Summer isn't usually considered "crochet season" since you typically think of crocheted projects as cold weather ones. Hats, scarfs and afghans.  But today I'm turning that notion on its ear.   There are lots of great ideas for crocheted projects you can use year round.   And if you add an American flag motif to your designs it fits perfectly into the fourth of July or Memorial day. 

Now that you have an excuse to crochet in the summer, to grab your crochet hook, some red, white and blue yarn and start your first chain!

10 Patriotic Stars and Stripes Crochet Project Ideas 

Earlier this month when I was sharing my Rae Dunn inspired Easter eggs, I got a few comments on these life sized crocheted carrots I had used in the photo.

I have been creating on a series of stuffie veggies for Instagram, and these carrots were one of the patterns I’ve worked out.  So just in time for Easter I am sharing the pattern with you.   The work up really quickly and they are SO FREAKING CUTE!!

Today's project is the PERFECT first time crocheted amigurumi (stuffed doll/object) for new or even seasoned crocheters.  It only requires you to know three stitches.. single crochet, single crochet increase and single crochet decrease.  Doesn't get much easier than that!


I had a lot of fun making these, especially since the pattern is so simple that you can do it anywhere. I was dragging my pills from the coffee shop to the side of my kids’ soccer games.  Anywhere I went I was crocheting away..

You guys! I just can’t stop crocheting.. I am becoming OBSESSED.  I now carry a ball of yarn and a hook with me everywhere I go:

A spare minute sitting in the carpool line? Crochet
At the doctor’s office waiting room:  Crochet.
Watching soccer practice: Crochet.

I haven’t been working on anything earth shattering.  Just little amigurumi mostly. Patterns that I make up as I go (since dealing with a pattern when you are only getting a few rows or stitches in at a time is a pain!)

I’ve been scouring Ravelry and Pinterest for ideas fo St. Patrick’s day and wanted to share some of my favorites!  I am not sure I’ll make any of these designs exactly, but I’m getting some great ideas for my own designs:

This was such a fun and super quick project, I whipped it up a crocheted basket (or maybe it is more of a bowl) in under 2 hours and it used EXACTLY one skein of yarn with zero waste! (Those are the kind of projects I love.)


It is a super simple crocheted basket or bowl made from t-shirt yarn.  The yarn makes the bowl really stiff which is perfect since you can get a great geometric shape that won’t collapse on itself. (I'm including the instructions below but you can download the free printable pattern at the end of the post. )

The yarn I used was Zpagetti by Hoooked Yarn. I love that this yarn is made from leftover fabric from European textile factories and so I know the labor practices used in it’s manufacture are safe and legal (no child or unpaid labor).

Hoooked is a European company, but you can buy their products on Amazon or by ordering from them directly. They also make adorable little amigurmi kits with their yarns, which is another way to try them out;

How to crochet a t-shirt yarn basket

The pattern from the bowl starts with a simple circle (I use continuous loops)

I used a 6.5MM hook, and the stitches were pretty tight. You could use a larger hook, but you may need more yarn.

R1: SC6 (single crochet) into a MagicRing (6)

R2: SC2 in every stitch (12)



R3: SC2 in every stitch (24)

R4: SC2 in every stitch (48) slip stitch ring ‘closed'

(This last row will probably start to curve upa little, which gives the basket the ‘round’ bottom. The “right” side of your work will be the inside bottom of the bowl, the “wrong side” will be touching the table, therefore the outside of the bowl is also the ‘wrong’ side.)

R5: In BLO (back loop only) SC1 in every stitch (48)

R6:  SC1 in every stitch (both loops) (48)

R7: In FLO (front loop only) SC1 in every stitch (48)

I wanted a pattern in the crochet (and I wanted to extend the yarn to finish a complete row) so the final row is partially decorative.

R8: *In BLO SC1, CH1 (chain), skip next stitch* Repeat 24 times (48)

Invisible finish off.

You could also weave a second color of t-shirt yarn though the CH1 spaces left in the final row. I used some white to demonstrate what it would look like:
But I think I like it plain.

A super simple project for a pretty little basket!   Get the printable easy-to-follow instructions in PDF form by email:

For years and years and YEARS I have been trying to learn crochet.  I have always admiring my crafty friends who could whip up the most adorable crochet projects. I’ve take at least three in-person classes and watched countless youtube videos, but I just never got the hang of it.

That was UNTIL recently I signed up to take Kim Werker’s “Crochet: basics & beyond” on Craftsy.  She went so slowly and explained WHY you need to do certain stitches and what they all mean.  For some reason, a light just went on!

And now I’m OBSESSED.  (Seriously.. On craft store trips I’ve been hanging around the yarn aisle for way too long!)