Lime Free Crochet Pattern: 3 Ways - Whole, Wedge & Slice

Limes meet yarn. Are you a lime-lover like me? By far my most favorite citrus fruit, I love EVERYTHING lime. Sliced and submerged into cold glass of water, juiced and poured into some coconut curry soup, shaken into an everything-from-scratch margarita, or squeezed over a plate of hot nachos… yes, please! Unleash your zesty creativity with this lime free crochet pattern!

Jump into the pattern now, or PIN it for later here!

Crochet your way to zesty paradise with this realistic lime-inspired pattern. The pattern is written in 3 ways: whole, slice, and wedge. Make one, or make them all. No matter what these will make a great addition to your fruit and veg crochet collection.

These would also make great gifts for someone who’s putting together a crochet toy food kitchen for their little one!

This lime free crochet pattern is supported by ads on my blog. If you’d rather print the pattern for some cozy couch crocheting, you can find the 8-page PDF printable, ad-free pattern on my Etsy shop here or on Ravelry here.

This pattern is written in US terms. If needed, you can find a handy term conversion chart right here in my Resource Library.

You can find the printable, AD-FREE version of this crochet pattern here:

SHOP ETSY

SHOP RAVELRY

Lime Free Crochet Pattern Notes & Tips:

Size & Gauge:

Size: WHOLE: 3.5″ x 2.5″ | WEDGE: 2.5″ | SLICE: 2.5″

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.

Policies & Disclaimers:

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.” 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 Stylecraft’s organic versus conventional cotton for part of this pattern. The Rowan cotton yarn I use in this pattern isn’t organic, but Rowan as a company places a high emphasis on sustainable sourcing from ethical companies and implements environmentally sustainable practices throughout. You can read more about their brand values and sourcing policies on their website.

THE STUFFING: I used partly yarn snippets and partly 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.

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.

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 home. I replaced his plastic food and veg toys with crochet ones instead!

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:

YARN:

Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK: “Lime Green” (flesh) | 100% Cotton | Weight: 3/DK
Stylecraft Naturals Organic Cotton :”Leaf” (peel)| 100% Organic Cotton | Weight: 3/DK
Off-White LEFTOVERS (pith) | 100% Organic Cotton | Weight: 3/DK

I used very small amounts of yarn for this lime free crochet pattern – they didn’t even register on the scale as 1 gram!

YARN SUBSTITUTION OPTIONS:

If you can’t access the recommended yarn, want to explore other colors, or would just prefer to use a different yarn, here are some others that will work well! All of these are DK weight:

100% Cotton Options:

Cotton Blend & Other Fiber Options:

Scheepjes Linen Soft (Cotton/Linen/Acrylic)
Paintbox Yarns Simply DK (Acrylic)
Stylecraft Bamboo & Cotton Blend
Sirdar Stories DK (Cotton/Acrylic)
Valley Yarns Haydenville DK (Wool/Acrylic)

OTHER TOOLS & MATERIALS:

Crochet Hook: 2.75 mm / US C
Tapestry Needle
Stitch Markers
Scissors
Stuffing (here’s a great chance to use all those tiny yarn snippets you’ve been saving for stuffing!)

Abbreviations used in the lime free crochet pattern:

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

The Pattern

WHOLE LIME:

NOTES: The lime is worked in continuous rounds – do not join after each round

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

Rnd 2: sc in each st around [6]

Rnd 3: inc in each st around [12]

Rnd 4: (sc in next st, inc in next st) x6 [18]

Rnd 5: (sc in next 2 st, inc in next st) x6 [24]

Rnd 6: (sc in next 3 st, inc in next st) x6 [30]

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

Rnd 8-14: sc in each st around [36]

Rnd 15: (sc in next 4 st, dec in next st) x6 [30]

Rnd 16: sc in each st around [30]

Rnd 17: (sc in next 3 st, dec in next st) x6 [24]

Stuff the lime.

Rnd 18: (sc in next 2 st, dec in next st) x6 [18]

Rnd 19: (sc in next st, dec in next st) x6 [12]

Finish stuffing.

Rnd 20: dec in each st around [6]

Rnd 21: sc in each st around [6]

Fasten off with a sl st, leaving a long tail. Using a tapestry needle, weave the yarn tail through the front loop of each remaining st and pull tightly to close.

SLICE:

Begin with off-white yarn

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

Switch to lime green yarn

Rnd 2: inc in each st around [12]

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

Rnd 4: (sc in next 2 st, inc in next at) x6 [24]

Rnd 5: (sc in next 3 st, inc in next st) x6 [30] PH 03

Switch to off-white yarn

Rnd 6: (sc in next 4 st, inc in next st) x6 [36]

Switch to dark green yarn

Rnd 7: (sc in next 5 st, inc in next st) x6 [42]

Invisible fasten:

Snip a yarn tail and pull it through the final stitch
Thread the yarn tail onto a tapestry needle
Insert the tapestry needle from front to back under both loops of the next stitch
Bring the yarn tail back through the BLO of the previous stitch

Weave in ends. With off-white yarn, embroider the pith to separate into 8 slices by repeatedly bringing the yarn from back to front through the center of the magic circle, over the top and to the back again between rounds 5 and 6 (the last lime green round and the off-white round). Use photo below as reference for stitch placement.

WEDGE:

NOTES:

Begin by making a lime slice per the method above in “slice” section
For the peel, ch 1 and turn after every row – ch 1 does not count as a stitch

Make the peel:

Row 1: ch 2, sc in second ch from hk [1]

Row 2: inc in the st [2]

Row 3: sc in each st across [2]

Row 4: inc in next st, sc in last st [3]

Row 5-16: sc in each st across [3]

Row 17: dec in next st, sc in last st [2]

Row 18: sc in each st across [2]

Row 19: dec [1] PH 05

Row 20: ch 1, sc a border all the way around, making an extra sc in the tips at row 1 & 19, sl st to 1st st [42] PH 06

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing the slice to the peel. Using a tapestry needle and the long tail, join the peel with the slice to create a wedge. Pass the needle from front to back (right side to wrong side) through the back loop of the last round on the slice, and from back to front (wrong side to right side), through the back loop on the peel. PH 07-09 Repeat all the way around for all 42 stitches, stuffing and shaping the wedge before you sew it all the way closed. Bring the yarn to the inside and snip.