Have you ever stopped to consider the wonder of the humble egg? Honestly, I think it’s something I take for granted, literally every day when I make them for breakfast for my family. This beautiful quote sums it up, “If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If an egg is broken by an inside force, then life begins. Great things happen from the inside.” I love that analogy. They are essential for life and they are also an essential fuel source for many! So, why not add this egg free crochet pattern to your little one’s toy food collection?!

Start (and probably finish) this pattern NOW, or PIN it for later here:

Realistic and charming, these farm fresh colored eggs will be a fun addition to the crochet toy collection! Both the whole eggs and the fried egg come together super quick, you’re sure to get it done in one quick sitting.

This free pattern is supported by ads on my blog. You can find the 7-page PDF printable, ad-free copy of this egg pattern on my Etsy shop here. The printable version includes several photo-tutorials (especially of the fried egg) to help you along the way!

Egg Free Crochet Pattern Notes & Tips:

This egg free crochet pattern is written in US terms. If needed, you can find a handy term conversion chart right here in my Resource Library. I recommend giving the pattern a read-through before you begin so you can visualize the big picture and consider any specific notes for help along the way! The printable pattern in my Etsy shop comes with several in-the-making photos as well.

Size & Gauge:

Size: the whole egg will end up being 2.5″, the fried egg will end up being 3.5″

Gauge: 4”x4” of single crochet = 28 stitches x 30 rows. Ultimately with toys, gauge doesn’t matter. It won’t have to fit someone’s body or a specific space. My patterns will include the size of the finished toy based on the yarn and hook I use. But if you want it smaller or bigger, just use a bigger yarn and hook! Just remember, when crocheting toys, crochet tightly and choose a hook one size smaller than the yarn size recommends in order to avoid holes between each stitch where the stuffing will show through.

Yarn & Stuffing:

Yarn: Take your choice of yarn! Choose colors that bring you joy and fibers that feel good between your fingers. I use 100% organic cotton yarn because I make these toys for my kids and need them to be functional. Cotton is natural, washable, soft, and relatively inflexible so the toys don’t stretch and sag – even after being thrown across the house, down the stairs and adventured through every part of the garden!

Stuffing: Stuff more than you think you should. Not enough for the stitches to stretch and show holes, but enough to make the toy stiff and able to withstand the rough trials of toy life. The filling will compress a bit over time. I encourage you to use an alternative to poly-fill (unless it’s recycled!). Try using leftover yarn scraps and snippets or old non-donate-able clothes and materials cut into strips.

The Legal Stuff:

This pattern is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. This pattern or parts of it may not be reproduced, resold, distributed, published, altered, translated, posted or shared without authorization. You can sell your finished items provided that you credit Off the Beaten Hook as the designer using this verbiage, “This pattern was designed by Lindsey Roe and Off the Beaten Hook. http://www.offthebeatenhook.com” Thank you for your respectfulness!

This post contains affiliate links for materials I use and love. If you purchase something using one of these links I may earn a small commission which in no way affects the cost to you. These partnerships help me support my small business which allows me to provide you with free crochet patterns. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!

What makes this pattern eco -friendly and sustainable?

THE YARN: I use only sustainable and eco-friendly yarn that has been ethically grown/raised and processed, putting the people and the planet first. This is why I chose organic versus conventional cotton for part of this pattern. Although I don’t buy conventional cotton anymore, the paintbox yarns cotton DK I use in this pattern isn’t organic, but I shopped it from my stash of old yarns that needed to get used up so I’ve disclosed that in the materials list so you know exactly what I used.

THE STUFFING: I used Hoooked 100% Recycled Fluffy Cotton Filling to stuff this toy. You can also use left over yarn snippets (save them all – they add up fast!) or old fiber you’ve cut into strips.

I’M MAKING SUSTAINABLE TOYS FOR MY KIDS: This is the reason I learned how to crochet to begin with! I wanted my son to have mostly sustainable toys to play with as I eliminated a huge amount of non-renewable plastics from our house. I replaced his plastic food and veg toys (and others) with crochet ones instead!

THE SLOW YARN MOVEMENT: I’m participating in the Slow Yarn Movement. There’s far too much to talk about here, but please take a few minutes to learn about what this means by reading the article I wrote about the Slow Yarn Movement as part of my 6-part Sustainable Crochet Series.

If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable crochet you can read all about it in the 6-part series I did covering everything about Sustainable Crochet and how to implement it into your own crafting starting today!

Materials you will need for the egg free crochet pattern:

Yarn & Tools:

• 100% Cotton | Weight: 3/DK/Light Worsted – all parts use a very small amount
  • WHOLE EGGS
    • Rico Essentials Organic Cotton DK: White
    • Rico Essentials Organic Cotton DK: Nougat (brown)
    • Stylecraft Naturals Organic Cotton DK: Moonlight (blue)
    • Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK: Pistachio Green (green)
  • FRIED EGG
    • Rico Essentials Organic Cotton DK: White
    • Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK: Buttercup Yellow (yolk)
• Crochet Hook: 3.00 mm
• Tapestry needle
• Stuffing (here’s a great chance to use all those tiny yarn snippets you’ve been saving for stuffing!)
• Stitch markers
• Scissors

Abbreviations used in the egg free crochet pattern:

ch – chain
st – stitch
hk – hook
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
FLO – front loop only
inc – increase
dec – decrease
(…) x – repeat instructions indicated number of times
[…] – number of stitches in row/round

FRIED EGG:

NOTES:

• The fried egg is worked in continuous rounds – do not join after each round
• Round 10, 11 & 12 continue the standard circular increase pattern naturally following the previous rounds – increasing by 6 stitches per round. However, to create the irregular shape of a fried egg, I’ve switched up several of the sc with hdc’s and dc’s. As such, to make the pattern easier to follow, I’ve split up the writing of rounds 10, 11, and 12 into 6 lines – each line represents one of the 6 stitch groups that make up that round. Therefore, Rnd 10 has 6 groups of 10 stitches each, Rnd 11 has 6 groups of 11 stitches each and Rnd 12 has 6 groups of 12 stitches each. This way, you can make one group at a time without getting mixed up in a big jumble of instructions – I hope that’s helpful!

Begin with yellow yarn

Rnd 1: st 6 sc in a magic circle [6]

Rnd 2: inc in each st around [12]

Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x6 [18]

Rnd 4: (sc 2, inc) x6 [24]

Rnd 5: sc around [24]

Switch to white yarn

Rnd 6: FLO (sc 3, inc) x6 [30]

Rnd 7: (sc 4, inc) x6 [36]

Rnd 8: (sc 5, inc) x6 [42]

Rnd 9: (sc 6, inc) x6 [48]