of your choice (p1).
Also cut 1 piece of florist wire approx. 4”(10cm). Place the 4 strands
over the wire (p2). Fold the yarn over the wire and bend the wire
down equally while pulling the yarn in the opposite direction. (p3).
You will now have 8 strands.

2 3

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 Creating the Stamen cont…
Bend one of the wires to the side as close to the yarn as possible (p1).
Now twist the wire so that the yarn is held in place and does not slip
out (p2). If your wire is too thick you can use small pliers to pinch the
wire tight. Cut the yarn down to approx. 1”(2.5cm) (p3 & 4).

1 2

3 4

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 Shaping the Stamen
This part is to make the stamen firm so it wont hang once
inserted in to the flower.

Oven foil is a great choice for this next step to work on the
stamen as it wont leave residue on the yarn.

Apply a generous amount of PVA (craft glue) with a paintbrush so

the strands are thoroughly soaked (p2).

Separate the strands while still wet (p3). I used a plastic darning
needle but a sewing pin or cocktail skewer will work just as well.
Leave to dry.

1 2 3

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 Painting the Stamen
Once dried we can move on to painting the stamen. Use a
medium to dark brown shade (same as for the petal) (p1) and
just dip the ends of the stamen in to the paint (p2). It should
now look like in (p3).
Leave to dry. I used a piece of Polystyrene to push the stems
in to avoid laying them down and clogging the paint (p4).

1 2

3 4

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 Assembling the Stamen and flower
Wrap the wires of the stamen in floral tape (p1). Cover the part where
the wire is holding the yarn in and wrap the tape around several times.
This will make that area thicker so the flower want slip off (p2).
Push the finished stamen wire through the flower (p3) and pull the
flower all the way to the end of the tape (p4).

1 2

3 4

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 Creating the small Leaf
Make 3

Chain 25,

Rnd.1:
skip the first chain, 3sc, 4hdc, 10dc, 3hdc, 2sc,

(3sc) in the last chain,

Going down the other side,

2sc, 3hdc, 10dc, 4hdc, 3sc, 1slst, in to that skipped chain we made
at the beginning, ch1

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 Creating the small Leaf cont …

Rnd.2:
3sc, 4hdc, 10dc, 3hdc, 3sc,

1sc in the center stitch,

Going down the other side,

3sc, 3hdc, 10dc, 4hdc, 3sc, 1slst in the chain we made earlier,

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 Creating the small Leaf cont …
We will now crochet over the florist wire,
Cut a piece of approximately 12”(30cm) and thread it through
the stitch on your hook (p1).
1

Crochet this whole round over the wire.

Rnd.3: ch1, 3sc, 4hdc, 10dc, 3hdc, 3sc,

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 Creating the small Leaf cont …
In the center stitch work the
following,

(1hdc, 1dc, ch1, slst in to the top of the hdc and the dc (p1),
and then work 1hdc), Pull the wire around and bend down equally.

1 2

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 Creating the small Leaf cont …
Rnd.3: continued,

Going down the other side,

3sc, 3hdc, 10dc, 4hdc, 4sc,

slst in the first chain on the opposite side,

Leave a long tail (p1) and do NOT cut the wires,

they are needed for assembly.

Stretch the leaf in to shape.

Wrap the tail around the wire to create the leaf stem (p2) and
trap in between to secure it.

1 2

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 Creating the medium Leaf
Make 3
Chain 30,

Rnd.1:
skip the first chain, 4sc, 5hdc, 6dc, 4tc, 3dc, 3hdc, 2sc,

(3sc) in the last chain,

Going down the other side,

2sc, 3hdc, 3dc, 4tc, 6dc, 5hdc 4sc, 1slst in to that skipped chain we
made at the beginning and ch1,

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Creating the medium Leaf cont ..
Rnd.2:
4sc, 5hdc, 6dc, 4tc, 3dc, 3hdc, 3sc,

in the center stitch work 1sc,

Going down the other side,

3sc, 3hdc, 3dc, 4tc, 6dc, 5hdc 4sc, 1slst in the chain we made
earlier,

As with the smaller leaf ,we need to crochet over the wire
again. Cut approx. 14” (35cm) and thread it through the stitch
on your hook.

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Creating the medium Leaf cont ..
Rnd.3:
Ch1, 4sc, 5hdc, 6dc, 4tc, 3dc, 3hdc, 3sc,

Center stitch (1hdc, 1dc, ch1, slst, 1hdc),

Pull the wire around and bend down equally.

Going down the other side,

3sc, 3hdc, 3dc, 4tc, 6dc, 5hdc 5sc,

slst in the first chain on the opposite side,

as before, leave a long tail and wrap it around the wires.

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 Creating the large Leaf
Make 3
Chain 35,

Rnd.1:
skip the first chain, 5sc, 5hdc, 8dc, 6tc, 3dc, 3hdc, 2sc,

(3sc) in the last chain,

Going down the other side,

2sc, 3hdc, 3dc, 6tc, 8dc, 5hdc 5sc, 1slst in to the skipped chain we
made at the beginning and ch1,

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Creating the large Leaf cont ..
Rnd.2:
5sc, 5hdc, 8dc, 6tc, 3dc, 3hdc, 3sc,

1sc in the center stitch,

Going down the other side,

3sc, 3hdc, 3dc, 6tc, 8dc, 5hdc, 5sc, 1slst in the chain we made
earlier,

As with the other leaves ,we need to crochet over the wire
again. Cut approx. 16” (40cm) and thread it through the stitch
on your hook.

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Creating the large Leaf cont ..
Rnd.3:
Ch1, 5sc, 5hdc, 8dc, 6tc, 3dc, 3hdc, 3sc,

Center stitch (1hdc, 1dc, ch1, slst, 1hdc),

Pull the wire around and bend down equally.

Going down the other side,

3sc, 3hdc, 3dc, 6tc, 8dc, 5hdc, 6sc,

slst in the first chain on the opposite side,

as before, leave a long tail and wrap it around the wires.

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 Assembly
Cut a piece of the garden wire (stem) approx. 12 -14”(30-35cm) or to
the size that will fit your vase or plant pot. This will be the stem.
You should now have all the parts shown in picture 1 ready to be
assembled. 18 flowers, 1stem and 9 leaves.
Start each ball with the 3 flowers of a different shade unless you
made them all in the same colour. Those 3 will be at the top of the
Rhododendron ball.

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 Assembly continued
Measure approx. 1.2”(3cm) from the base of the flower head and
mark it. Do this for all of the flowers (p1).
For this top round, we need 3 flowers in total (different shade). Place
the first flower next to the stem so that the mark is lining up with the
top of the stem (p2). Attach it by wrapping it to the stem with floral
tape (p3).
1

2 3

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 Assembly continued
Round 1
Add the second flower just a fraction lower than the first (p1).
Then add the third flower at the same level as the second (p2).
It should now look as in (p3).

1 2

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 Assembly continued
Round 2

The second round has 7 flowers. Attach them approx. ½(1.2cm) below
the round above (p1). Attach all 7 flowers one by one, next to each
other at pretty much the same level. It doesn’t have to be exact. If
some are a bit lower than others is perfectly ok and makes it look
more natural. In (p2 and p3)you can see all 7 flowers attached.

1 2

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 Assembly continued
Round 3
Add the remaining 8 flowers approx. 1”(2.5cm) below the second round
(p1) attaching them one by one at the same level again (p2 and p3).
Finally bend each little stem out at a slight angle (p4) and move the
flowers around a bit to shape the flower ball (p5).
1 2 3

4 5

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 Adding the Leaves
Add the first small leaf approx. 1”(2.5cm) below the
flowers (p2). Add the other 2 small leaves a fraction lower
down (p3) and in a triangular form (p4).

3 4

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 Adding the Leaves cont…
Add the first of the medium
leaves approx. ½” further
down and add the other 2
medium leaves also in a
triangular form each a
fraction further down from
the last and in between the
small ones above.
Finally add the 3 large leaves
in the same way .

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 The End
Congratulations on creating your very own
Rhododendron
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product…

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or Instagram: @pippapatterns

Or simply send us a picture to

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We hope to see you again soon ☺

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