Related Resources: Christmas Patterns | Christmas Crafts | Potholder Patterns to Crochet | DIY Home Decor Crafts
Crochet cupcake potholders would be a delightful craft project for anyone who enjoys cooking, baking or owning cute kitchen accessories.
I crocheted my sample potholder using a popular combination of Christmas colors — red, green and white. I think this design is appealing for Christmas gift giving. It is also ideal for keeping and using in your own kitchen during the holiday season, especially if you enjoy baking and having fresh home-baked goodies at Christmas time.
If you crochet these potholders in other colors, they could work well for other holidays. For example, if you work the background in black, the cupcake frosting in orange, and the cherry in red-orange, you’d have potholders that are great for Halloween. Work the potholders in shades of pink and red and they’re perfect for Valentine’s Day, or shades of green for St. Patrick’s Day. Lots of other color combinations would work well for everyday use.
Crochet Skill Level: Experienced
Craft Supplies You’ll Need for Crocheting the Cupcake Potholders:
You’ll need 4 different colors of yarn:
- Color A: The main color, used in the background. In the potholder you see pictured above, this is the off white / cream color.
- Color B: The cake color. In my sample potholder, this is the brown color.
- Color C: The frosting color on the cupcake. In my sample potholder, this is the green color.
- Color D: The border color, which is also used for the cherry. You could make these two different colors if you prefer, in which case, there would be five colors all together.
Ideally, you will want to use the same weight of yarn for all 4-5 colors. It isn’t a strict requirement, but it’s easier to keep an even tension if your yarn weights are all similar.
In my sample potholder, all of the above colors are feltable worsted weight or light worsted weight wool yarn.
If you don’t want to use wool yarn, I suggest substituting cotton yarn instead. I don’t recommend using acrylic yarns because acrylic can emit toxic vapors and / or melt if it gets hot — and a potholder is certainly going to be subjected to situations where it will get hot.
Crochet Hook: Start with a size I / 9 – 5.50 mm crochet hook and adjust if necessary to achieve a comfortable tension as you crochet.
Other: Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Finished Size:
My sample potholder is big, measuring approximately 9 inches wide by about 8.5 inches high. I had planned to felt my potholders, and I had thought the felting process could likely be expected to shrink them. I wanted to be sure to start out with enough material in the potholders that they would still be a decent size even if the shrinkage turned out to be substantial.
As of this posting, I haven’t felted the potholders yet, and I might not bother with it. I ended up liking my potholders quite a bit as they are, so I may just skip the felting and use them as is. They are likely to get felted soon enough from frequent washings anyway.
Abbreviations You’ll Need for Crocheting This Pattern:
- ch = chain
- ea = each
- rep = repeat
- sc = single crochet
- sl st = slip stitch
- st = stitch
Design Notes: You’ll work in the tapestry crochet technique throughout this project.
Success with this project involves paying careful attention to detail during the finishing process.
To finish the cherry motif, you’ll be using the technique of cross stitch on crochet.
You’ll be using surface crochet slip stitches to create outlines around the cupcake and cherry.
Potholder Crochet Instructions:
Using color A, ch 29. Begin working the cupcake color chart:
Crochet this cupcake chart if you’re right-handed:
Crochet this cupcake chart if you’re left-handed:
sc in 2nd ch from hook to start off. Do not crochet the red Xes on the chart; ignore them for now. The Xes denote areas that will be cross stitched, and the cross stitch will be worked overtop of the cupcake pattern after you are finished crocheting the square.
Work the Edging:
When you have finished working the chart, change colors to color D. Work a round of sc st around the outer perimeter of the square using color D. Put 2 ch sts in ea corner.
In the top left corner, work loose ch sts to form a loop for hanging up the potholder. I worked a total of 12 chs, but you can chain the required number of sts to get the hanging loop size that would best suit your needs.
Then work an additional round of sl st around the outer edge and end off.
For a bit of extra color and dimension, you can work a round of surface crochet slip stitches in the spot where the border touches the outer edge of the charted design. On my sample potholder I worked these sl sts in green yarn. I think this makes a gorgeous finishing touch for the edging, and it ties the colors together beautifully.
Stitch the Cherry Motif:
Thread your tapestry needle using color D. Use it to cross stitch the cherry onto the top of the cupcake. Each red X on the chart represents a cross stitch on the finished piece.
Finishing the Cupcake Design:
Insert your crochet hook into a spot where colors A, C and D touch each other. Pull up a loop of color C and use it for working an outline of surface crochet slip stitches around the outer edge of the frosting on the cupcake. You’ll be working these sts in the area where colors A and C touch each other.
This is your opportunity to “clean up” the jagged edges and make the cupcake look as appealing as possible. Study the sample carefully; see how I used my surface crochet stitches to outline each portion of the cupcake motif?
Using color D, work a round of surface crochet slip stitches in a circle overtop of the cross stitched area. This makes the cherry motif appear to be round instead of square. End off color D and weave in loose ends.
Insert your hook into a spot where colors A, B and C touch each other. Pull up a loop of color B and work surface crochet slip stitches around the edge of the cupcake, working around the area where colors A and B touch each other.
End off. Weave in the remaining loose ends. Block the potholder if desired.
If you made these potholders, I hope you’ll enjoy them — and that you’ll enjoy a blessed holiday season this year. Merry Christmas!
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By Amy Solovay
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Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds an Associate of Arts degree in Textile Design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College. She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.
Amy learned to crochet as a small child, and she still enjoys crocheting all these years later.
As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles. Nowadays she uses online platforms for sharing her knowledge about textiles, crafts, current color trends and current design trends.
Grab More Free Potholder Patterns:
- Striped Crochet Christmas Potholders — Free Pattern
- Get More Patterns for Potholders — Here at Knittingcrochetcrafts.com
Get More Free Christmas Patterns:
- Easy Beginner’s Snowflake Trivet Pattern
- Puff Stitch Crochet Christmas Tree Pattern
- Easy Free Christmas Tree Symbol Crochet Chart and Pattern
Learn More About Crochet:
- Click Here to Learn How to Crochet; This Link Takes You to a Total Beginner’s Guide to Crochet.
- Click here to find crochet stitch tutorials and instructions.
- Click here to learn more crochet techniques.
- Click HERE to Find Fabulous Yarn for Crochet and Knitting
- Click here to learn about crochet hooks.
- Click here to find my favorite crochet project bag.
This page was last updated on 12-13-2024.
