Mat for Plant Stand

Pat Tyler (inspired by Karla Twomey @ Karla's Making It' )

Plant Stand Mat
Materials
Comment on the picture: The mat would have looked better if it were at least an inch wider. However, II was able to purchase the last cone of yarn in that color combination, and I ran out of yarnemoticon - sad. I've been looking for something in that rich dark brown. But I can't find that either!

I'm going to try a different way of expressing the pattern for this mat. After giving stitch by stitch instructions for clusters of stitches in a glossary at the beginning, then the clusters will be listed. I think the instructions will be easier to follow in this form. We will soon see if this works.

Glossary
The Basic stitches to be used.
Magic Loop or Magic Circle
Back Loop Only (blo) and Front Loop Only (flo) front loop only or back loop only
Chain Stitch(ch) chain stitch
Double Crochet (dc)double crochet dc
Half Double Crochet (hdc)half double crochet
Half Double Crochet Increase (hdc inc) half double crochet increase hdc inc
In this pattern: 2 hdc in one hdc stitch of the previous round. The increases are evenly spaced throughout the round. Spaces (where the instruction is 1 hdc in each stitch) between 2 hdc increase by one in each round.
Half Triple Crochet (hdc)
Slip Stitch (sl st)
Triple Crochet (tr)triple croched tr
Stitch clusters to be used
The rounds in this pattern are of two kinds: A foundation round worked in the back loop of the previous foundation round, and a round of petals worked in the front loop of the foundation round just completed.

Foundations:
These are the half double crochet stitches. The Petals are worked in the front loop of these stitches, and the next round of Foundation stitches are worked into the back loops of these same stitches.

Each Foundation round starts with an hdc worked into the back loop of the first hdc in the previous Foundation round. There is no connecting slip stitch.

Increases: Each Foundation round consists of a round of hdc in each blo hdc of the previous foundation round. This includes 10 half double crochet increases (hdc inc) evenly spaced throughout the round. The number of single hdc stitches between the increases increases by 1 in each succeeding round. Because each foundation round increases by 10 stitches, it is easy to keep track of the number of stitches that should be in each foundation round.

To create a smooth circle rather than a ten-sided polygon: The placement of the increase stitches (hdc inc) around the Foundation round in a repeating pattern for every round will create the polygon. Instead, vary the placement of the hdc inc in the round by creating offsets of the first hdc inc in the round. This will automatically vary the placement of the remaining hdc inc in the round. The variation will defeat the creation of the flat sides of a polygon. These offsets are built into the pattern.

Petals:
All Petals are worked in the front loop only (flo) of the preceding Foundation round. They will vary in size depending how near to the center they are:
T-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st, ch 2, sl st.*
(T-Petal spans 1 foundation stitch)

S-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st. In next st dc, ch 2 sl st*
(S-Petal spans 2 foundation stitches)

M-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st. Make 2 htr (half triple crochet) in next st. In next st, dc, ch 2, sl st*
(M-Petal spans in 3 foundation stitches)
nM-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st. htr (half triple crochet) in same st. In next st, htr, dc in same st, ch 2, sl st in same st*
(nM-Petal spans 2 Foundation stitches)
wM-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st. Make 2 htr (half triple crochet) in next st. Htc in next st. In next st, dc, ch 2, sl st*
(wM-Petal spans in 4 foundation stitches)

L-Petal *sl st, ch 2, dc in same st. Make 2 tr (triple crochet) in next st. In the next st, dc, ch 2, sl st*
(L-Petal spans 3 foundation stitches)
nL-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st. tr in same st. In next st, tr, dc in same st, ch 2, sl st in same st*
(nL-Petal spans 2 Foundation stitches)
wL-Petal: *sl st ch 2, dc in same st. Make 2 tr in next st. Tr in next st. In next st, dc, ch 2, sl st*
(wL-Petal spans in 4 foundation stitches)

Each Petal round begins with a slip stitch into the first hdc of the previous Foundation round.

When the number of Foundation stitches are not evenly divided by the number spanned by the petal of the round, there will be one or two hdc stitches left over that do not fit into the petal cluster. In those cases the petals named with a prefix of n or w will be used.
Instructions
Start with a Magic circle.