Crochet Geode Patterns: 12 Free & Paid Designs (Plus a Bead Guide and How to Make One)

From the outside, a geode is a boring grey lump. You’d step over it on a hiking trail. Then somebody splits it open and the inside is violet, glittering and completely over the top for a rock.

That’s the whole charm of a crochet geode. You make a plain, rocky cup out of yarn, line the inside with beads, and end up with a surprise that fits in your palm. It’s part sculpture, part fidget toy, and part “wait, you made that?”

They’re also having a moment. A free pattern called Chonky Geode appeared on Ravelry on October 2, 2026, and a beginner geode pattern listed on Etsy on September 28 already had 204 favorites when I checked on October 6. So I went through the pattern page for every design below and compared hooks, yarn weights, bead sizes, skill levels and prices, so you don’t need twelve tabs open.

Key takeaways

• This roundup covers 12 patterns: seven free, one magazine pattern and four paid. The paid ones with a posted price run from $2.99 to $5.
• The easiest places to start are the Two-Hour Aurora Crochet Geodes (labeled Easy), Kalene Gardner’s opening geode (the designer says a beginner can manage it) and the Fast and Simple Geode.
• Beads matter more than yarn. If they don’t slide freely over your hook, the project stalls, and big plastic or pony beads are the friendliest choice.
• Selling finished geodes? Terms differ pattern by pattern, so read them first. I’ve listed what each page says below.
• A real geode takes thousands to millions of years to form. Yours takes an afternoon (about 30 minutes, if you believe the Pocket Geode’s designer).

All 12 crochet geode patterns at a glance

Here’s the quick comparison. “Not stated” means the page I read didn’t say, so check the pattern itself before you buy supplies.

Free crochet geode patterns

Free doesn’t mean flimsy here. Several of these are full, photo-supported patterns from bead shops and independent designers.

Crochet Geode by Marie at Lima Beads

Marie’s design builds a geode from two nested cups. The inner cup comes first. She beads it, then crochets a slightly larger outer cup, slips the first inside the second and seams the rims together. You’ll need 20–30 g of DK or worsted yarn, a 4.0 mm hook and large-hole fire-polished Czech glass rondelles (3–4 strands of the 5×8 mm size).

Heads-up: it’s written for intermediate crocheters, and glass beads add up. When I looked, Lima’s strands cost roughly $6–7 each, so the beads can cost more than the yarn. View the project at Lima Beads.

Crystal Geode by Shanimal x

This one’s been around since 2017, and the designer credits Jessica Goddard’s geode pattern as her inspiration. It’s worked from the bottom up in the round with a flat base, so it sits nicely on a desk or shelf. Expect a finished piece of about 4×4 inches and 3½ inches tall, made with worsted yarn (75–150 yards) and a 4.25 mm hook.

Heads-up: the pattern lives in a Google Doc linked from Ravelry, and the page notes that photos are still to come. See it on Ravelry.

Chonky Geode by Jackie Darcey

The newest pattern on the list. You choose how deep the geode is and which yarn and beads to use, and it needs very little yarn, so it’s a good scrap-buster. The designer’s tip is to use large plastic beads, which she says work better here than small or glass ones.

It includes a written pattern and a photo tutorial, and nobody has posted a finished project on Ravelry yet, so you’d be one of the first. Download it free on Ravelry.

Simple Geode by Paint & Stitch Studio

Kristin Crocker publishes the whole pattern on her blog, free, and labels it advanced beginner. The recipe is size 4 yarn in gray for the outer shell, scraps in a bead-matching color for the inner shell, and 6 mm faceted beads strung on size 10 crochet thread. The beads go on with surface slip stitches in a spiral, starting from the center of the inner shell.

Heads-up: you need two hooks, 3.75 mm for the shells and 2.75 mm for the beading. Read the pattern.

Geode and Pocket Geode by Crochet Dumpling

Crochet Dumpling has a family of geode patterns on Ribblr: a regular size, a pocket size, and, according to the designer, medium and giant versions too. Both free ones use pony beads and a 3.0 mm hook, picked because the beads fit it best. The Pocket Geode is pitched as a fidget or a gift you can finish in around 30 minutes. The designer says it began as a school “passion project,” and she allows selling finished items as long as you don’t pass the pattern off as yours.

Heads-up: both are labeled intermediate on Ribblr, even though the pocket one is tiny. Free Ribblr accounts can claim five free patterns every 24 hours. Geode · Pocket Geode.

Crystal Shard Applique by Elizabeth Young

Not a geode, but the crystals that go inside one. This free pattern gives you three crystal shapes (a short point, a longer shard and a double point) worked with surface crochet outlines. Each takes 10–20 yards of worsted yarn, and the designer suggests stacking them into clusters.

Sew them onto bags, blankets, pillows or a jacket. Get it on Ravelry.

Paid and premium crochet geode patterns

Paying a few dollars usually buys you something specific: more sizes, photo tutorials, a video, or a design that does something extra.

Two-Hour Aurora Crochet Geodes by Debra Arch

This is from the April 2026 issue of I Like Crochet and it’s labeled Easy. It’s a three-layer build (a beaded center, a white middle layer and a gray or taupe outer layer) in two sizes: 3.25 inches across and 2 inches high, or 3.75 by 2.5 inches. The beads are shimmery AB glass rondelles worked in as bead single crochet, with metallic ribbon or braid. The pattern suggests a dental floss threader for stringing them, which is a trick worth stealing for any beaded project.

Heads-up: it’s magazine content and the page shows a premium-content prompt for printing, so check what access you need. See it at I Like Crochet.

Geodes by Megan Lapp (Crafty Intentions)

The big one. It’s roughly 80 pages with three sizes: a small round geode (3 inches across, 2 deep), a medium round (4.5 by 3) and a large elongated one (5 wide, 7 long, 3 deep). It’s low-sew or no-sew, and it’s been tested. The listing even gives bead counts, for example 30–50 faceted rondelles plus 50–80 faceted barrel pony beads for the small size.

Heads-up: the pattern is licensed for personal use only. Check the shop for the current price. See it on Ravelry.

Crystal Geode with Optional Button Closure by Kalene Gardner ($3.50)

This geode opens and closes. Add the optional half-inch button closure and it becomes a little treasure box, a ring box or a classroom rock display. It comes in two sizes (2.5 and 3.5 inches across), uses worsted acrylic such as Red Heart Super Saver, and needs F (3.75 mm) and E (3.5 mm) hooks. Beads are 9 mm barrel pony beads with a 4 mm hole, roughly 50 for a small half and 100 for a large half.

The 15-page PDF includes a video on adding the beads, and the designer says a beginner can handle it if they know the basic stitches. View it on Ravelry.

Fast and Simple Geode by SoftCrochetTimes98 ($2.99)

The cheapest option here and a good first geode. It’s a single-layer, no-sew design with ordinary pony beads. You get a photo tutorial plus a separate mini-tutorial on stitching with beads.

It has six reviews, all five-star, and buyers describe it as easy to follow. See it on Etsy.

Geode C2C by Blue Frog Creek ($5)

For when you want a geode you can sleep under. It’s a corner-to-corner design 65 blocks wide and 80 blocks high, in six colors, with block and word instructions plus charts in a 20-page PDF.

The listing calls the color use scrap-friendly. View the pattern.

Which crochet geode pattern should you pick?

• Your very first geode: Fast and Simple Geode, Aurora Geodes or Kalene Gardner’s opening geode.
• Zero budget: Chonky Geode, Shanimal x’s Crystal Geode or the Paint & Stitch Simple Geode.
• A gift or fidget: Pocket Geode, or the opening geode if you want something that holds a ring.
• Several sizes in one pattern: Crafty Intentions’ Geodes (three sizes) or the Aurora geodes (two).
• The most sparkle: the Lima Beads geode or the Aurora geodes, with glass beads and metallic thread.
• A blanket: Geode C2C.
• Crystals on something else: Crystal Shard Applique.

How a crochet geode is built

Almost every geode pattern follows the same logic. Once you see it, even an unfamiliar pattern looks less scary.

1. The outer rind. Start with a magic ring and add increases each round, so the circle grows (6 stitches, 12, 18, 24 and so on) until the base is as wide as you want. Then stop increasing and crochet straight up the sides to form a cup. Use gray or another rock color.
2. The inner cup. A second cup in a crystal-backdrop color, a little smaller. Some patterns, like Lima’s, make both cups finish with the same stitch count so you can seam them stitch to stitch. Others make the outer rim wider and ease the inner cup in.
3. The beads. This is where patterns differ most (see below).
4. Nest and join. Slip the inner cup into the outer one and slip-stitch the rims together. Tie off securely and hide the ends, so beads can’t work loose.

Three ways to add the beads

• Chain-stitching into the holes. Lima’s pattern threads about 75 beads onto yarn, then chains into the little holes just under the stitches of the inner cup, trapping one bead per hole in a spiral. Skipping a hole here and there spaces the beads out so you use fewer.
• Surface slip stitch with thin thread. Paint & Stitch strings beads on size 10 thread and works a spiral of slip stitches from the center of the inner shell outward, one bead per stitch.
• Bead single crochet. The Aurora pattern slides a bead up to the hook before certain single crochets, so the beads are built into the fabric as you go.

One more tip from the designers: check that your beads actually fit your hook. Crochet Dumpling chose a 3.0 mm hook because pony beads slid onto it best, and Jackie Darcey’s Chonky Geode notes that larger plastic beads behave better than small or glass ones.

A practical bead guide for crochet geodes

How many beads? It varies a lot. Kalene Gardner’s pattern calls for roughly 50 pony beads per small half and 100 per large half, while the small Crafty Intentions geode lists 30–50 rondelles plus 50–80 barrel pony beads. Buy a few extra and string more than you think you need.

A safety note: beads are small parts. If a geode is for a toddler, skip it or choose a design without loose beads, and always tie off beaded sections securely.

Crochet geode color combinations that look like real minerals

The colors inside real geodes come from trace elements. Iron oxide and cobalt can give reds, yellows or purples, titanium can create blues, chromium and nickel can produce greens, and manganese can give pinks. You can borrow that palette for your yarn, or ignore it entirely and go neon.

A fun side note: some real geodes sold in shops are dyed in unnatural bright colors, so a neon pink crochet geode isn’t far from what you’ll see in a crystal store.

Can you sell finished crochet geodes?

Maybe, but never assume. Here’s what the pages I read say:

As for whether it’s worth it: Etsy sales trackers and roundups put crochet patterns and wearable crochet like cardigans among the stronger sellers, and one roundup says knitting and crochet patterns lead the craft supplies category. I couldn’t find reliable sales data for finished geodes specifically, so I’d treat them as a fun gift and fidget niche rather than a guaranteed income. If you want to earn from the geode craze, a pattern of your own may have a better shot than the finished item.

Why geodes are trending in crochet right now

Geodes tick several boxes at once. Trend roundups for 2026 point to textured, three-dimensional crochet and to metallic pieces (one Lantern Moon trend guide says metallic crochet was among the most photographed looks at Coachella 2026), plus granny squares and patchwork for fall. A beaded geode is dimensional, sparkly, uses yarn scraps and finishes fast. Add the fresh releases from the last few weeks and it’s no surprise people are searching for patterns.

A quick tour of real geodes

How they form. Mineral-rich water seeps into a cavity in rock, such as a gas bubble in lava or a void in sediment. Over a long time it lays down a tough outer layer and then crystals that grow inward. Sources describe this as taking thousands to millions of years.

What’s the rarest color? There’s no single agreed answer. Collectors love natural blue celestine, and some sellers market natural red and pink amethyst as especially rare. The biggest known celestine geode is a 35-foot cave at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, with crystals up to 18 inches wide. Just remember that many brightly colored shop geodes are dyed.

Growing your own crystals. The classic home version is an eggshell geode. Glue alum powder inside half an eggshell, dissolve more alum in hot water, and lower the shell into the cooled solution. The crystals grow in around 12 to 15 hours. Alum isn’t food, so keep it away from mouths and supervise kids.

Frequently asked questions

Final thoughts

The best thing about a crochet geode is that it looks like nothing from the outside. A gray cup of yarn, a handful of beads, and suddenly you’ve made a little piece of the inside of the Earth. If you’re new, grab one of the easy patterns and try a pony bead geode first. Once you’ve got the feel for the beads, move on to the layered glass designs, the multi-size pattern or the blanket.

Which pattern are you picking first, and what colors are you going for? Tell me in the comments. If you make one, share a photo of the inside.

Sources

• Crochet Geode, Lima Beads
• Crystal Geode, Shanimal x (Ravelry)
• Chonky Geode, Jackie Darcey (Ravelry)
• Simple Geode, Paint & Stitch Studio
• Geode and Pocket Geode, Crochet Dumpling (Ribblr)
• Crystal Shard Applique, Elizabeth Young (Ravelry)
• Two-Hour Aurora Crochet Geodes, I Like Crochet
• Geodes, Crafty Intentions (Ravelry)
• Crystal Geode with Optional Button Closure, Kalene Gardner (Ravelry)
• Fast and Simple Geode (Etsy)
• Geode C2C, Blue Frog Creek
• Geode, Wikipedia and Celestine, Wikipedia
• How to Grow Glittering Crystal Geodes in Eggshells, HGTV