Each month in 2023 I’m sharing a Temperature Snake CAL roundup with a collage of some of our snakes’ progress – even if you aren’t joining in, I think you’ll enjoy seeing all the snakes growing throughout the year!

We’re three quarters through the CAL now, and, at 273 body rounds, it’s no wonder our snakes are long enough to be tied in knots! Here’s the September collage from some of the latest photos that have been posted. These are taken from the CAL threads on Discord and Ravelry, plus some from people who’ve tagged me (@PlanetJune) on FB and IG or emailed to me:

Click to see the full-size collage

Can you spot your snake?

The snakes are becoming more spectacular with each month that passes, don’t you think? I love how stripey and bendy they are, and how creative our CALers are getting with their photos!

If you’ve got behind on your snake, you’re not alone, and we understand! Come and join us in the PlanetJune community groups, and we’ll give you some support and encouragement as you catch up – just add a few extra rounds a day, and you’ll be up to date again in no time. Now is the perfect time to get back into it so you’re all caught up before the busy holiday season begins.

And, if you’d like your snake to be included in the next monthly roundup, please post an up-to-date pic (or email it directly to me: june@planetjune.com) by 9am EST on November 3rd. Do remember to tag or DM me (@PlanetJune) if you post on social, and make your post public, or I won’t see your pic.

Each month in 2023 I’m sharing a Temperature Snake CAL roundup with a collage of some of our snakes’ progress – even if you aren’t joining in, I think you’ll enjoy seeing all the snakes growing throughout the year!

We’re two thirds through the CAL now, and our snakes are getting seriously long! Here’s the August collage from some of the latest photos that have been posted. These are taken from the CAL threads on Discord and Ravelry, plus some from people who’ve tagged me (@PlanetJune) on FB and IG or emailed to me:

Click to see the full-size collage

Can you spot your snake?

I love all the snakey poses – the roundups are only getting more fun to look through as the year progresses, don’t you think?

August has been a bit quiet in the crochet-along, with fewer photos than usual in this collage. I’d like to think the other CALers have been enjoying their vacations, and leaving their snakes at home. But now we’re into September – the start of the prime crochet season – so if you’ve let your snake lapse over the summer, maybe it’s time to pick it back up and enjoy crocheting some more colourful stripes?

If you’re making a Temperature Snake too, please join us in the PlanetJune community groups, share your snake’s progress with us all, and get chatting with our friendly community. We’ll cheer you on if you have some catching up to do!

And, if you’d like your snake to be included in the next monthly roundup, please post an up-to-date pic (or email it directly to me: june@planetjune.com) by 9am EST on October 3rd. Do remember to tag or DM me (@PlanetJune) if you post on social, or I won’t see your pic.

Each month in 2023 I’m sharing a Temperature Snake CAL roundup with a collage of some of our snakes’ progress – even if you aren’t joining in, I think you’ll enjoy seeing all the snakes growing throughout the year!

Yep, the months are flying by, and somehow it’s roundup time again! Here’s the July collage from some of the latest photos that have been posted. These are taken from the CAL threads on Discord and Ravelry, plus some from people who’ve tagged me (@PlanetJune) on FB and IG or emailed to me:

Click to see the full-size collage

Can you spot your snake?

At this length, they’re starting to look very snakey, and it’s so much fun bending them into different shapes that have different overlapping colours. Everyone has used almost all their colours by now, so our snakes are at peak colour! Now we just need to watch and wait and see what happens with the colours as they continue to grow for the rest of the year…

If you’re making a Temperature Snake too, please join us in the PlanetJune community groups, share your snake’s progress with us all, and get chatting with our friendly community.

And, if you’d like your snake to be included in the next monthly roundup, please post an up-to-date pic (or email it directly to me: june@planetjune.com) by 9am EST on September 3rd. Do remember to tag me (@PlanetJune) if you post on social, or I won’t see your pic.

I didn’t plan to release any new patterns while I’m deep in the book-writing process, but I had a request in the PJ Discord group for a miniature snake to match my Temperature Snakes and… well, I couldn’t resist! And here’s the result:

Baby Snake is small but perfectly proportioned no-sew baby snake. The narrow body makes it easy to pose in a variety of realistic positions, and you can make your snakes as long or short as you want.

PlanetJune Snakes

I designed Baby Snake to be a perfect miniature version of the snakes in my Temperature Snake and Snake Collection patterns (see photos, below, for size comparison), and you can also use all the striping ideas from those patterns for your baby snakes.

A Baby Snake looks so tiny compared with a Large Temperature Snake!

Choose the right colour of variegated yarn and you have an easy baby Corn Snake to match the big one in the Snake Collection pattern!

And, if you’re making a Temperature Snake this year, you might also like this idea: a Baby Temperature Snake! Spectrum Jr (below) uses the Baby Snake pattern combined with the temperature snake concept for the body rounds: one round per week, using the ‘Most Extreme’ averaging option from the Temperature Snake pattern (max in summer, min in winter, avg in shoulder seasons). SJ has the same temperature readings and yarn colours as his mama, so he’s a miniature representation of my temperatures last year:

Tip: 52 body rounds is the perfect length for a baby snake, although I think 102 rounds with 2 temp readings per week would have given more variety in the colours, so I’d recommend trying that if you want a more long and interesting baby temperature snake.

Make a Snake!

Are you tempted to crochet a super-poseable baby snake (or several)? As you can see, there’s a lot you can do with this simple but well-shaped pattern, just by choosing different yarns to crochet with – and it works up so quickly, with no sewing!

As I like to reward people who choose to donate for my donationware patterns, the PDF version of the Baby Snake pattern also includes additional tips that you’ll only find in the PDF version (instructions for managing the tiny eyes and choosing variegated yarns), 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 Baby Snake pattern >>

Or jump straight to donate:

Order the Baby Snake pattern >>

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

I can’t wait to see your baby snakes! Don’t forget to share them in the PlanetJune Community groups, and tag me (@planetjune) whenever you post pics on social!

Each month in 2023 I’m sharing a Temperature Snake CAL roundup with a collage of some of our snakes’ progress – even if you aren’t joining in, I think you’ll enjoy seeing all the snakes growing throughout the year!

Can you believe we’re halfway through 2023? Here’s the June collage from some of the latest photos that have been posted. These are taken from the CAL threads on Discord and Ravelry, plus some from people who’ve tagged me (@PlanetJune) on FB and IG or emailed to me:

Click to see the full-size collage

Don’t they look amazing?! Can you spot your snake?

It’s really getting fun now, as our snakes are getting long enough to bend into different shapes, so we’ll be seeing lots of creative photos as the year continues and our snakes grow to be even more poseable!

If you’re making a Temperature Snake too, please join us in the PlanetJune community groups, share your snake’s progress with us all, and get chatting with our friendly community.

And, if you’d like your snake to be included in the next monthly roundup, please post an up-to-date pic (or email it directly to me: june@planetjune.com) by 9am EST on August 3rd. Do remember to tag me (@planetjune) if you post on social, or I won’t see your pic.

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!

Each month in 2023 I’m sharing a Temperature Snake CAL roundup with a collage of some of our snakes’ progress – even if you aren’t joining in, I think you’ll enjoy seeing all the snakes growing throughout the year!

At 5 months through the year, we’re almost halfway through our snakes now! Here’s the May collage from some of the latest photos that have been posted. These are taken from the CAL threads on Discord and Ravelry, plus some from people who’ve tagged me (@PlanetJune) on FB and IG or emailed to me:

Click to see the full-size collage

Good work, everyone! Can you spot your snake?

If you’re making a Temperature Snake too, please join us in the PlanetJune community groups, share your snake’s progress with us all, and get chatting with our friendly community!

And, if you’d like your snake to be included in the next monthly roundup, please post an up-to-date pic (or email it directly to me: june@planetjune.com) by 9am EST on July 3rd. Do remember to tag me (@planetjune) if you post on social, or I won’t see your pic.

Putting together these collages is a real challenge for me, like a strange jigsaw where I have to trim all the pieces to fit as I assemble it. But I think it’s worth it – it’s so cool to see the snakes growing with each month that passes. I try to include as many snakes as possible in each collage, so please do get your pic to me if you can – I love seeing how your snakes are progressing. 🙂

Until now, the puffy seafoam and squared-off edging additions for my Turtle Beach Blanket patterns have been exclusive to the paid version of the original donationware pattern. That’s been confusing people, so I’ve separated out the 3D seafoam and edging instructions into their own PDF.

Now, you can buy the Turtle Beach Seafoam & Edging instructions bundled as an optional add-on when you buy any of the Turtle Beach Blanket patterns, or pick them up as a separate Expansion Pack in the shop. Much simpler!

About the Pattern

Turtle Beach Seafoam & Edging is an Expansion Pack for any of the Turtle Beach Blanket crochet patterns, and includes all the modifications required to add a puffy 3D seafoam effect and/or a squared-off edging to any of the PlanetJune Turtle Beach Blanket crochet patterns.

Both these modifications can be added to a completed Turtle Beach Blanket, so if you’ve already finished your blanket, you can add the seafoam and/or edging at any point in the future!

• Puffy Seafoam: Add a 3-dimensional effect to your Turtle Beach blanket with the puffy seafoam add-on. This includes right- and left-handed instructions in the pattern, and an exclusive video demonstration (with right- and left-handed versions), so you can watch it in action – you’ll find the video links in the pattern!
• Squared-off Edging: Use the edging instructions to square off the rippled top and bottom edges of your blanket, to give it a rectangular shape. (This edging can also form the base row for any deeper crocheted border.)

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 Turtle Beach Seafoam & Edging Expansion Pack for only $2 individually from the shop, or, if you haven’t yet bought any of the Turtle Beach blanket patterns, you can now add it for $1.50 as an optional add-on, just before you add the blanket pattern(s) to your cart.

If you’ve already bought the Classic Blue and/or Teal Ombre Turtle Beach blanket pattern and want to add the seafoam or edging to your blanket, email me (june@planetjune.com) and I’ll send you a discount code to get that extra 50c off your purchase of the new Expansion Pack!

About The Turtle Beach Collection

You can mix and match crochet patterns within my Turtle Beach 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 Seafoam & Edging Expansion Pack (or the original donationware blanket pattern).
• Add any combination of the original 3D stuffed baby sea turtles, the new flat appliqué turtles, and puffy or flat starfish.

Tip: For the best price, buy the multipacks of both blanket patterns and both sea turtle options!

See the entire Turtle Beach crochet pattern collection here >>

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

The patterns in the Turtle Beach Collection continue to be among my most popular designs, and it’s wonderful to see so many beautiful ocean-themed blankets based on my patterns being made all over the world.

Please keep tagging me (@planetjune) whenever you post pics of things you’ve crocheted from my patterns, or, if you’re not active on social media or in the PlanetJune community groups, email a pic to me (june@planetjune.com) – I always love to see what you’ve been making!