I saw the beautiful waterlily hotpad that was created by Stacey Lee on Ravelry and just loved the look of it. After dowloading the pattern and reading some of the comments, I knew that this pattern was going to be challenging to crochet.

My modifications and changes:
First I did not fasten off after each round. This is not necessary in my opinion plus I really dislike weaving in ends. I just adjusted my stitches to match the pattern without finishing off each round. Everything went pretty good until round 5 when I just hit a wall. But after several attempts, here is what I did to get the pattern to at least look like the picture.

I am pretty sure I didn’t crochet the pattern as the author intended but at least I got it finished and it turned out looking nicely.

Round 5: FPDC around 2nd FPDC of prior round and skip the 2 HDCs and FPDC around the next FPDC from prior round. (Author of pattern calls these the inside FPDC stitches). Work 2 HDCs on top of FPDC just made and in next next st (space) before the next FPDC of prior round. (4 HDCs completed). Then FPDC around the FPDC of prior round and skip the 2 HDCs, then FPDC around the next (inside) FPDC of prior round. Skip the 2 HDCs and work FPDC around the next FPDC of prior round. (Repeat)

Round 6: Chain 2 to start and counts as a HDC. I found that I needed 4 HDCs together before working the skip FPDC and then back to the one skipped.

Round 8: I crocheted 4 HDCs between crosses and 2 HDCs between the others to close the petal.

Round 9: I crocheted 6 HDCs between crosses and 0 stitches between the other petal to close the petals in each section.

Round 10: Chain 1, HDC in same stitch and in next 5, then FPDC around the FPDCtog stitch of prior round. I had 6 HDCs between FPDCs, I had to crochet one HDC behind the FPDCtog of the prior round. Join to chain 1 to finish off round.

Here is the original crochet pattern link for the waterlily hotpad pattern as written.

Here is a photo of the front panel finished.

I crocheted the back panel just as written with chain 2 to start each round. The back panel came out just right to pair up with the front. I added a recycled bottle ring for the hanging hook. I single crocheted around the entire potholder and then around the ring to finish off the project. My finished size was 9.25 inches wide with an H (5 mm) hook.

While this pattern was confusing and frustrating to crochet, I do love the outcome. The design is very pretty and it makes a lovely-looking hotpad.