The fourth annual PlanetJune Reindeer Games CAL begins tomorrow! The Reindeer Games is the annual PlanetJune end-of-year crochet-along and online community event, and you can join by submitting photos of your PJ projects to the gallery, and chatting with us in the CAL threads on Discord and Ravelry. Everyone is very welcome, and I can’t wait to see the gallery of beautiful projects that will emerge as we head toward the end of the year – I hope you’ll join us!

Reindeer Games 2024 CAL

Crochet anything PlanetJune as part of the PlanetJune Reindeer Games 2024 (Friday, Nov 1 – Tuesday, Dec 31).

The idea of the games is to challenge yourself by starting and finishing crochet project(s) before the end of the year. It’s just for fun, like a CAL but you get to choose your projects – anything PlanetJune, including projects from my books – and earn virtual awards!

For the fullest experience, join in the fun in one of the PlanetJune Community groups. Look for the Reindeer Games 2024 thread on Ravelry or the #reindeer-games-2024 channel on Discord. (You can also participate by submitting your projects directly to the gallery through the new online form.)

Check out the Reindeer Games site where you can find full instructions, the list of stalls (categories) and antlers (bonus awards) you can win, the 2024 games stats and project gallery, and archives from the previous years’ games.

It’s always so much fun – we’re a cozy group of crafty friends, crocheting and chatting away. As we’re based all over the world, we can compare our holiday traditions, share recipes, and encourage each other as we crochet. We’d love to welcome you to the party in either of our groups.

Project Ideas

You can enter the Reindeer Games by making absolutely anything based on a PlanetJune pattern (or something from any of my books) – so you have hundreds of crochet patterns to choose from (including dozens of free options, if cashflow is tight).

Realistic animals, elegant accessories, unique toys, seasonal decor – there’s something for everyone…

Take a look at the PlanetJune shop for more pattern inspiration, or grab your copy of any of my books and pick a pattern. 🙂

Join Us!

I do hope you’ll join us for the Reindeer Games 2024 – it’s going to be so much fun, and I can’t wait to see the project gallery filled to the brim again with our beautiful crocheted projects by the end of the year. Whether you’re trying to finish some WIPs, crocheting Christmas gifts, making pieces to sell, or treating yourself to that PlanetJune pattern you’ve had your eye on, we’ll cheer you on as you work towards your crochet goals, and we’re ready to celebrate your successes with you!

Have you seen the weird and wonderful gourds that are sold for decorating at this time of year? Gourds are fascinating – they are in the same family as squashes and pumpkins, but they are grown as ornamentals, not for eating, and they’ve developed into all sorts of unusual shapes and bright colours. And, as the fall season rolls around, I’m thrilled to finally unveil a project I started last year but took extra time to perfect: my new collection of ornamental gourd crochet patterns!

This time last year, I was inspired to design a set of decorative gourds, but I couldn’t quite nail all the shapes I was looking for, so my prototypes and notes have been sitting and waiting for Fall 2024 to be brought to life. And I’m so glad I waited – the extra time and perspective has led to some excellent new techniques for making amigurumi-style gourds with unique shapes and texture!

Meet the Gourds

The Ornamental Gourds Collection includes two sets of realistic life-sized gourds, each with three different patterns (or you can grab the complete collection for a bargain price). Most real-life gourds come in a wide variety of colours, and my photos show a couple of sample colourways for each gourd, but you can mix and match colours and styles for a near-infinite variety – just like real-life gourds!

Ornamental Gourds Set 1 includes (above, L-R) Goblin Eggs, Warty Pear and Autumn Wings gourds.

Ornamental Gourds Set 2 includes (above, L-R) Mini Bottle, Spoon and Crown of Thorns gourds.

(Side note: don’t you just love the names of these varieties? They’re just as fun as all the different shapes and colours!)

About the Patterns

The patterns within each set are arranged in order of increasing difficulty, from simpler designs that are easy and fast to work up to more complex designs that use new innovations to build in shape and texture. With just basic stitches, you’ll see the realistic bumps, ridges, and points take shape as you crochet, without leaving any holes that stuffing can peek through.

The patterns include full step-by-step illustrated appendices for both right- and left-handers that walk you through each of my special techniques. Each gourd is worked in a single piece (plus the stem) – no sewing required!

Links to Buy

You can buy each pattern set individually, or save money when you buy the whole collection!

• Ornamental Gourds Set 1 >>
• Ornamental Gourds Set 2 >>
• The complete Ornamental Gourds Collection >>

Or, if you’re not quite ready to buy, why not favourite/queue them on Ravelry so you don’t forget about them?

Ornamental Gourds Set 1:

Ornamental Gourds Set 2:

I’m really happy with this new collection. I think they look very much like real gourds at first glance, while also staying true to my signature clean style – I hope you agree! The shapes and textures of these palm-sized gourds are such fun to crochet, and I hope they’ll also bring a touch of seasonal style to your decorating this year. Now, I just have to ask: which gourd is your favourite?!

When I designed my Duck and Goose crochet pattern last winter, I was already planning for future Canada Goose and Mallard expansion packs. I also designed my Ducklings and Goslings pattern so the babies would be ready to complete the families once their parents were finished. Now that moment has arrived, and my Duck and Goose Collection is complete!

Click to see a larger photo of the Duck and Goose Collection – there’s a lot to see here 🙂

Now you can make four different amigurumi duck and goose families: white ducks with single-coloured ducklings, white geese with single-coloured goslings, and Canada Goose and Mallard families each with their own distinctively-coloured babies. Yay!

Let’s take a closer look at the new patterns:

Canada Goose Expansion Pack

Also known as Canadian geese or ‘cobra chickens’, Canada geese are native to Canada and the northern US, but have also been introduced into many other countries. They are fiercely protective of their babies and will hiss and and even attack if you approach too closely during breeding season, but every year I enjoy having to wait while a family of Canada geese crosses the road ahead of my car – the fluffy goslings are so adorable!

The Canada Goose Expansion Pack includes all the modifications you’ll need to convert the white goose from the Duck and Goose pattern into a realistic Canada goose with its iconic black head and neck and white ‘chinstrap’.

Mallards Expansion Pack

Mallards are the most common species of wild duck, and they are found naturally throughout most of the northern hemisphere. Did you know that almost all domestic ducks, no matter their colouring, are descended from mallards?

The Mallards Expansion Pack includes all the modifications you’ll need to convert the white duck from the Duck and Goose pattern into a pair of realistic mallards. The drake is the star of this show with his classic green head and bold markings. While he’s what most people think of when they hear the word mallard, I’ve also included a female with a simple but clever brown eye stripe to round out your mallard family!

What is an Expansion Pack?

• An Expansion Pack is an add-on to an existing PlanetJune pattern.
• The Expansion Pack lets you modify or add to the original pattern to create something else.
• You cannot use the Expansion Pack alone – you must also purchase the original pattern in order to be able to complete the pictured items in the Expansion Pack pattern.

Purchase Options

Okay, you have several bundle options here, so I’ll go through them all for you:

• If you already have the Duck and Goose pattern, you can buy the Canada Goose Expansion Pack and/or Mallards Expansion Pack individually from the shop.
• If you haven’t yet bought Duck and Goose, you can buy it and add-on either (or both) expansion packs to save 50c on each pack you add.
• Or, for the best deal of all, pick up the complete Duck and Goose Collection, which includes all four of the patterns picture above (the babies too!) for a special price!

I have listings for any possible combination you could want in the shop (search for ‘waterfowl’ to see them all!), but if you’re confused, feel free to email me (or comment below) and I’ll help you to get the best deal on the patterns you want.

And, if you’re not ready to crochet your favourite waterfowl right now, you can heart and queue them on Ravelry so you don’t forget about them:

Canada Goose:

Mallards:

Duck and Goose:

Ducklings and Goslings:

I’m so happy with this pattern collection, and I hope you’ll love them too! Which duck or goose pattern is your favourite?

I’m so happy to be able to re-release my Barn Owl crochet pattern with a new option that lets you choose the direction you want your owl to look!

I’ve always regretted that I wasn’t able to do this in the original pattern, but I was trying not to over-complicate the pattern. Now I’ve come up with an easy way to branch the pattern into the original straight-ahead option and the new turned-head option, and look how cute they are together…

Aren’t they an adorable pair?! Barn owls have always been my favourite owl, and this addition is the icing on the cake for me. Having a pair of barn owls in two different poses makes them look so dynamic and lifelike – I’m completely satisfied with my design now 🙂

About the Pattern

Barn Owl is an Expansion Pack for my Owl Collection pattern, a clever low-sew design. The head, body, legs and wings are all crocheted as one piece, giving you an elegant bird silhouette with the perfect owl posture and an effortlessly smooth result!

The Barn Owl Expansion Pack includes all the modifications required to crochet a Barn Owl with realistic face shape and markings. The original option has the owl looking straight ahead:

And the new additional option, presented as separate right-handed and left-handed versions for clarity, allows you to have your owl looking to the left or right (and also includes instructions for letting your owl look in any direction, so you can choose your favourite angle!)

What is an Expansion Pack?

• An Expansion Pack is an add-on to an existing PlanetJune pattern.
• The Expansion Pack lets you modify or add to the original pattern to create something else.
• You cannot use the Expansion Pack alone – you must also purchase the original pattern in order to be able to complete the pictured items in the Expansion Pack pattern.

Links to Buy

• If you’ve already bought the Barn Owl pattern, this version is a free update for you! You can download the new PDF from My Patterns in your PlanetJune account.
• If you already own the Owl Collection, but not the Barn Owl, you can buy the Barn Owl Expansion Pack (including both Barn Owl options) individually for only $3.50.
• If you haven’t yet bought either, pick up the multipack of both owl patterns and you’ll save 50c on the pair.

I’m so happy with this update to my Barn Owl pattern. I love how the two options look together – it adds so much realism to have them in different poses, just like a real-life pair of owls! I hope you’ll love making them too 🙂

I always love to see people customizing my AmiDogs and AmiCats crochet patterns to make closer matches to specific pets. These patterns are so easy to customize by choosing the closest pattern and changing colours to match your pet. If you want to get more adventurous, you can mix and match parts, and add strategic embellishments to match a different breed or specific dog more closely.

You may remember that I’ve already crocheted custom amigurumi versions of my furbabies Maui and Maggie. Last Christmas, I decided to make a mini-me of Dudley, one of Maggie’s best friends. (Check out his Instagram here!) As you’ll see, Dudley is an absolutely gorgeous long-haired cream dachshund, and I knew that, with a little customizing, my AmiDogs Dachshund pattern would be a perfect match!

I took my best guesses from my yarn bobbins box to choose the closest colour:

And used my AmiDogs Dachshund pattern to make my ami-Dudley:

I followed the pattern exactly, choosing slightly larger eyes to match the real Dudley’s soulful gaze, and I strategically brushed the ears, tail, and backs of the legs to mimic his long flowing fur.

And here’s Dudley with his amigurumi mini-me!

Maggie and Dudley are so cute together:

…and so are their amigurumi counterparts:

If you’d like to make a custom amigurumi dog or cat to match your furbabies, or as an incredibly meaningful gift for a pet parent, I have 24 AmiDogs and 8 AmiCats patterns for you to choose from as your starting point:

And you can find instructions for all the techniques you could ever want for customizing and embellishing your amigurumi in Part 2 (Customizing Amigurumi) of my latest book, The Essential Guide to Amigurumi, now available in print from Amazon and as an ebook direct from me. (You should also take a look at ‘Designing Custom Amigurumi’ in Part 3, for inspiration and examples of what you can achieve!)

I hope this inspires you to make amigurumi versions of the beloved animals in your life!

Don’t miss the Ravellenic Games discount on this pattern until Aug 11 – keep reading for details!

It feels like forever since I designed a new amigurumi mammal – my latest designs have all been plants, birds, and reptiles – so I had to get back to my PlanetJune roots and make a new cute and realistic amigurumi animal for you. And here’s the result: my Raccoon crochet pattern!

Raccoon Fun Facts

• Raccoons are naturally found throughout North America, but they’ve also been introduced into Europe and Japan.
• They are named for their dexterous hands, from the Algonquian word aroughcun. At night, they can ‘see’ their food by touch.
• Raccoons are very adaptable and thrive in both wild and urban environments. As omnivores, they can eat any available food.
• Urban raccoons are nicknamed ‘masked bandits’ and (my favourite) ‘trash pandas’ for their black face markings and habit of scavenging garbage!

About the Design

I’m shocked it’s taken this long for me to design a raccoon pattern – I’ve had a soft spot for trash pandas since we first moved to Canada and had occasional raccoon visitors to our birdfeeders, and once a litter of adorable babies playing on the garage roof!

My very old photos, from 2006-7 (sorry about the quality – this was before the days of cellphone cameras with low-light modes!)

Before I started this design, I thought it’d be pretty easy – cross the colours of my Badger with the markings of my Red Panda, and boom! instant Raccoon! – but every single part of the Raccoon needed to be a different shape and size from my previous patterns, so I didn’t get to take any shortcuts with this pattern 😀

The iconic striped tail gives you a perfect opportunity to practice my Ultimate Stripes technique. (I also include alternatives in the pattern, if you prefer speed to perfection.)

And although the all-important face mask has detailed colour changes, they’re limited to just 5 rounds, and the rest of the pattern is fast and easy, with realistic shaping built right in.

In real life, raccoons can come in many shades of grey and brown. I chose to make mine pale grey, and used a very dark grey instead of black for the mask to help the eyes stand out. But you can go with the classic black/white/grey combo, or make a raccoon with a warmer colouring by using a warm grey or even brown for the main colour and cream or off-white for the face. That’s one of the great things about amigurumi: it’s so easy to make a unique animal just by choosing different yarn colours!

Buy Now

Are you ready to get started on your Raccoon? If so, you can pick up the Raccoon amigurumi crochet pattern right now from my shop (but check for the discount below first!)

Or, if you’re not quite ready to buy, why not favourite/queue it on Ravelry so you don’t forget about it?

Ravellenic Games Discount!

The 2024 Ravellenic Games start this Friday! If you’d like to challenge yourself to crochet anything from any of my patterns during the timeframe of the Olympic Games (July 26 – Aug 11 2024), join Team PlanetJune and compete along with us to earn virtual medals and laurel awards.

If you’d like to make a Raccoon for Team PlanetJune, look out for the exclusive Team PJ discount code in the Ravelry or Discord PlanetJune Community groups.

From this year, I’ll be awarding our team laurels via the new Team PlanetJune microsite, where you’ll find all the info for how to join, plus links to the Team PJ project archives for every games since 2012! (If you don’t use Ravelry, you can still join in via the Team PJ site and I’ll award all your Team PJ laurels, but note that you’ll only be eligible for event medals if you cross the official Ravellenic Games finish lines on Ravelry.)

Whether or not you decide to join us for the Rav Games, I hope you’ll enjoy my Raccoon pattern! And if you make a raccoon, I’d love to see it – please share it in one of the PJ groups, or tag me (I’m @planetjune on all the socials) if you post a pic anywhere else 🙂

It’s time for a new classic PlanetJune potted plant pattern! Perfect for the summer season – or adding the feel of summer at any time of year – my realistic Strawberry Plant crochet pattern makes a lovely ornamental piece, with its distinctive leaves, delicate white flowers and plump bright red berries.

Don’t you just want to reach out and pick one of these juicy strawberries?!

About the Design

For this strawberry plant, I was looking to create a simplified design with just the right amount of realism in a compact, well-balanced arrangement. The pot has a stylish textured band, and a new style of decorative edging that keeps the top edge of the pot nice and straight.

This pattern also includes bonus instructions for making adorable individual strawberries – perfect as play food, or to make into a cute keychain.

Pattern Details

I’ve put a lot of thought into making this pattern both easy and enjoyable for you to crochet. While it includes multiple pieces – pot, leaves, flowers, and berries – I’ve carefully designed it to minimise both the number of pieces and the amount of finishing needed:

• The elements are strategically positioned to give a full and balanced composition without requiring too many pieces.
• Each triple leaf is crocheted as a single piece, making the process a lot faster than you’d think!
• My instructions include the easiest methods to hide the yarn ends as you go and assemble the plant with minimal sewing.
• The complete pattern includes 13 pages, with detailed step-by-step photos for each element and clear diagrams for the final assembly.

I’ve also stuck to my usual design principles: the pattern requires no wires for support, and no tiny hooks or crochet thread. All you need is your usual worsted weight yarn, an E (3.5mm) hook, and some stuffing, and you’ll be ready to create a beautiful, realistic strawberry plant!

Bonus Tutorial: Amigurumi Double Ring

I’ve made a new photo tutorial (for right- and left-handers, of course) to accompany this pattern: the double ring for amigurumi. This technique is a more secure version of the magic ring for crocheting in the round.

This is one of those optional techniques that isn’t often necessary, and I don’t usually recommend it because it’s a little slower and more difficult than a standard magic ring. But it’s a useful technique to add to your arsenal for those times when you need a magic ring with extra strength or security, like making tiny strawberry flowers!

Buy your Strawberry Plant Pattern!

Ready to get started? Pick up the Strawberry Plant crochet pattern from my shop right now.

Or, if you’re not ready to make one just yet, add it to your Ravelry queue or favourites so you don’t forget:

A crocheted strawberry plant makes a cheerful and summery decoration, and I hope you’ll enjoy making this pattern. The unique construction is surprisingly satisfying, as all the pieces come together so quickly and easily, with such a pretty result!

After finishing my Duck and Goose pattern, I couldn’t resist a little seasonally-appropriate addition to the families, so here’s my new pattern: Ducklings and Goslings!

About the Pattern

My goal for this design was the simplicity of a rubber ducky combined with the realistic shape and markings of real baby ducks and geese. As a result, the assembly is super-simple – you only need to stitch the bill to the head, and the head to the body, and your adorable palm-sized baby bird is finished!

This pattern includes three mix-and-match options. By swapping the duckling and gosling bill shapes and the three different head and body marking options and changing the colours, you can make a wide variety of ducks and geese.

The single colour option is easy to crochet, and if you’re pressed for time you could make a whole flock of ducklings in yellow, brown, grey, black, white etc – fast and totally cute! Or, add in the lifelike markings to make even more adorably realistic babies.

Tip: You can also brush your finished birds (before adding the bills) if you’d like to make fluffy ducklings! (See my Brushed Amigurumi tutorial for full instructions and examples.)

Meet the Ducklings and Goslings!

First up, we have the classic single-colour duckling (or gosling, if you swap the bill!):

Next, the duckling markings, inspired by adorable baby Mallards with their distinctive eye stripe:

And, last but not least, the gosling markings, with a simpler colour pattern inspired by baby Canada Geese:

(While these colourways can also apply to other types of baby ducks and geese, I have an ulterior motive for naming them Mallard and Canada Goose: once I have enough sales of the Duck and Goose crochet pattern to justify making adult Mallard and Canada Goose Expansion Packs for it, these babies will be ready and waiting to greet their parents!)

Links to Buy and Deals

You can buy the Ducklings and Goslings pattern alone, or bundled with the Duck and Goose pattern for a special price.

Note: If you’ve already bought the Duck and Goose pattern, you don’t have to miss out on this deal! Just buy Ducklings and Goslings, then email me with 1) your Ducklings and Goslings order number and 2) the order number (or date) from when you bought Ducks and Geese, and I’ll send you a coupon for $2 off your next order of $5 or more. (You can find your order numbers in ‘My Account’, and the coupon will remain valid for a whole year, so don’t worry if there’s nothing else you want to buy right now!)

Handy Links:

• Duck and Goose Families multipack
• Ducklings and Goslings pattern
• Duck and Goose pattern
• Ducklings and Goslings on Ravelry:
• Duck and Goose on Ravelry:

We’re also just about to start a spring-themed CAL in the PlanetJune groups on Discord and Ravelry, and these ducklings and goslings will fit right in!

Find these spring-themed PlanetJune crochet patterns here >>

Please come and join us and crochet anything PlanetJune that fits the theme: baby animals, spring flowers, Easter eggs, an accessory or home decor in fresh spring colours, etc…