If you want to give something you made this Christmas, September and October are when to start. A small amigurumi is an evening or two. A blanket is weeks. The difference between a relaxing autumn of crochet and a panicked December is starting now and knowing roughly what each project costs you in hours.
Here are eight things worth making as gifts, sorted by who you're making them for.
How much time you actually need
- An evening or two: coasters, booties, a small amigurumi, a charm
- A weekend: a plushie with limbs to sew on, a pair of slippers, a small basket
- A week or two of evenings: a tote bag, a cat cave, a bouquet of flowers
- A month or more: a blanket, a cardigan or sweater
Work backwards from the date you need it, and add a week. Gifts always take longer than practice pieces because you keep frogging the bits that aren't quite right.
For a child
1. A teddy bear in pajamas
A teddy in its own little pajamas, which makes it a bedtime toy rather than a shelf toy. If it's for a baby or toddler, embroider the eyes instead of using safety eyes and skip any small removable pieces. Get the Teddy Bear in Pajamas pattern.
2. A sleepy striped cat
A soft striped cat with its eyes closed, made in simple rounds. It is one of the quicker toys here and a good first amigurumi if you have never made one. Get the Sleepy Striped Cat pattern.
3. A lion plushie
The mane is the fun part and the bit that makes this one look properly finished. Give yourself a weekend rather than an evening. Get the Lion Plushie pattern.
For a new baby
4. A daisy granny square blanket
The classic new-parent gift, and the one to start earliest because it is made square by square. The upside is that it is portable — you can carry a few squares in a bag and work on them anywhere. Use a machine-washable yarn; new parents do not hand-wash anything. Get the Daisy Granny Square Baby Blanket pattern.
For someone who feels the cold
5. A pair of scalloped slippers
Slippers are the gift people actually use. They work up in a weekend, they do not need a precise fit the way a garment does, and you can make a pair for everyone in the house in the time a blanket would take. Get the Scalloped Edge Slippers pattern.
For the cat owner
6. A cat cave
A covered bed the cat can sit inside. Worked in a chunky yarn held firm so it holds its shape. Whether the cat uses it is beyond anyone’s control, but the owner will love it. Get the Cat Cave pattern.
For a host, a teacher or a neighbour
7. A bouquet that never wilts
Crocheted lilies and lavender stems, to give on their own or tucked into a jar. It is the gift for people you like but do not know well enough to make a jumper for, and it lasts a lot longer than cut flowers. Get the Lily and Lavender Bouquet pattern.
For anyone at all
8. A granny square tote bag
Hard to get wrong as a gift, and you can match the colours to the person. Squares again, so it is another one you can carry around and work on in pieces. Get the Granny Square Tote Bag pattern.
Five of these in one bundle
If you are making for more than one person, the Christmas Gift Crochet Pattern Bundle puts five of the patterns above into a single PDF — the teddy bear, the sleepy cat, the slippers, the lily and lavender bouquet and the granny square tote. It costs half what the five come to separately, and the file is bookmarked so you can jump straight to whichever one you are starting.
A free one for stocking fillers
Our Flower Coaster Mug Rug pattern is free, and a coaster takes under an hour. Make a set of four, tie them with a ribbon, and you have a small gift for everyone you did not plan for. Our other free crochet patterns are worth a look for the same reason.
Four things worth knowing before you start gift crochet
- Use washable yarn. Nobody hand-washes a gift. Acrylic or a cotton blend that survives a machine is kinder than a wool they will ruin in January.
- Buy all your yarn at once. Dye lots vary, and running out halfway through a blanket in December is genuinely painful.
- Make the same thing twice. The second one is always faster and neater. If you are making gifts for several people, repeating one pattern beats starting five different ones.
- Write a care note. A small card saying what the yarn is and how to wash it takes two minutes and doubles the life of the gift.
Start your Christmas list
Browse all our Christmas gift ideas — every one is an instant PDF download in US crochet terms, so you can start tonight. Still in October mode? We have Halloween patterns too.