Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Susan McCarthy from Norfolk MA. I always love to see people using my potted plant crochet patterns in new and creative ways, and Susan’s fabulous multi-tier succulent display definitely fits that bill!

I’ll let Susan explain:

I belong to the Garden Club of Norfolk (Massachusetts) and each month someone signs up to do a display for our town’s library. I decided to crochet a succulent display for the month of June. And for a week in June 2023, the Garden Club and Library cohosted Books in Bloom, where a dozen designers from the Club made floral displays inspired by a book…so my crocheted succulent display got to do double-duty and be part of the show as well.

I crocheted 46 plants for the three-tiered display. The top tier used June’s pattern for the large pot. I then expanded on the pattern to make the two larger pots for the middle and base. I inserted a circle of plastic canvas and a couple of stockings filled with plastic pellets to the bottom pot to keep the piece stable.

Well over a hundred hours of work done here and there over months (with, of course, some power crocheting two weeks before it was due for display!) I got so many compliments on the final piece. And I credited June on the card that sat with the display.

Thank you June for creating such wonderful patterns!

(Back to me, June, again!)

I love this display so much, and that it was part of the Books in Bloom Library show! You can see how much work Susan put into this, and it was definitely worth it to create such an amazing eye-catching project. Isn’t it wonderful?

Susan, I’m not surprised you’ve been showered with compliments about this piece! And thank you so much for sharing your story with us today 🙂

Please leave Susan a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

PS – If you’d like to crochet your own succulent display, Susan used the patterns from Succulent Collections 1, 2, 3 and 4 in her display, and you can find all those patterns (and more!) at www.planetjune.com/cacti!

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Ann Rowley in the UK. Ann first contacted me to ask for some advice on upsizing my Orca (Killer Whale) pattern to Giant scale.

I cautioned that, in Giant scale, the Orca would take a lot of yarn and likely be over 3 feet long! Even so, Ann thought that it would make a perfect gift to give to her 12 year old great niece who loves sea animals, saying “I’ve ordered the yarn as she is very worth it. I must admit I’m now a bit worried that I won’t manage it but I’ll give it a go”.

Armed with my Orca pattern and Complete Guide to Giant Amigurumi ebook, Ann got to work, and, just a few days later, she emailed me again with photos of the result! I was so impressed, I knew you’d love to see her amazing Giant Orca too.

Over to Ann:

The Orca is 38” long nose to tail.

I used 596 grams of Bernat Blanket in black (phew just made it from 2 balls) and 94 grams in white, plus a bit of scrap aran/worsted in black and white for the eyes.

I did try to follow the pattern exactly apart from not cutting yarn on every colour change.

The Orca was gifted to my 12 year old great niece who loved it. She is now named Orla the Orca. Several names starting with O were tried, some male as well, but apparently she’s an Orla. I am very happy as this might possibly be the last year she wants a giant crocheted animal, next year as a teenager they just might not be cool.

My nephew commented how he liked the eyes! A relief as I didn’t think they showed much.

Thank you so much for such a fantastic pattern. Easy to follow and a great result. I can imagine some baby orcas coming along…

(Back to me, June, again!)

Doesn’t it look fantastic? I’m thrilled with how well it turned out – you did a great job, Ann! At 38″ (97cm) long, this truly is a GIANT Orca, and I bet your great-niece will treasure her one-of-a-kind gift forever.

Thank you so much, Ann, for sharing your story with us today 🙂

Please leave Ann a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

PS – If you’d like to make your own giant orca – or any other giant amigurumi! – here are the links to the PlanetJune pattern and ebook that Ann used:

• Orca (Killer Whale) crochet pattern
• The Complete Guide to Giant Amigurumi ebook (including all my techniques and advice for scaling amigurumi patterns up to giant size, plus the patterns for those crocheted eyes in three different sizes!)

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Hils Parker from Ickenham (in the London Borough of Hillingdon, UK), who made this amazing super-sized Discworld to top a post box earlier this year. Just look at this beauty!

I really enjoyed seeing Hils making this amazing project (which she shared in the PlanetJune Discord group), and asked her to share the whole story here with you.

Keep reading to the end to see the topper in place on the post box!

And now, over to Hils, to explain how this all came to be:

In recent years in the UK many groups have sprung up with a habit of yarnbombing their local postboxes. The British postbox is something of a unique design in the world of mailboxes, a very distinctive column shape typically painted red, with a rounded mushroom-like top that just lends itself to decoration! Officially the boxes belong to Royal Mail, but they don’t mind the public adorning them as long as access to the mail slot and door is kept clear of obstruction.

My own postbox topper group started in March 2021, in the midst of Lockdown 3. A desire to do something to bring a smile to the community led to the idea of decorating the 18 postboxes in our area. Fast forward two years, and our group has expanded and gained a multitude of crochet and knitting skills (as well as a little infamy!). We now have a planned timetable for when we’ll make toppers during the year and the themes we’ll follow. For spring 2023 our theme was World Book Day.

For me there could only be one choice – I had to pick Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. I’ve been a fan since being introduced to his books as a teenager, and for years the latest novel was an easy birthday or Christmas gift to give me. I’ve had encounters with Sir Terry on several occasions but sadly never had a chance to properly say hello in person.

I had come across June’s crocheted Discworld some time before, so I knew it would be the perfect place to start looking for inspiration and tips. After reading through her incredibly helpful notes, I unhesitatingly purchased her sea turtle and elephant patterns. But there was one big issue I needed to tackle – the scale. A British postbox is 22″ (56cm) across with a domed top. I needed to make my Discworld much bigger than the original patterns gave hook and yarn measurements for!

I decided to start with the four elephants, and then work out the relative scale of the turtle and disc from those. My first attempt with a 3.5mm hook and DK yarn proved too small. Doubling my yarn to using 2 strands of DK and switching up to a 5mm hook seemed more promising. But what of sizing up Great A’Tuin?

After joining the PlanetJune Discord server, I asked for help in my endeavour. Everyone is lovely and so forthcoming with tips and advice! It’s a fabulous little crochet community there, so I do recommend checking it out.

I can’t say my first shell attempt with an 8mm hook and chunky yarn [pictured above] was especially successful! But using two strands of chunky yarn, and adding an extra fourth round to the hexagons of the shell made it big enough to look substantial on the postbox and fit on the four elephants.

I found working with the chunky yarn and large hook quite tough; I was grateful to be able to give my fingers a rest after completing A’Tuin.

The Disc was a very different challenge to that of scaling up patterns. I decided I wanted to add the various Discworld continents as applique pieces on top of a plain blue crocheted circle ocean. As postboxes are quite tall, adding this relief would hopefully help to make them more visible. I measured how big I needed the disc to be (25cm) and made a brown and blue flat circle which would have plasticard sandwiched between them to provide some structure to the disc and help it survive the outdoor elements.

I scaled up an illustration of the Discworld map to match the size of the disc, printed off a copy and started creating the lands. As these involved quite a lot of small detailing, I switched to using a 3mm hook and a single strand of DK.

Making the continents was an exercise in freehand crochet and very much a case of making it up as I went along! l began at the centre with the hub of the Discworld, Cori Celesti, and radiated out the main landmass from there. I tried to follow the contours of the continent by eye and placed my crochet pieces frequently against the map to check how well they matched. The Unnamed Continent and Klatch were made as one single piece, then the Counterweight Continent and Fourecks as separate pieces, then more individual islands. The underside of the applique pieces became a mass of loose ends to tuck away and use as extra relief as I sewed them on top of the disc!

Postbox toppers require liberal amounts of wire, cocktail sticks and kebab skewers to help support the pieces and fix them to each other, and this one was no different. The final touch after sewing all the pieces together was to brush out an extra round of white yarn I’d crocheted around the edge of the disc to emulate the waterfalls tipping over the edge. I’d say I was perhaps only semi-successful at doing that, I managed to draw blood at one stage! An extra addition of light blue yarn sewn around the edge to secure places where I’d destroyed the stitches from the brushing added some subtle colour changes.

June: I love this brushed Rimfall effect! And here’s the finished project:

The World Book Day toppers were in position for 2-3 weeks around the village in early March, surviving wind, rain and even a sprinkle of snow!

(Back to me, June, again!)

Isn’t that fantastic? I love the special touches Hils added to her Discworld – the 3D effect on the landmasses and that Rimfall are wonderful! And did you notice the ‘starry sky’ background with that sparkly black yarn? Hils had some inspired ideas here – including the title for this story (I’m sure all fellow Pratchett fans will get it, right?)

Thank you so much, Hils, for sharing your story and your impressive project with us today – and well done 🙂
Please leave Hils a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

PS – Inspired to make a Discworld of your own? Read all about my original project – approved by Sir Terry Pratchett himself! – and get the sea turtle and elephant patterns on my amigurumi Discworld info page.

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Diane Theriault from Boston, MA. Diane had the innovative idea to make needlepointed plastic canvas bases for my Succulent Collection crochet patterns, to make them into modular desk displays that can be arranged in multiple configurations, and combined into a giant window display.

This is such a clever concept, and I knew you’d love to see it too. Maybe you’ll be inspired to try it for yourself!

Over to Diane:

I first made an instance of the original succulent pattern (the 4 plants in the pot) for my advisor in 2013 and then I made a set of singles in little pots for my labmates in 2015. My main innovation is mounting the succulents on top of little rectangles of needlepointed plastic canvas, which has been working well for me for making modular rearrangeable desk displays.

I had an overuse injury in 2017 so I couldn’t crochet for a few years, and I started nine months of hand OT in mid-2021 because I wanted to be able to do it again! After a lot of physical therapy, the succulent pieces were a good reentry project because they had lots of natural stopping places, while something larger would be tempting to keep going even when I should stop.

I looked at a lot of pictures from companies selling succulents to decide what colors to use. I mostly used a variety of colors from the Vanna’s Choice line of Lion Brand yarn, with a couple of Red Heart colors. Sticking with mostly colors from the same line of yarn was useful because all the colors went together nicely.

Since the display I imagined was a lot larger than the little pots, I wanted some of the plants to be a little bigger. I improvised a couple of larger leaf sizes for some of the plants, and lots of strands – and longer strands – for the trailing plants.

I had done the plants in the crocheted pots before and it was more crochet than I thought my wrist would tolerate, so I decided to try plastic canvas. I was concerned about the plastic tearing, so I needlepointed it for structural support (and to make it a nicer color).

I chose the sizes for the bases by tacking the plants down and seeing if they fell over or not. They are in a variety of sizes between 2×2″ and 3×3″.

The trailing plants are mostly on 2″x3″ bases. If the stems are hanging down without support, the bases need to be oriented long-ways towards the edge of the surface, because otherwise, the weight of the stems will pull them over, even if they are sitting flat.

Each little base takes 30 – 60 minutes to needlepoint, depending on size.

I started this project in Feb 2022 and finished most of the plants and bases by May. When I tried to arrange the plants in the window, I found that the taller plants fell over because the ledge was too steep, so I decided that I needed to make a planter to get them up higher and reduce the angle.

Meanwhile, I started taking little selections of plants to work for displays on my desk.

Needlepointing the big pieces for the planter took quite a while, and was less fun than making the plants so it didn’t go as fast, but I think the final effect is pretty good. I used a piece of oak deck trim to provide structural stability – cheaper than a dowel and more sturdy. I declared victory on the planter in October.

It took a lot of volume to fill the planter so the plants would sit on top and be visible. I basically made a lot of pom poms from yarns I had laying around that I didn’t like, with a top layer of pom poms in the matching brown color.

Thank you June for all your beautiful patterns and meticulously executed instructions!

(Back to me, June, again!)

Aren’t these projects wonderful? The needlepointed bases are a clever and unique touch, the modular desk display looks like it’d be fun to play with and rearrange, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the finished succulent window planter is spectacular!

Thank you so much, Diane, for sharing your story and inspirational photos with us today 🙂
Please leave Diane a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

PS – As you can see, my crocheted succulent patterns are very versatile! You can use them individually or in a potted succulent garden as I show in the patterns, or you can keep making more and more of your favourites, to fill any space. You can find all the mix-and-match PlanetJune Cactus and Succulent Collection crochet patterns in my shop 🙂

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Belinda from Australia. Belinda first contacted me when she’d made her turtle beach blanket and wanted some advice on the turtles, then she stayed in touch with her progress on the baby turtles, and her clever idea for a matching turtle heat pack. I knew you’d love to see this project too, and to hear about how she came up with this idea and made it happen!

Over to Belinda:

Between gifts for my children and other family members, I rarely make things for myself, but when I saw a friend’s Turtle Beach blanket, I loved it so much that I made one for myself.

I crocheted the blanket and turtles with 8-ply cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills. While mostly made while waiting at school pick up and in doctors’ surgeries, I also crocheted the blanket at every beach I went to, including Peterborough in Victoria, Penguin in Tasmania, and Geographe Bay in Western Australia. I used June’s technique of attaching the baby turtles with buttons so they can, and do, move around.

Once the blanket and baby turtles were complete, I realised they needed a companion. I hoped to make a cushion, so I bought the AquaAmi and Simple-Shell Sea Turtle patterns.

The turtle pattern didn’t prove big enough for a cushion, so I made a heat pack! The shell, head, legs and tail are crocheted with 10-ply cotton held double, and a 5.5 mm hook. To make sure the heat would be close to the surface, I crocheted the tummy with one strand of yarn and a 7 mm hook. Other than that, I did not make any changes to the pattern.

I sewed a little canvas shape and filled it with wheat, then put it against the tummy side, packed polyester stuffing between it and the upper shell, then attached the head. I used plastic backed eyes. It’s been in the microwave quite a few times and seems no worse for wear.

I usually use a heat pack when I have a sore tummy and am feeling a bit sorry for myself. Having a warm, friendly turtle looking after me is lovely at a moment when I need that extra bit of care.

I love June’s patterns, and I love my toasty turtle!

(Back to me, June, again!)

I love your idea, Belinda! It’s such a good idea to make the turtle into a heat pack – I’d never have thought of that, but I think I might need to make one for myself now – a warm cuddly turtle to soothe a sore tummy sounds very appealing 🙂

(And isn’t that long narrow blanket the perfect shape for lying on the sofa? This entire project is very cozy and snuggly!)

Thank you so much, Belinda, for sharing your story with us today 🙂
Please leave Belinda a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

PS – If you’d like to make your own turtle beach blanket and/or toasty turtle, here are the links to all the PlanetJune crochet patterns Belinda used:

• Ribbed Ripple/Turtle Beach blanket
• Baby Sea Turtle Collection
• AquaAmi & Simple-Shell Sea Turtles

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Maureen Carter, a crochet enthusiast from Grosse Pointe Woods, MI. Last year, Maureen tagged me on Facebook with this picture of an incredibly colourful armadillo she had crocheted using my pattern and based on a child’s drawing:

…and I just had to reach out to her to find out more about the story behind this incredible project!

Over to Maureen:

I learned how to crochet when I was 12 years old but have only been doing amigurumi in the last 4 years. I used to make mostly slippers, hats, mittens, blankets, scarves, sweaters, ponchos. Now I do a lot of amigurumi as well. It is a lot of fun seeing all the little parts come to life as a stuffed animal. My crochet teacher always said, “Make joy with your crochet.” Amigurumi always brings joy to those that receive the finished projects.

I have relatives in California who were involved with helping support and promote an online fundraiser by the Dominican Sisters Vision of Hope, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support several Catholic schools in the Los Angeles area and the San Francisco-Oakland California area. One of my sisters invited me to participate in the online auction.

One of the features of the auction was artwork made and donated by students in the schools supported by the auction. I was very taken with a colorful drawing called “Oaxacan Armadillo” by a first grade student, Isabella. I placed a bid for her drawing in the auction and was so happy to be the successful bidder.

“Oaxacan Armadillo” by Isabella

When the framed artwork arrived at my home I came up with the idea that this artwork could be transformed into an amigurumi replica that I could send as a surprise to Isabella. I looked for armadillo crochet patterns and decided that I could work with June’s pattern as the base, but incorporate the colors and designs from Isabella’s drawing.

I have followed June’s work and often watched her tutorials and lessons on how to do certain stitches and techniques. I was happy to find her pattern which was a great help to bring this drawing to life. June’s armadillo design was the perfect one to use as my base, especially since the armor shell is made as a separate piece that attaches after it’s all done.

The PlanetJune Armadillo crochet pattern

I made each leg a different color with 3 toes, and made the ears and eyes and facial expression to match Isabella’s drawing as closely as possible. The color I added to the armor was achieved partly by crocheting in stripes, then I made small appliques and sewed them on and did some surface crochet to get the shapes and colors that were used in the drawing.

It took me 2-3 weeks working intermittently to recreate the armadillo. I also had a color copy of the drawing made up to send with the crocheted armadillo. I mailed it to Isabella in the care of her school principal. It was presented to her at school.

I sent a note thanking her for making the beautiful colorful drawing and sharing it with the fundraiser for her school. I encouraged her to continue to have fun making beautiful things using her imagination and talent. I told her that when I see it on my fireplace mantle every day, it brings me joy.

I recently received a note back from Isabella and her mother. Isabella’s handwritten note says:

Dear Ms. Maureen,
Thank you for my armadillo. I really like it. I like how it looks exactly like my drawing and it turned out very colorful. It is very special to me.
Love, Isabella

Her mom also sent a beautiful note thanking me for making the armadillo for Isabella, which she named “Alice.”

I loved Isabella’s artwork right away the first moment I saw it. I felt compelled to do something to express how much I admired her work and that I hope she continues to enjoy drawing and making things. I thought I could do it justice as a crocheted stuffed animal that she might like, so I gave it a try. It was a happy and moving experience for both of us.

(Back to me, June, again!)

I love everything about this story – it’s such a fun project, and isn’t the story behind it fantastic?! Both Maureen and Isabella are wonderfully creative, and I’m so happy my armadillo pattern contributed to their collaboration.

Part of the joy I find in having a clean and simple design style is seeing how people choose to adapt, embellish and modify my PlanetJune patterns – and I’m sure you’ll agree that Maureen’s armadillo is a prime example of that creativity.

Thank you so much, Maureen, for sharing your story with us today 🙂
Please leave Maureen a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

Today’s PlanetJune Story shows how easily you can brighten someone’s day with crochet. When Nancy Smith, the chairman for the Crochet Guild of America’s Chapter Challenge, contacted me in February to ask for permission for the CGOA to use my Love Hearts pattern as a way for their members to give back to their communities, I never dreamt it would lead to such an amazing result!

Let’s hear from Nancy:

The Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) is a national organization of local crochet guilds located in almost all 50 states of USA. CGOA also hosts a national conference called Chain Link held in different locations each summer that includes classes of various skills, stitches, and techniques, a Design Contest, a fashion show and banquet, and a ‘Meet and Greet’ to possibly sell your designs to publishers, yarn companies and/or magazines. There is also a Masters Program which tests your skills in all aspects of crochet from stitches to gauge to finishing techniques. Be brave! Check it out!

Each year, CGOA challenges the chapters to give back to their local communities by participating in the CGOA Chapter Challenge which selects a project for all interested chapters to make.

Each project is selected with a particular need in mind. Past years have included chemo hats, preemie blankets, squares for afghans, and scarves. This year was a bit different since a lot of places were not accepting physical items due to COVID-19 protocols. But June Gilbank of Planet June came to our rescue by allowing us to use her Love Hearts pattern for the Challenge.

The hearts could be distributed as a group project if there were places near each chapter that were accepting items, along with individual members passing them out to total strangers, family, friends, neighbors, hospitals workers, doctor offices, fire houses, etc.

At first, members were kind of skeptical about the project, but some that handed the hearts out individually reported the results/reactions back to their chapters, and the interest really took off. The smiles and reactions from the recipients were well worth the work!

There were 12,798 hearts made for this Challenge! Besides being individually handed out, hearts were disbursed to an entire elementary school, to Meals on Wheels, to assisted living centers, nursing homes, animal shelters, special education centers, teachers for Teacher Appreciation Day, church meetings, and being attached to future donation projects each chapter makes.

June’s pattern was fast and easy to make, and the chapters were told to use whatever yarns and hook sizes they wanted, which created a variety of sizes and colors besides the three sizes June has in the pattern.

CGOA and its’ chapters send a big THANK YOU to June for so generously allowing us to use her pattern!

For more information about CGOA, and possibly starting your own local chapter, here are the links:

• Crochet Guild of America (CGOA)
• How to Start a CGOA Chapter – Crochet Guild of America (CGOA)
• CGOA Masters Programs – Crochet Guild of America (CGOA)

Nancy Smith
CGOA Chapter Challenge Chairman

A few more photos, shared with permission from the participating chapters:

New York City Crochet Guild, Manhattan NY

Northern Illinois Crochet Guild, Rolling Meadows (a suburb of Chicago) IL

Happily Hooked on Crochet Guild, Danbury CT

The Happy Hookers, Atlanta GA

Northern Kentucky Crochet Guild, Burlington KY

Ebenezer Angelic Crocheters, Washington DC

Crocheters of the Lakes, Lake County IL

New Mexico Crochet Guild, Albuquerque NM

Crochet Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St Paul MN

And here’s the video of the Challenge results:

(Back to me, June, again!)

Well over twelve thousand crocheted hearts – isn’t that incredible! Congratulations to all the participating CGOA chapters – your generosity and kindness has touched so many deserving people. I’m honoured that my Love Hearts pattern continues to be used in such meaningful ways.

Thank you so much, Nancy, for sharing your report – and for choosing to use my pattern for such a successful Chapter Challenge 🙂
Please leave Nancy and the CGOA members a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

PS – If you’re feeling inspired to bring some smiles to your community with crocheted hearts, you can find my Love Hearts crochet pattern here. 🙂

Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Dorte Jensen in Denmark, who used a selection of my crochet patterns to create this gorgeous realistic fishbowl!

I’ll let Dorte explain how this project came to be:

My husband saw your tropical fish patterns and said that they were so cute and that he wanted these fish made for his birthday. I don’t remember when the idea came for me to use a real fishbowl for them.

My plan required some plants for the bottom of the bowl. I had seen your succulent collection 1 and 2 and I really wanted to crochet them but had never found the time for them. I realized that I could use those plants for the fishbowl. I also came up with my own idea for a plant that the red fish could hide in.

I didn’t have “earth” to sew the plants onto so they would stand up straight. I made a white circle to sew them onto that I could hide beneath the stones in the bottom of the bowl.

I suspended the fish using fishing line – I thought that would be most invisible. Then some dots of glue on the edge of the fishbowl to keep the line and the fish in place. I used a line across the fishbowl so the clownfish could hang in the middle of the bowl.

Finally I just want to say that both the fish and the plants were so much fun to crochet, and your crochet tutorials have taught me a lot. It is always a great pleasure to follow your great, well-explained and well constructed patterns.

(Back to me, June, again!)

Thank you so much, Dorte! Isn’t this a fabulous project? Beautifully crocheted, and using the large glass fishbowl with real stones in the bottom was an effective way to add to the realism of this display.

I think the succulents and her clever plant design look perfect in there too. I was surprised to see how well my succulent patterns stand in for corals and aquatic plants (and yes, in case you’re wondering, I do have some real coral patterns planned for some point in the future too…)

I hope these beautiful colourful fish have brightened your day (and maybe even inspired you to make a crocheted aquarium of your own?) Please leave Dorte a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

PS – If you’re looking for the PlanetJune patterns featured above, you can find all my Tropical Fish and Succulent crochet patterns in my shop 🙂