Amigurumi Beach Ball is a fun no-sew pattern for summer – or for any time of year!

• Make a play ball for the kids, a set of juggling balls, or a stress ball to play with at your desk.
• Make it interactive by adding a squeaker, rattle or bell when you stuff it.
• Stuff it with plastic pellets to make your ball into a bean bag or hacky sack.

For this pattern, crisp colour changes are essential, and I’ve come up with a special new technique (a variant of my invisible increase) that makes the colour changes look extra neat at the increase points, plus I’ve included lots of tips for dealing with the yarn as you go – there’s no cutting or knot-tying required!

This pattern is great for using up scraps of brightly-coloured yarn! You can choose any 6 colours of yarn for this pattern, and the main colour you choose will also be the colour of the top and bottom circles on the beach ball. I made my main beach ball (above) in light worsted weight yarns (Bernat Satin and Red Heart Soft) with an E US/3.5mm hook, using ‘classic beach ball’ saturated colours.

I also made a second beach ball (below, left) from Patons Grace, a sport weight mercerized cotton, with a C US/2.75mm hook and whatever colours I happened to have in my stash. This gave me a slightly smaller ball (2.5″ vs 2.75″), and I love how it looks in the cotton too!

Both balls are a great size for playing with, juggling, etc.

And can I just mention that I designed this pattern very carefully, so the bottom of the ball looks just as good as the top! Look:

Yep, these are the bottoms of the balls! They look good from all sides 🙂

As I like to reward people who choose to donate for my donationware patterns, the PDF version of the Amigurumi Beach Ball pattern also includes additional tips and photos that you’ll only find in the PDF version (including instructions for how to fix any too-tight stitches on your finished ball), and the crochet instructions are all included on one printer-friendly page, so you can save paper and ink by printing only that page.

As always, the pattern is free for you to use online, 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 with the bonuses.

Go to the free Amigurumi Beach Ball pattern >>

Or jump straight to donate:

Order the Amigurumi Beach Ball pattern >>

Not ready to make one yet? Add this pattern to your Ravelry queue:

Summer Fun CAL

If you’re about to make a beach ball, why not join a relaxed PlanetJune crochetalong (CAL) while you make it? The rules of the Summer Fun CAL are simple: make any PlanetJune pattern in July or August 2022, and share photos of what you’re making!

Here’s a selection of quick and/or summery PlanetJune patterns to give you some ideas…

If you want to join in with the community and see what everyone else is making, come and hang out in the Summer Fun CAL thread in the PlanetJune group on Ravelry or the #crochetalongs channel on the PlanetJune Discord server.

You can also join in by posting your pics on your social media, and remember to tag me (@planetjune) so I can see what you’ve been making!

I hope to see lots of Beach Balls in different colourways and yarns this summer – this is going to be fun 🙂

Today I have a brand new PlanetJune crochet pattern to share with you. I’ve been wanting to make a realistic Squirrel crochet pattern for a long time, and it’s turned out just as cute as I’d hoped!

Which is your favourite? It doesn’t matter – you can make both!

I started this design during the Ravellenic Games, but I had to set it aside for a while – it took 6 prototypes to get that perfect squirrel tail, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. All those curves are built right in, and I love the result 🙂

Squirrel Fun Facts

Note: If you hear an animal called just a ‘squirrel’ that means it’s a tree squirrel, but there are also other types of squirrel (ground squirrels and flying squirrels). My pattern, and these fun facts, specifically relate to tree squirrels!

• Squirrels are rodents that are found all over the world.
• They live in trees and eat nuts, seeds and berries.
• Squirrels have long bushy tails that help them to balance as they run and jump through the trees.
• Their tails are also used to keep them warm in winter, and for communication. For example, they flick their tails rapidly when they sense danger!
• Squirrels hoard their food, and hide caches of nuts and seeds in trees or buried in the ground.

About the Design

With this design, my goal was to capture the smooth curves of the essential squirrel pose: perfectly balanced while standing up on its back legs with its beautiful bushy tail curving up behind it.

The front legs are crocheted right into the body, so there are very few parts to assemble at the end, and you can choose to attach the head at any angle, to give your squirrel its own personality – will your squirrel be cute and bashful, or bold and inquisitive?

I’ve included two versions in this pattern: a standard Grey Squirrel (aka Eastern Gray Squirrel):

…and an adorable European Red Squirrel with long tufted ears:

Ideas for variations:

• Despite their names, ‘grey’ squirrels can be brownish, black, orange or white as well as grey, and ‘red’ squirrels vary from orange through deep red to black, so you have lots of colour choices, even if you want to make a realistically-coloured squirrel.
• Although I designed both my squirrels to use regular yarn, you can brush your squirrel’s tail before assembly to give it a fluffy, furry look (and you can brush the tips of the red squirrel’s ear tufts too!) See my brushed crochet tutorial for instructions.

About the Pattern

The Squirrel pattern includes 4 pages of step-by-step bonus info in 2 two-page appendices (for both right- and left-handers) that clearly explain my innovative method for joining the front legs and body while you crochet so they sit at exactly the right angle in the finished squirrel.

If you’ve made any of my AmiCats, you’ll already be familiar with the concept of this technique and how well it works – the assembly method is the same here, although of course the squirrel shape is very different!

Buy Now

Ready to get started? Pick up my Squirrel crochet pattern  from my shop right now. Or, if you’re not ready to make it just yet, add it to your Ravelry queue or favourites so you don’t forget about it:

By the way, I’m sure you know that squirrels love to gather and hoard their pine cones – and mine are no exception! My Pine Cone Collection pattern is now officially squirrel-approved 😉

I hope you’ll love my Squirrel pattern and will start making your own adorable squirrels right away. And please do let me know what you think of them!

I’m so happy to present another new design that was many years in the making: the Barn Owl!

Barn Owls are my favourite owl, and adding a Barn Owl option to my Owl Collection was always part of my plan. Out of interest, I thought I’d look back at my digital notes to see how long it’s taken to bring it to life…

I first came up with the seeds of this idea in March 2014. It took until 2017 (and a whole year of prototyping) to figure out the unique shaping for the smooth lines and minimal sewing of the main Owl Collection design, but I couldn’t quite get the barn owl right… At that time, I said:

Fun Fact: Owls are divided into two families: Strigidae (typical owls) and Tytonidae (barn owls). With this pattern, you can choose appropriate colours to make any of the typical (true) owls.

Note: I’d love to design a barn owl too, but to make it look right it’d need lots of colour changes and special shaping to make the distinctive heart-shaped face, so that’s a challenge I’ll have to save for some future point in time!

I’m so glad I decided to publish the single-colour owls in June 2017 instead of waiting for the inspiration to finish the barn owl as well, because it took another 5 years to figure out how to add the barn owl’s distinctive facial features and get the colour changes that run all the way down the body just right!

Whoooo’s this then?! My owls are delighted that their beautiful cousin, the Barn Owl, has joined them to complete the owl family.

Barn Owl Fun Facts

• There are species of barn owl living almost all over the world.
• It’s easy to recognise a barn owl by its heart-shaped facial disc and dark eyes.
• The facial disc isn’t just an attractive feature! It helps barn owls to locate their prey by funneling sounds to their ears when they are hunting.
• Unlike typical owls, barn owls don’t hoot: they have a loud shrieking cry.
• Barn owls hunt at night, and they are often mistaken for ghosts when people see a white face with staring black eyes floating above the ground!

About the Pattern

Barn Owl is an Expansion Pack for my Owl Collection pattern, and includes all the modifications required to crochet a Barn Owl with realistic face shape and markings.

Although it’s only an Expansion Pack, there’s a lot to this pattern – the special stitches that make the raised part of the face are all crocheted while you make the head, so I’ve included right- and left-handed appendices that walk you through exactly where and how to make those stitches so your barn owl will be perfect!

Aside from the colouring and facial features, the Barn Owl has all the same features as the Owl Collection – the smooth, seamless head, body, wings and legs, giving you the perfect elegant owl posture with minimal assembly.

(And btw, I’ve also updated the Owl Collection pattern in my new publishing software so both patterns will match, so you may as well re-download it too if you’ve already bought it! The new layout doesn’t look very different, but it’s higher quality, and all the round numbers are bolded to make for easier reading.)

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

You can buy the Barn Owl Expansion Pack for only $3.50 individually from the shop, or, if you haven’t yet bought the Owl Collection pattern, you can buy the multipack of both owl patterns, and save 50c on the pair.

Not ready to make it yet? Add Barn Owl to your queue on Ravelry:

Although it’s ridiculous how long some of my designs take to be birthed, I’m so happy I waited until I could do justice to the gorgeous Barn Owl – this design is exactly what I pictured in my head, eight years ago…

I hope you’ll love it too!

I had a request earlier this week in the PlanetJune Discord group to modify my Love Hearts pattern to look like the Ukrainian flag, and that was a request I just couldn’t refuse.

I thought it would be simple, but I made prototypes to figure out the straightest line…

It’s *not* what you’d think – crochet stitches aren’t straight, so the straightest line is not formed from a symmetrical pattern…

And then more prototypes to figure out whether hook size affects the straightness of the colour change line (it does – smaller is better) and the best way to manage the yarns with all the colour changes…

Cut-and-tie gives the cleanest result on the front, but a messy back with lots of yarn ends to deal with. Tapestry crochet (working over the unused colour with every stitch) gives a neat front and back, with only two yarn ends from each colour to weave in, but the unworked yarn colour is slightly visible between the stitches (especially in the yellow half).

After several rounds of prototyping, the final pattern is ready for you, in flat and puffy versions, with colour change recommendations for how to get the best balance of appearance, speed, and simplicity.

Please use this pattern however you wish, and especially to make hearts in the colour of the Ukrainian flag to show your support during this crisis. You can also sell hearts to fundraise (look for an accredited humanitarian aid charity in your country).

Go to the Two-Tone Heart crochet pattern >>

Just in time for the holiday season, and in honour of the PlanetJune Reindeer Games, allow me to present my latest design: the Reindeer/Caribou!

I’ve had a realistic reindeer on my list of ideas for the past few years, but, with the PlanetJune Reindeer Games CAL in full swing, this seemed like the perfect time to bring my idea to life. There are dozens of cartoony reindeer amigurumi patterns out there, but I’ve never seen one that actually looks like a real-life caribou!

Reindeer/Caribou Fun Facts

• Reindeer/Caribou are found in cold Northern climates around the world: Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia.
• Why two names? Although they are the same species, they are called Caribou in Canada and Alaska and Reindeer in Europe.
• In winter, their soft hoof pads retract to keep their feet warm and expose the sharp hoof rims, which let them dig through the snow to find their favourite food: reindeer lichen!
• They are the only deer species where the females have antlers as well as the males.
• And an extra fun fact for Christmas: Male reindeer shed their antlers before Christmas, while females don’t shed theirs until spring… That means, as all Santa’s reindeer have antlers, they must all be female! 😀

About the Pattern

I’ve tried to capture the essence of the Caribou in this pattern – long body, short legs, wide hooves, tiny tail, shoulder hump, colouring, and, of course, the spectacular antlers (more on those in a bit!)

I’ve included two versions in this pattern – as well as a realistic Caribou, with just a couple of modifications (larger eyes and a red nose), you can make your very own adorable Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

The most exciting part of this pattern has to be the antlers – each antler is all crocheted together, with no sewing involved! They are a little fiddly because they’re so thin, but I’ve explained it all step-by-step in the pattern, so take it slowly and you’ll end up with stunning realistically-shaped reindeer antlers.

Note: I do recommend you check out my Narrow Pointed Tubes tutorial (also linked in the pattern) if you’re not used to making narrow tubes or turning them right-side out – if you watch my video, you’ll know exactly what to expect when you make the branches of the antlers!

Buy Now

Ready to get started? Pick up my Reindeer/Caribou crochet pattern  from my shop right now. Or, if you’re not ready to make it just yet, add it to your Ravelry queue or favourites so you don’t forget about it:

I really hope you’ll enjoy this pattern, whether you want to make Rudolph as a Christmas gift for a special someone, a realistic Caribou, or some amigurumi Reindeer as holiday décor!

And, if you’re a Ravelry user, I do hope you’ll join us for the PlanetJune Reindeer Games – this crochet-along runs until the end of the year, and I’m hoping we’ll see enough amigurumi reindeer to have a full team to pull Santa’s sleigh this year. 🙂

I’ve revamped my incredibly popular Turtle Beach blanket design into two new patterns, showcasing two different designs and two different colour schemes that you can mix and match: cool and calm true blues or tropical teals, in the classic colourblock design or my new ombré version.

Left: Classic Blue Turtle Beach blanket; Right: Teal Ombré Turtle Beach blanket

The more I look at them, the more undecided I am about which Turtle Beach blanket I like best – how about you?

Here’s the Classic Blue Version:

And the Teal Ombré Version:

Just look at that rippling wave effect!

The good news is you don’t have to choose; you can make either colour scheme in either style, or one of each! And, as well as selling the patterns separately, I’ve bundled them into a Turtle Beach Blanket multipack, including both the Classic Blue and Teal Ombré blanket patterns.

About the Patterns

I’ve packed these patterns full of information – each one includes complete row by row crochet instructions for the 8 most common classic afghan sizes, ranging from a small baby blanket through to a king size afghan. For each afghan size, the yardage for each colour is also provided, so you’ll be able to order all your yarn at once and know you have enough.

Blanket/Afghan sizes included:

• Baby (approx 24×32″, 60x80cm)
• Lapghan/crib (approx 36×48″, 90x120cm)
• Toddler (approx 40×48″, 100x120cm)
• Throw (approx 48×60″, 120x150cm)
• Twin (approx 60×85″, 150x215cm)
• Full/double (approx 74×85″, 190x215cm)
• Queen (approx 80×90″, 200x230cm)
• King (approx 96×90″, 245x230cm)

Choosing Yarns

For this pattern I’ve used light worsted weight yarns (medium #4 weight), specifically Red Heart Soft and Bernat Satin. You don’t need to use exactly the same yarn as me – the most important factors are to find colours that you like and that work well together, and that are readily available to you!

As worsted weight yarns can vary considerably in thickness and sheen, I also recommend that you try to choose yarns that are similar to each other if you can’t find all the shades you need within one brand and line of yarn. See my worsted weight yarn comparison for examples and my recommendations for which yarns can be mixed and matched.

The Turtle Beach Collection

With the release of these patterns, I’ve also taken the opportunity to revamp all my other related patterns into a full Turtle Beach Crochet Pattern Collection. You can mix and match patterns within the collection to make your own custom blanket:

• Mix and match colour schemes and stripe patterns with the Classic Blue and Teal Ombré blankets.
• Add custom details (an edging and puffy 3D seafoam effect) with the Ribbed Ripple/Turtle Beach donationware blanket pattern.
• Add any combination of the original 3D stuffed baby sea turtles, the new flat appliqué turtles, and puffy or flat starfish.

Left: Classic Blue blanket; stuffed 3D turtles
Right: Teal Ombre blanket; flat appliqué turtles

Clockwise from top left: 3D seafoam, puffy starfish, flat starfish, squared-off edging

Turtle Beach Collection Deals!

You can explore the details of all the patterns in the Turtle Beach Collection here, but here’s a rundown of just the new deals:

• I’ve bundled both new blanket patterns into a Turtle Beach Blanket multipack, including both the Classic Blue and Teal Ombre blanket patterns.
  
• Baby Sea Turtle Collection now includes a full bonus pattern for a Swimming Turtle to stitch to your blanket. (If you’ve already bought this pattern, you can download it again from your PlanetJune account and you’ll automatically get the latest version.)
  
• You can also now buy a multipack of all 8 baby sea turtle patterns (turtle, hatching turtle, swimming turtle, turtle egg, with all four options in both 3D and flat versions).
  
• And, if you already donated more than the average amount of $3.50 for the original Ribbed Ripple/Turtle Beach blanket pattern, and you’d like to buy the new blanket pattern(s), I can issue you with a credit for the additional amount you paid (over $3.50), to put towards the new Classic Blue version. ETA: For the rest of October 2021 only, even if you donated under $3.50, I’ll still send you a discount code!To get your discount, just email me with the following details:
  1. The order number for your original donation (you can find this in your PlanetJune account or your confirmation email)
  2. Which option you’d like to apply your credit to:
     • Turtle Beach Blanket (Classic Blue Version)
     • Turtle Beach Blanket multipack (includes both the Classic Blue and Teal Ombre blanket patterns)

  I’ll send you a discount code, or, if you’ve already ordered the new patterns, let me know and I’ll send you a gift certificate for you to use later!

Phew! That was a lot of info to get through! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all the options in this post, and that you’ll have fun choosing your favourite options from the Turtle Beach Collection. Once you’ve selected your blanket size, colourway and stripe pattern, flat and/or stuffed turtles, and any of the other optional extras, you’ll be able to mix-and-match to make a gorgeous one-of-a-kind blanket.

I’d love to see your finished blankets (or anything else you’ve made from my patterns) – please do share photos with me! I’m @PlanetJune everywhere (on ravelry and social media) or you can email me – I always love to hear from you 🙂

Since I released my Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué pattern, I’ve had multiple requests from people making a Turtle Beach blanket and wanting matching flat turtle eggs, hatching turtles and swimming turtle hatchlings to complete the scene.

Some of my best ideas come directly from my customers, and this was one of them: of course I should design the full set, to match my original turtle blanket, but with flat applique turtles! So, here are the Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings:

Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings is an Expansion Pack for the Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué crochet pattern, that includes all the modifications required to crochet flat appliqué versions of a hatching turtle emerging from its egg and a half-submerged swimming turtle, plus the pattern for a turtle egg appliqué.

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.

An Appliqued Turtle Blanket

Here’s an example of how the appliqué turtles look on a Turtle Beach blanket:

Isn’t that lovely?! The PlanetJune patterns I used to make this are:

• Ribbed Ripple/Turtle Beach blanket (baby blanket size pictured)
• Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué
• Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings Expansion Pack

Top Tip: If this picture is tempting you to make a Turtle Beach blanket for the first time, I’d recommend you get started on your turtles now, but hold off on donating for the blanket pattern just yet – I’ll have a new option coming in the next couple of weeks that you may prefer…

I’m so happy with how these appliqué versions of my baby sea turtles work on a blanket – for me, they seem much more practical than attaching stuffed turtles to a blanket.

As you can see above, it has the same visual appeal as the original turtle blanket, but the flat appliqués create a more sophisticated beach blanket for adults and older children.

Or, if you want a blanket for babies and young children, because I designed the flat turtles to match my original Baby Sea Turtle Collection in size, shape and style, you can make a blanket with applique turtles and gift it together with one or two matching amigurumi baby sea turtles to play with!

Purchase Options

• If you already have the Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué pattern (pictured at top, above), you can buy the Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings Expansion Pack (lower row, above) for only $3 individually from the shop.
• If you haven’t yet bought the Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué pattern, you can buy the multipack of Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué & Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings, and save an extra dollar on the pair!

Launch Discount

Now, if you’ve already bought the Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué pattern, you won’t be able to save that dollar. But, for 7 days only, add the Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings Expansion Pack pattern to your shopping cart, together with anything else (totalling $5 or more), then use the code TURTLEPOWER at checkout and you’ll still get your discount! (Valid until next Wednesday: 15th September 2021.)

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 Baby Sea Turtle appliqués just yet, don’t forget to heart and queue the pattern on Ravelry so you don’t forget about it:

Baby Sea Turtle Hatchlings: 

Baby Sea Turtle Appliqué:

I hope you’ll enjoy adding these turtles to your next beach blanket!

Which do you prefer: the flat or stuffed turtles? (Or both?!) Would you like to see more PlanetJune Appliqué patterns, or should I focus only on amigurumi designs?

Do let me know what you think in the comments…

Ready for some cuteness? Fuzzy Hedgehog is a simple and adorable pattern that makes the most of a novelty textured yarn such as eyelash or fur! From realistic shades to bright and colourful options, there are no wrong choices to make – any novelty yarn looks good as hedgehog spines.

With just two pieces to stitch together, you’ll be able to whip up the sweetest little hedgehog buddy in no time, sized to fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. The ears are crocheted as you go, so all you need to do is stitch the head to the body and you’re done.

Please don’t be scared of eyelash-type yarn – with a simple pattern like this, it’s fine if you skip or add a stitch here or there! Using your start-of-round stitch marker means you can add a quick increase or decrease to get back to the right number of stitches at the end of each round, so no harm done – nobody will ever know! And the effect is absolutely perfect for hedgehog spines.

As I like to reward people who choose to donate for my donationware patterns, the PDF version of the Fuzzy Hedgehog pattern also includes additional instructional photos and my bonus ‘About Fuzzy Patterns’ PDF, which compiles all my tips on working with fuzzy yarns. As always, the pattern is free for you to use online, 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 with the bonuses.

Go to the free Fuzzy Hedgehog pattern >>

Or jump straight to donate:

Order the Fuzzy Hedgehog pattern >>

Not ready to make one yet? Add this pattern to your Ravelry queue:

Join Team PlanetJune for the Ravellenic Games!

If you’re new to the Ravellenic Games, the idea is to challenge yourself by starting and finishing project(s) during the timeframe of a certain summer 2021 global sports event (July 23 – August 8). It’s just for fun, like a CAL but you get to choose your own projects, and you’ll be awarded virtual medals for projects you complete. Join Team PlanetJune and you can crochet anything PlanetJune during this timeframe – including a Fuzzy Hedgehog for the ‘Toy Toss’ event – and your teammates will cheer you on as you race to the finish!

For more info on how this all works, see the Team PlanetJune FAQ, or ask in the Team PJ thread on ravelry – my amazing co-Captains and I are standing by and waiting to help.

Please join us in the PlanetJune group on Ravelry and post to the Team PlanetJune thread to register as part of the team! The games begin on Friday (but latecomers are welcome too). I hope to see you there – it’ll be fun for us to all crochet together this summer 🙂