Sakura Mochi (桜餅) is a dessert that utilizes the pickled cherry blossom leaves as an edible wrapper around a sweet rice mochi with red bean paste filling. The rice is usually not fully mashed up, so you can still see some grains of rice in the mochi. When working this pattern, I highly recommend working the yarn under single crochet stitch (see pattern for link) to replicate the bumpiness of the rice.

TERMINOLOGY
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st(s): stitch(es)
ch: chain
sl st: slip stitch
sc: single crochet
hdc: half double crochet
dc: double crochet
tr: triple/treble crochet
inc: two single crochet in one stitch
dec: invisible decrease- single crochet two stitches together through the front loops only
YO: yarn over
sc2tog: single crochet two together: (insert hook into the next st, YO, draw up a loop) x 2, you should have 3 loops on your hook. YO and draw it through all 3 loops on your hook.
(…) x #: repeat anything in the parenthesis however many times the number indicates
[#]: total number of stitches for that row
#sc/hdc/dc/sl st/inc/dec: one sc/hdc/dc/sl st/inc/dec in the following # stitches
hdc#: hdc # times in the next stitch

MATERIALS

• WeCrochet Shine Sport Yarn 
• 3.25mm Crochet Hook(3mm or 2.75mm if you are working the regular single crochet stitch)
• Scissors
• Darning Needle
• Locking Stitch Markers(Optional)
• Pins
• Polyfil Stuffing or Scrap Yarn