My first thought after seeing my Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué was to wonder how it would look in crochet thread, so I decided to find out!

I tried a few thread/hook combinations but my favourite ended up being size 10 thread and a size 7 US / 1.5mm steel hook. This size is not ridiculously small, so it’s not too difficult to crochet, but it’s still fine enough to give a satisfyingly petite and lovely baby turtle for an embellishment!

My thread sea turtle applique is only 2.25″ (5.5cm) long and it looks so good in crochet cotton! The pattern works really well scaled down like this, provided you have a fine enough needle (with a large enough eye) to weave in the thread ends. (The clever simple assembly technique from the pattern works perfectly too, in case you were wondering!)

It’s a perfect miniature!

Seeing how cute this tiny baby turtle turned out, I’m tempted to buy a denim jacket and have turtles ‘swimming’ up one side… A crochet thread appliqué would pair perfectly with denim, and it could go through the wash with no problems. What do you think? Should I do it?!

PlanetJune Appliqués

I’ve been developing my own style of appliqué, neither worked in rows (I don’t like that horizontal stripy look) or rounds (I dislike the look of that too, e.g. a leaf that has a big circle in the middle with the points of the leaf formed around it).

In my style, the design builds out from a base crocheted ‘skeleton’, which gives the finished pieces a more uniform look, without the visual distraction of rows or circles breaking up the shape.

I realised that I’ve accidentally built quite a library of appliqués already – especially if you include the flowers of some of my potted plants that could double as appliqués, like my pansy pins.

In case you’re specifically looking for crochet appliqué patterns, I’ve added an Appliqués category to the PlanetJune shop, so you can browse more easily.

And you can expect more flat designs like these in future! (Do let me know if you have any requests…)

You may be getting a déjà vu feeling right now – don’t I have a baby sea turtle pattern just like this already?!

Well, no: there’s something completely new about this pattern! Although from the top it looks almost identical to the turtle from my incredibly popular Baby Sea Turtle Collection:

Spot the difference?

…from the side, it’s as flat as a pancake!

From top: 3D amigurumi turtle; 2D flat appliqué turtle

This is my brand new Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué crochet pattern. Crocheted appliqués are small flat crocheted pieces that make lovely embellishments – and in this case, a perfect addition to a beach or ocean-themed blanket, like my Turtle Beach blanket!

About the Design

I designed this pattern to closely replicate my original Baby Sea Turtle in size, shape and appearance, so you can still keep that iconic Turtle Beach look with much less work.

The pattern is faster to crochet than an amigurumi turtle and, with only two pieces, needs almost no sewing or finishing. You can stitch it securely to a blanket (or anything else), and the optional embroidered eyes make it child-friendly and easy to launder.

Body: The head and flippers are all crocheted as one piece around a body that’s hidden beneath the shell. Not only does this minimise the finishing work, but the flippers naturally form at the perfect angles and in just the right positions with no effort or decision-making on your part (beyond following the pattern!)

Shell: If you’ve ever tried to flatten the original shell, you’ll know that, because it’s designed to be domed, it flattens into a strange overly-wide shape that doesn’t look right at all! I’ve designed a new shell that keeps the same style and finished shape from the top as the stuffed baby turtle, but is completely flat.

Eyes: I wasn’t sure about eyes – the appliqué turtle looks lovely without eyes (and, as we’re looking at the turtle from above, the eyes wouldn’t be visible in real life anyway…) so I decided to offer both options in the pattern. I think it looks cuter with eyes and more sophisticated without. My grey sample turtle has no (visible) eyes and the green turtle has my embroidered eyes – you can choose to add them or not; your turtle will look good either way!

About the Pattern

This pattern includes full written instructions for the turtle, plus round-by-round charted stitch diagrams for the rounds that form the head and flippers, in both right- and left-handed versions.

It also includes:

• Simple assembly instructions for attaching the shell (it comes together so nicely, you may actually enjoy this step for once!)
• A complete step-by-step tutorial for embroidering the eyes securely with no visible knots or tails.
• Tips for stitching the turtles neatly to a crocheted blanket.

Baby Sea Turtle Multipack discount

Which baby sea turtle pattern should you buy? Why not both?! I’ve made that easy for you by bundling the two patterns together as a Baby Sea Turtle Multipack.

If you’re making a turtle blanket, you could attach some flat turtle appliques and give an amigurumi baby turtle set in the same colours as a matching companion gift.

Discount for Baby Sea Turtle Collection owners

If you’ve already bought the Baby Sea Turtle Collection and would like this new turtle pattern too, you can’t take advantage of the multipack discount, but I have you covered! If you’re buying the new pattern before the end of the month (August 2020), I’ll honour that multipack discount for you – just pick the option below that works best for you:

1. Email me (june@planetjune.com) with details of your Baby Sea Turtle Collection order. Once I’ve verified your previous order I’ll email you back with a special discount code for the new pattern, and you can place your order.
2. Place your order for the new pattern at the standard price and include the details of your Baby Sea Turtle Collection order in the message to me (or email me by end of Aug with the details of both your orders). Once I’ve verified your previous order I’ll email you with a PlanetJune Gift Certificate to the value of the discount, which you can use against a future order.

With either option, all I need is enough information to be able to verify your previous order, e.g. your order number or date of order.

Pattern Links

You can find all my sea turtle and turtle beach blanket-related patterns at www.planetjune.com/turtle – browse at your leisure!

As you may have noticed, I’m a bit of a sea turtle fan, and I already have a few ideas for how I’m going to use this appliqué to make or customize turtle-themed things for myself. (More on that later!)

I hope you’ll enjoy this pattern too, and I look forward to seeing what you’ll do with it – don’t forget to tag me @planetjune on all the socials so I can see your projects 🙂

Happy flat turtle-making!

It’s amazing how popular my Turtle Beach blanket pattern is – I published it over four years ago, and it still gets viral boosts on social media every few months that make it consistently one of my most popular designs!

Selling Turtle Blankets

I’ve even started a special section of my Sellers’ List page for people who are making turtle blankets to sell, because I get so many requests for finished blankets…

Don’t they all look great? I love how people respond to this pattern – both makers and buyers!

(By the way, if you make turtle blankets to sell, see the bottom of that page for details of how to be added to the list.)

Turtle-Making Tips

Thanks to this unexpected and long-lasting Turtle Beach popularity, I’m seeing many experienced crocheters try to tackle amigurumi for the first time, to make the turtles for their blankets, and some are getting frustrated.

If this sounds like you, you’re not alone! Amigurumi is a special subset of crochet that requires its own skills. Even the most experienced crocheters can be startled when they pick up their first amigurumi pattern and discover it’s full of new terms and techniques, or amigurumi standards that aren’t specifically addressed within each pattern.

Although all my patterns point you to my main tutorials index (www.planetjune.com/help), the list below is a shortcut to only the tips and techniques you’ll need to tackle and master my Baby Sea Turtle Collection pattern, so you can make adorable turtles for your blankets with minimal frustration!

1. Magic Ring

The magic ring gives the perfect start to every piece of amigurumi: you can start crocheting in the round without any trace of a hole in the middle. Mastering this is a must!
Go to Magic Ring tutorial >>

2. Which loops to work into

Unless otherwise specified in the pattern, all amigurumi should be worked into both loops of the stitch below.
Go to Front, Back, Both Loops tutorial >>

3. Which is the right side

It’s very important that all your amigurumi pieces are right-side out before you stuff, close, flatten or assemble them.
Go to Which is the Right Side? tutorial >>

4. Invisible Decrease

Decreasing without leaving any bumps or gaps sounds too good to be true, but the invisible decrease (abbreviated invdec) really does live up to its name!
Go to Invisible Decrease tutorial >>

5. Changing Colour

Always change colour in the last loop of the stitch before the colour change.
Go to Changing Colour tutorial >>

6. Flattened Pieces

Vital to understand how to make your turtles’ flippers! What does it mean when a pattern says to flatten a piece of an amigurumi after crocheting it?
Go to the Flattened Pieces tutorial >>

7. Seamless Join

This technique creates a smooth, almost invisible join for stitching the flippers to the shell.
Go to Amigurumi Seamless Join tutorial >>

These seven tutorials cover every mistake I’ve ever seen anyone make with my Baby Sea Turtle pattern, so make sure you understand these seven concepts and you’ll be good to go!

Still Struggling?

Now, if you’ve decided you’re allergic to amigurumi and you never want to see an amigurumi turtle again, I understand! Although I love amigurumi, I know it isn’t for everyone, and I’m working on an alternative for you.

I’ve developed a flat applique-style baby turtle design that closely matches the look and size of my ami turtles, so you’ll be able to stitch those to your turtle blankets for a similar effect (except that the turtles will be flat instead of three dimensional). The new pattern will be much faster to make, with only two pieces, simple embroidered eyes, and almost no sewing! 🙂

Watch this space – I’ll post as soon as the new pattern is ready…

Rainbows are a symbol of hope and unity as well as being full of bright and cheerful colours. I think we could all do with some cheer right now, as well as encouraging hope and unity.

My hope is that my Happy Rainbows pattern will brighten your day while you crochet it, and then go on to brighten the day of everyone who sees it!

Use these cheerful rainbows to brighten anyone’s day with a splash of colour and a message of hope and unity! Tape them to your window, hang them on the wall, or stitch them to a crocheted blanket or cushion as a colourful applique.

As buying yarn may be difficult at this time, I’ve designed this pattern so both rainbow sizes use easily-available worsted weight yarn. The only difference between the large and small rainbows is the hook size and the number of strands of yarn, so grab your brightest yarns from your stash and crochet some cheer!

As I like to reward people who chose to donate for my donationware patterns, the PDF version of this pattern includes a bonus pattern for matching flat-bottomed rainbows (pictured below), and additional progress photos (including left-handed photos).

As always, the pattern is free for you to use, and you need only donate if you’d like to thank me for my time in creating it, or if you’d like the easy-to-print PDF version.

I hope you enjoy my Happy Rainbows pattern!

Go to the Happy Rainbows pattern >>

I try to be environmentally conscious when it comes to my pup Maggie and avoid waste where I can. I even use compostable poop bags, and all her waste and hair clippings go straight into the green bin for composting.

Being a white dog, she’s prone to tear stains, and the thought of buying disposable eye wipes didn’t sit well with me. And then I realised: hang on, my crocheted Eco-Friendly Cosmetic Rounds would also make perfect reuseable doggy face wipes!

For fun, and to tell Maggie’s wipes apart from my own, I decided to crochet her a set that matches her colours – mostly off-white with a little light brown.

I used my favourite cotton yarn, KnitPicks Dishie in Swan and Linen, and the colours are a pretty good match!

And now for the moment of truth – will they work?

I saturated a wipe in lukewarm water and squeezed it out so it wasn’t dripping. After an initial sniff test:

…Maggie gave it the licky seal of approval:

I wiped her eyes well, and then she took over to finish the job to her exacting standards!

And here’s the finished pretty face once it had dried:

Mission accomplished!

As with my cosmetic rounds, I’ll toss the used wipes into a mesh laundry bag and run them through the washer and dryer with my laundry – it’s quick and easy.

An update on my personal cosmetic rounds: In case you’re wondering how reuseable crocheted facial rounds hold up, I’ve used one clean round every night for 9 months. I made enough to last me for 3 weeks before washing them, so mine have all been laundered many times by now.

They don’t look quite as crisp as new, but they are holding their shape well and are much softer than they were when new, so there’s plenty of life left in them before I need to make replacements!

If you’d like to make your own facial wipes – for humans or pets! – you can find my Eco-Friendly Cosmetic Rounds pattern here 🙂

Pika pika! No, it’s not a Pokemon, but an adorable real-life animal…

Have you ever heard of a pika before today? Pikas are super-cute and special little creatures – let me tell you a bit about them so you can judge for yourself:

Pika Fun Facts

• It may look a little like a giant hamster, but the pika is the smallest member of the rabbit family (lagomorphs) that also includes rabbits and hares.
• Pikas are about 6-8″ (15-20cm) long, and live in rocky alpine areas in the west of North America and in Central Asia.
• They are nicknamed conies, rock rabbits, boulder bunnies, or whistling hares (for their high-pitched alarm calls).
• Pikas do not hibernate, so they need to stockpile food for the winter. Every summer, each pika collects and dries out a huge haystack made from grasses and plant stems. The haystack is many times larger than the pika, but it transports the whole thing into its den before the winter comes, a mouthful at a time.
• Their name should apparently be pronounced PYE-ka, but I’ve heard it said both ways in wildlife documentaries, and PEE-ka is so much cuter, so I’m going with that pronunciation!

As pikas are related to rabbits, I realised I could design an expansion pack for the Baby Bunnies pattern, so you can turn it into an adorable Pika without having to buy another complete pattern!

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:

1. If you already have Baby Bunnies, you can buy the Pika Expansion Pack for only $3 individually from the shop.
2. If you haven’t yet bought Baby Bunnies, you can buy the multipack of Baby Bunnies & Pika, and save 50c on the pair!
3. Or, you can buy the triple pack of Baby Bunnies 1, Baby Bunnies 2 & Pika, and save $1.50 on the individual prices!

Has that confused you? Don’t worry! Check out all these options, together with their prices, right here 🙂

Launch Discount

Now, if you’ve already bought Baby Bunnies (or Baby Bunnies 1 & 2), you won’t be able to save that 50c (or $1.50). But, for 7 days only, add the Pika Expansion Pack pattern to your shopping cart, together with anything else (totalling $5 or more), then use the code PIKAPIKA at checkout and you’ll still get your discount! (Valid until next Friday: 20th March 2020.)

Note: If you don’t need anything else right now, this also applies to Gift Certificate purchases, so you can pick up a $5 gift certificate now, get your discount, and have $5 in your PlanetJune account ready for your next purchase, or to send to a crocheting friend!

If you’re not ready to make your Pika just yet, don’t forget to heart and queue it on Ravelry so you don’t forget about it:

Pika: 

Baby Bunnies:

Baby Bunnies 2:

What do you think? Don’t you need to add a cute little pika or two to your life?!

Today is the 3-week anniversary of adopting my adorable dog Maggie, and I’m more sure than ever that we made the right decision! I’m so happy I found such a special little lamb – she’s so small and sweet, and she loves me so much. And she’s such a clever girl – our training is progressing well, and she’s learning new things practically every day!

We’ve been visiting all the local pet stores to look for small toys and training treats and other essentials:

Now, it’s pretty cold in Canada and Maggie doesn’t have a lot of fur, so getting a sweater immediately was crucial. I bought her this cute little argyle sweater in her favourite colours – pink and grey – and doesn’t she look adorable in it?!

But, less than a week after buying it, it looked more like this:

Not only was it coming apart at the seams, but the knitting was actually unravelling at the exposed edges:

This is the first and last time I buy a dog sweater – now I know how a dog sweater works and have this well-fitting example to take measurements from, I’ll be able to crochet or knit all her sweaters in future (yay!)

But, I wasn’t about to let this cute sweater go to waste quite so soon. I found a perfect pink baby yarn in my stash (I knew I’d find a use for it one day!), grabbed a crochet hook, and got to work.

I passed the yarn end through all the loose knitted loops I could see, to prevent further runs, and then single crocheted over the last couple of knitted rows to bind all the loose ends in place. I added a ch 1 between each sc to add a little stretch to my new edging, which makes the edging look very slightly ruffled, but it worked like a charm:

In a few minutes, the sweater was saved! The new leg edgings don’t show much in use, but occasionally you can see a flash of pink crochet, and it looks pretty stylish, and not obviously like a repair.

The yarn colour matches incredibly well, and, most importantly, Maggie is happy to have her sweater back so she can stay cosy while we’re exploring the neighbourhood!

This just goes to show how most mass-market clothes pale in comparison to the care and quality of handmade. I doubt I’ll be knitting argyle sweaters for Maggie, but I’m sure she’ll be equally happy with single-coloured handmade sweaters in future, don’t you think? 🙂

Use this stuffed crocheted ring as a base for a crocheted wreath, candle ring, or other round decoration (e.g. a centrepiece). You can make the ring in any size depending on the desired size of your decorative piece, and choose yarn colours to match your decor and the theme of the components you’ll be covering it with.

Yes, this is the base pattern I used to make my Christmas Decor Collection wreath and candle ring!

The basic online version of the pattern is available free for you to view online. As I like to reward people who chose to donate for my donationware patterns, the PDF version of this pattern also includes special bonus content:

• Tips on choosing yarn colours for your wreath base
• The exact recipes and layout diagrams for my Christmas wreath and candle ring, if you’d like to copy mine exactly!

As always though, the basic pattern is free for you to use, and you need only donate if you’d like to thank me for my time in creating it, or if you’d like the easy-to-print PDF version.

Have fun with this pattern throughout the year – it’s not just for Christmas if you make it in a different colour and adorn it with different crocheted pieces!

Please don’t forget to share photos of the wreaths/centrepieces you make with this pattern, and tag me @planetjune so I’ll get to enjoy them too 🙂

Go to the Crocheted Wreath Base pattern >>