25+ Beginner-Friendly Crochet Projects to Try This Year

I started crocheting right after Christmas in 2023, getting my first crochet set from Amazon of all places for $14 with terrible yarn but surprisingly long-lasting hooks (they’re still with me now and working fine).

But, everything was self-taught (except the magic ring/circle, which was help from a friend and lots of YouTube videos) and while it’s not necessarily a must to create things since this was a hobby picked up to bring me joy, I did want to share the stuff I created over the past year as a beginner.

This way, you’ll get to see a realistic beginner project (amongst other things) as well as see where I find my favorite crochet patterns and if they’re as difficult or time-consuming as they look.

I’m not including unfinished projects—just the fully-done ones. I could create so many blog posts covering my work in progress that we’d be here all day.

But, let’s get into all my beginner-friendly crochet projects of 2024:

January – March: The Start of it All

I would love to say that all my first projects were amazing, but they definitely were not—but, that’s okay, they get better as you scroll through the page. Also, I took some bad pictures and not all of the things I created were patterns—they just came from my brain.

Maybe by the end of this year, I’ll have a few patterns of my own (outside of this super simple cutie frog pattern). Let’s get into it:

#1. The Pink Dinosaur

This cutie was made with Bernat Baby Blanket 300g Raspberry Kisses Yarn and Lion Brand Yarn (1 Skein) Go for Faux Bulky Yarn, Pink Poodle—mostly because they were both on clearance. The pattern was a free one I found on YouTube by One Cent Crochet.

I found it incredibly confusing at the time (although I guess I should reattempt now) and made a lot of wonky mistakes as the placement of the head isn’t very specific in the instructions.

#2. The Bobble Purse

This is one of the first patterns to come out of my brain! I didn’t have any pictures, but I did make some cute little baby booties for my youngest in the same yarn before this, and is where I learned how to do the bottom. It’s the same Bernat Baby Blanket 300g Raspberry Kisses Yarn, too.

This was my first new stitch learned!! The bobble lol.

#3. The Velvet Bobble Purse

I loved this so much (and so did my daughter) that I officially did my first yarn shopping trip to Joanns and grabbed this Bernat Baby Velvet in Moss, I think Rose, and white. I refined my technique a little and got started, but this is by far one of my personal favorites and is still holding together extremely well!

#4. The Heart Purse

Can you tell I was on a purse DIY binge? I looked up how to do these little hearts with the single crochet stitches and used the plush yarn from Joanns. I don’t think this one turned out AS good, but it was still a fun thing to try.

#5. The Little Velvet Frog

This lil guy was so cute and I loved it. This pattern was one I found for free on Instagram and I wish I could find him again. But, he was also one of the first crochet gifts I gave for a friend’s birthday!

I used a Juicy Couture sparkle mini velvet in a dark green which came out beautifully.

#6. Big Plush Frogger

This was one of my completed crochet failures. Same pattern from above but with bigger yarn and very obviously some missteps. But, my kid appreciated him and I was more than happy to let him play with it!

Plus, his appreciation made me not feel like a crochet failure, so that helped!

#7. Big Frogger Attempt #2

Big Frogger #2 had some similarities to the og baby frog but had a lot of changes and new things to make the bigger yarn work (now, I know my hook size was wrong and I skipped things, but oh well).

This guy is the start of my own Frogger pattern and my lil creativity.

#8. Mini Octopi

Another free pattern I found was this pocket octopus by Hooked and Beyond and of course used the velvet yarn I had on hand instead of the plush.

#9-#10. Mini Octopi x 2

This led to me obsessively creating a few more because why not and took up two (I think actually three, but I can’t find the picture) of my next few projects. But it’s okay because it’s adorable.

They’re also my last official project of January!!

#12. The Velvet Turtle

February kicked off with this cutie turtle that I’m pretty sure was also a free pattern that I can no longer find! This was one of the more complicated projects I’d done at this point and I think it turned out pretty well!

I gifted it to my dad who said my grandmother promptly borrowed it.

#13. The Velvet Strawberry

This is one of the longest projects I completed in 2024 and one of my absolute favorites. I adjusted a paid pattern for a plush strawberry by DoubleDutchCrochetCo. This was an easy, bigger project for beginners and only required one skein of the velvet pink I had which was a win!

#14. Plush Bunney Lovey

This plush Bunny Lovey (a pattern from Mod Threads) was my first attempt at a completed lovey. I’m not super impressed by it (and I learned the importance of the right hook size), but my daughter loved it and that’s all that matters!

#15. Weird Baby Bunny

Another free pattern I found but can’t find again, but this bunny pattern was pretty easy to complete and I used whatever yarn I could find—it was more of a throwaway project than anything else.

#16-17. The Bobble Paci Clip

One of the first projects I created that also required buying an additional hardware piece (the actual clip for the paci clip), but it was one of my favorites and most used projects! I found the pattern on Etsy from KneeldesandLife.

#18. The Crochet Headband

I actually loved this project and I have the free pattern listed in my collection of favorite baby crochet headbands, but I truly enjoyed making this one.

#19. The Dinosaur Lovey

My first completed project of March and the lovey I wanted to gift my youngest for her birthday! This one was very time consuming, but it’s one that’s still in good shape to this day and I have the pattern by Mama and Minis in the list of fave dinosaur crochet patterns here.

#20. The Yellow Bunny Lovey

I tend to do the same type of project in bunches, so of course I did another bunny, just this time it was for my grandma. I thought she would love something cute coming up on easter. This was done following the Little Honey Bunney Knotted Lovey Pattern by Mama Made Minis.

It was also my last project of March!

April – June: Slow But Steady Crochet

This was the start of summer and when the littles would be home much more often — meaning I spent most of my free time on client work for The Comma Mama Co clients, not crochet.

That’s not to say I didn’t crochet anything at all, I did. But, it was much less than I did in the beginning of the year and had more unfinished projects than anything else.

Here’s what I made in the second quarter of the year:

#21. Mini Watermelon Crochet

The first completed crochet project of the quarter was for my sister who was looking for some special things for her bows (she owns a bow shop, MK Bowtique, super cute stuff, 10/10 recommend).

I just followed the Fruit Slices pattern by Curious Papaya on Etsy!

#22. Toddler Bucket Hat

This was my pride of the start of summer, a wallflower granny stitch hat. I found the easiest pattern by MJs Off the Hook Designs and ran with it! It fit both my three-year-old and one-year-old easily.

#23. White Toddler Bucket Hat

Of course I couldn’t leave it at one bucket hat, so I did another in white for my littlest to have! I think my stitches were a bit too tight, but overall it turned out well! Maybe I’ll bring the pattern back and do it again this summer.

And it was the last official crochet project of June!

July – September: The WIP (Work-in-Progress)

The only timeframe that I didn’t complete a single crochet project, although I started many. For example, I started working on a pillow cover for a friend, a blanket for my mom, and a blanket for myself (which quickly turned into something larger than a King size and had to be stopped).

But, I did do a lot of other hobbies. I started making bread and creating my own bread machine bread recipes like this garlic cheese bread. I also did a lot of fun Halloween things to prep for October, like this ghost photoshoot or this ghosty mini cake.

Really, I just took a step back and didn’t pressure it. The whole point of having a hobby is to enjoy it and if it feels forced, that’s not really fun, now is it?

October – December: Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

We’re fully back in school, but it was still a slow start getting back into crochet. I was super busy with client work and needed to focus on recovering financially from the two hurricanes that damaged our vehicles.

Plus, it was Halloween, so we spent a lot of time doing little activities with the kids and enjoying the holidays rather than focusing on what I could (or couldn’t) create at the time.

Here’s what I made in the final few months of the year:

#24. The Yellow Christmas Stocking

I made this stocking fr

#25. The Pink Christmas Stocking

Another of the same pattern, but this one is from the Juicy Couture yarn!

#26. Mini Christmas Stocking

A gift for my dad which he ended up forgetting at my house when he returned to his a state away. It will probably live in my home until next Christmas as I’ll likely forget it when I go up to visit in February.

But, this one follows a similar style to the other, but with my own pattern/spacing and a different method of finishing the heel of the sock (I really didn’t enjoy doing it the other way).

So, what did you think of all the projects I accomplished in 2024? Could you see the improvement? And I’m sure there were more, but very few as I love to snap a photo and share with my mom and sister when stuff is complete.

In 2025, I’d love to do more bigger projects—and I’m already on track to! I have a pile of yarn headed my way soon to complete blankets for my clients who sign year-long contracts for blogging, so a great excuse to grab something in my favorite color and make yarn a business expense 😉