If there is one shape that instantly makes a room feel like Christmas, it is the crochet candy cane. Those cheerful red-and-white stripes look just as sweet worked up in yarn as they do in sugar, and unlike the real thing, the crocheted version never melts, never breaks its crook in the stocking, and comes back out of the decoration box year after year. On the tree, tied to a gift, or slipped over a real candy cane as a little holder, they are pure festive charm.
So I have gathered twenty of my favourite candy cane designs for you, every one of them genuinely free: plump stuffed canes and amigurumi, flat appliqué canes you can sew onto anything, curlicue twists that take minutes, reindeer and Mrs Claus holders that turn a real candy cane into a gift, coasters with a candy cane border, and even a striped treat cone for filling with sweets. Most use only scraps of red and white yarn, so raid the stash, put the kettle on, and let's make the sweetest decorations of the season.
1. The Original Pipe-Cleaner Candy Cane
We are starting with a little piece of crochet history: June Gilbank's Candy Cane at PlanetJune, a design that has been decorating trees since 2008 and still works beautifully. The crochet itself is just two rows — a row of single crochet in red and a row in white worked in the back loops along a chain of fifty — and the magic happens in the assembly, where the striped strip is wrapped in a spiral around a folded pipe cleaner and stitched in place. The pipe cleaner core means you can bend a perfect crook and re-shape it every December. June offers the pattern as donationware: the complete instructions are free on her page whether or not you pay anything, and if you choose to send a donation, the printable PDF arrives as her thank-you.
Pattern: Candy Cane by June Gilbank at PlanetJune — Get the free pattern
2. Tapestry Stripes on a Little Stuffed Cane
Raffamusa Designs takes a completely different route to the stripes: her Candy Cane Amigurumi Ornament is worked in tapestry crochet, carrying two strands of yarn so the red and white spiral around each other as you go — no colour joins, no sewing stripes on afterwards. It is stuffed as you work and a length of aluminium wire runs through the middle, so the finished cane, about five inches tall in DK cotton on a 3 mm hook, bends into its crook and stays there. The pattern was part of her Christmas Ornaments Marathon, and Sara is honest about the wire: these are decorations, not toys for little ones who might chew them. The full pattern is free on her blog; an ad-free printable version with extra step-by-step photos is sold in her shops if you want it.
Pattern: Candy Cane Amigurumi Ornament by Raffamusa Designs — Get the free pattern
3. A Plump Amigurumi Cane in Cotton
Puqqu's Amigurumi Candy Cane is the classic stuffed tube, done really well: continuous rounds of single crochet with the colours changing every two rounds to give ten bold stripes, worked in cotton DK or worsted on a 3 mm hook and stuffed firmly as you go. At around fourteen to fifteen centimetres tall it has a lovely soft, huggable feel, and a pipe cleaner slipped inside before closing helps the crook hold a graceful curve — though the pattern also explains the firmly-stuffed, no-wire option. The whole thing uses about twenty-five metres of yarn in total, so leftover part-balls are all you need. Puqqu suggests making six to eight and stringing them into a garland, which is exactly what I plan to do for my mantel this year.
Pattern: Amigurumi Candy Cane by Puqqu — Get the free pattern
4. The Big Softie With a Fabric Bow
If you like your candy canes chunky, the Crochet Candy Cane Softie from LoveToKnow finishes at a generous seven and a half inches tall. It is worked in continuous rounds — no joining, so the stripes stay smooth — changing colour every three rounds, with the crook cleverly shaped by partial rounds that add fabric on one side only, so the bend is crocheted in rather than wired. You stuff as you progress, close the tip with a running stitch, and finish with a torn fabric strip (or a ribbon) tied into a bow at the neck of the crook. The pattern is a free PDF download, a proper old-fashioned printable with everything on two pages. Worked in worsted yarn on a G hook, it is sturdy enough to be played with as a softie between decorations. A lovely one for grandchildren.
Pattern: Crochet Candy Cane Softie by LoveToKnow — Get the free pattern
5. The Flat Striped Cane You Stuff and Twist
MummaJ's candy cane starts life as a simple flat strip of stripes on a 3 mm hook, and then does something clever: you stitch the ends closed, stuff the tube from both ends, and weave a yarn tail in and out down one side, pulling it tight so the top curves down into a proper crook. Hers is shown in green and white, which reads beautifully modern, but the same strip in red and white is the classic look — and you can string a row of them into a garland, as she suggests. The written pattern in US terms is free on her page, with right- and left-handed video tutorials if you want a visual guide. Two honest notes: the pattern is for personal use only, and a low-cost, print-friendly PDF is available if you prefer one.
Pattern: Crochet Candy Cane Christmas Ornament by MummaJ Crochet — Get the free pattern
6. Curlicue Curls With a Jingle-Bell Bow
Jennifer Dickerson at Fiber Flux builds her candy cane from two bouncy curlicues: chain forty, work three half double crochets into every chain, and the strip corkscrews itself into a spring. Make one in red and one in white, coil them together, run a straightened paper clip or piece of wire through the middle, bend the top into the hook, and glue on a bow with a tiny gold bell at the centre. The finished cane stands about six inches tall and the texture is irresistible — all ridges and bounce. The pattern and a full video tutorial are free on her blog; an ad-free PDF is available in her Etsy and Ravelry shops if you like a paper copy. These look wonderful lined up along a windowsill or tied onto a wreath.
Pattern: Crochet Curlicue Candy Cane by Jennifer Dickerson at Fiber Flux — Get the free pattern
7. Two Twists and a Pipe Cleaner
Gina Michele's Easy Candy Canes might be the fastest pattern on this whole list: chain thirty, work two single crochets into the second chain and into every chain after it, and the strip twists itself into a spiral as you go. Make one strip in red and one in white, twist them together around a white pipe cleaner, snip the cleaner to size and secure the ends with a stitch at the top and bottom. That is genuinely it — each candy cane measures about five inches and takes minutes, in Red Heart Super Saver on an H hook. Because they are so quick, they are perfect for making in batches: tree ornaments, present toppers, a whole garland of them for a classroom or office.
Pattern: Easy Candy Canes by Gina Michele — Get the free pattern
8. The Flat Cane With the Little Bow Tie
Crystal Marin at ChristaCoDesign crochets her candy cane completely flat, shaping the crook with graduated rows of half double crochet so there is no wire, no stuffing and no twisting to wrestle with. It finishes about four inches tall and two inches wide from just twelve yards of worsted yarn on a 3.5 mm hook — a true scrap-buster — and she gives it a tiny sewn-on bow tie that makes it look dressed for a party. Flat canes are wonderfully versatile: Crystal suggests them as gift tags, or strung by the dozen into a garland. The pattern is free on her page with a video tutorial if you like to watch before you stitch. Blocked lightly, the edges stay crisp and the stripes sit perfectly straight.
Pattern: Flat Candy Cane by Crystal Marin at ChristaCoDesign — Get the free pattern
9. One-Row Appliqué Canes, Left and Right
Sara at Raffamusa Designs also gives us the tiniest candy canes in the collection: her Candy Cane Appliques are each worked from a chain of twenty and a single row of double crochet shaped with increases, so one cane genuinely takes about five minutes. She shares two versions — one curling to the right and one to the left — worked in sport-weight cotton on a 2.5 mm hook at just over two inches tall, perfect for sewing in facing pairs onto a cardigan, a stocking or a handmade card. They are part of her Christmas Applique Collection, and the pattern is free on her blog; an ad-free printable PDF is sold in her shops if you want the whole collection on paper. Because they lie completely flat, they are also lovely glued inside a card or stitched onto a gift bag.
Pattern: Christmas Candy Cane Appliques by Raffamusa Designs — Get the free pattern
10. Short-Row Canes and a Peppermint Pinwheel
Jan Bay's design at Unique Baby Gear Ideas is the cleverest flat cane here: each appliqué is a five-stitch-wide striped strip whose deep, rounded crook is shaped with four sections of graduated short rows, so the hook curves beautifully with no wire and no stuffing at all. The pattern gives you a mirrored pair — crooks turning in towards each other — plus a bonus peppermint candy built from twelve little wedges joined into a pinwheel, all in worsted cotton on a 4 mm hook in warm cream and cranberry. She designed them for a baby bib, but they would be gorgeous on a stocking, a blanket corner or a gift bag too. The instructions are wonderfully detailed, with size checkpoints as you go so your pair comes out matching. Flat, crisp and very sewable — an appliqué lover's candy cane, if ever there was one.
Pattern: Crochet Candy Cane and Peppermint Appliqué by Jan Bay at Unique Baby Gear Ideas — Get the free pattern
11. A Flat White Cane With Sewn-On Stripes
The cRAfterChick approach charmed me: crochet the whole candy cane in plain white first — a neat flat base worked out from a short chain in two rounds — and then sew the red stripes on afterwards, slanting a length of red yarn across the cane with a needle and securing it at both ends. It gives a crisp, piped look that is very forgiving for beginners, and there is a hanging loop worked from the yarn tail so it goes straight onto the tree. It uses worsted yarn on an H hook, and it is part of her free Christmas ornament set alongside a present, a tree, a Santa hat and a stocking, so you can dress a whole little tree from one blog. If your colour changes are usually untidy, this sew-the-stripes method will feel like a small miracle.
Pattern: Candy Cane Christmas Ornament by cRAfterChick — Get the free pattern
12. The Reindeer Whose Hooves Hug the Cane
Now for the holders — and Jennifer Renaud's reindeer at A Crocheted Simplicity is a proper little character. You crochet two egg-shaped head layers (the ends hide neatly between them), then antlers, ears, a muzzle with a red nose, and finally two hooves that attach along the bottom edge to grip a real candy cane, so the reindeer looks as if it is holding its treat with both feet. The finished ornament is about four and a half inches tall in worsted cotton on a 4 mm hook, takes under an hour, and doubles as the prettiest gift tag on the tree. The full pattern with photo tutorials is free in the post; an ad-free printable version is on Ravelry and Etsy if you want it.
Pattern: Crochet Reindeer Candy Cane Holder Ornament by Jennifer Renaud at A Crocheted Simplicity — Get the free pattern
13. A Ten-Minute Reindeer in Chunky Yarn
At the other end of the detail scale, Cosy Rosie's reindeer candy cane holder is a tiny tube of spiral single crochet — DK yarn held double, or one strand of chunky, on a 5 mm hook — finished with glued-on googly eyes and a fluffy pompom nose. There is no sewing at all, a little chain forms the hanging loop, and she is not exaggerating when she says one takes less than ten minutes; she made twenty in a week for a craft fair. The holder is about three inches tall and sized for a standard candy cane, with notes for adjusting the fit. The pattern is free on her site, and a printable PDF (bundled with a bauble cover) is sold in her shops. These are the holders to batch-make for school fairs, stocking fillers and Secret Santa jars.
Pattern: Reindeer Candy Cane Holder by Cosy Rosie Crochet — Get the free pattern
14. Mini Canes for Antlers
Rhondda Mol at Oombawka Design has the most inventive reindeer of all: a little crocheted body — about two and a half inches tall, in Red Heart Super Saver — with a centre stitch worked partway up that divides the tube into two pockets, and two mini candy canes slot in as the reindeer's antlers. Wiggly eyes and a red felt or pompom nose complete the face, and a ribbon threaded through the centre stitch makes it hang balanced on the tree. Ten minutes of work, she says, gets you two holders, and the pattern is free on her page with step-by-step photos. The finished reindeers look adorable marching along a mantel or tied to gift bags. Beginner-easy and completely addictive to make.
Pattern: Last Minute Reindeer Candy Cane Holders by Rhondda Mol at Oombawka Design — Get the free pattern
15. A Little Green Tree That Holds the Treat
Rhondda's second holder turns the candy cane into the trunk of a Christmas tree: the tree is worked in back-loop single crochet rows that taper to the top, in one clever piece that forms both sides, then the sides are slip-stitched together leaving a small opening at the base where the candy cane slips in and stands up inside. In green worsted on a 5 mm hook the tree is about four and a half inches tall, and you can dress it with buttons, beads or a little bow, as she does with hers. The written pattern is free on the page, with an ad-free PDF available in her shop. As ornaments they are sweet, but I love them as place settings — one tree with a candy cane at every Christmas dinner plate.
Pattern: Last Minute Christmas Tree Candy Cane Holders by Rhondda Mol at Oombawka Design — Get the free pattern
16. Mrs Claus With Candy Cane Arms and Legs
Sara at Darling Maple Designs gives Mrs Claus her moment: a sweet one-piece amigurumi figure — head and body crocheted together, a white hair bun with a little red bow, and a tiny sewn-on apron — with openings worked into the body where mini candy canes slot in to become her arms and legs. If no mini canes are handy, the pattern includes curly-cue crocheted limbs instead, finished with little bells. She is worked in worsted yarn on a 3.75 mm hook and is firmly in advanced-beginner territory, with video help for the trickier steps. The pattern is free on the page, with an inexpensive ad-free PDF on Ravelry and Etsy; she is one of a sixteen-character candy cane holder collection, the rest of which live in the designer's bundle e-book.
Pattern: Mrs Claus Candy Cane Holder Ornament by Sara at Darling Maple Designs — Get the free pattern
17. A Lacy Little Pocket for a Real Cane
Amy Lehman's candy cane holder at Amy's DIY Frugal Life is barely three rows deep and all the prettier for it: a row of single crochet, a lacy row of double crochet and chain spaces that flares gently into the cane's curve, and a row of shells to finish. The flat, curved piece wraps around a standard candy cane and is secured with a touch of hot glue, turning a plain sweet into a dressed-up tree ornament or gift topper in about fifteen minutes with an F hook and yarn scraps. Because the fabric is lacy, the red and white of the real candy cane peeks through as part of the design, which I think is rather lovely.
Pattern: Crochet Candy Cane Holder by Amy Lehman at Amy’s DIY Frugal Life — Get the free pattern
18. The Curved Cover With Two Edgings
The Craftorator candy cane cover is a flat, cane-shaped wrap worked in rows in DK yarn: a foundation of single crochet, one clever shaping row that bends the piece into the candy cane's crook, and then a choice of two finishing rows — a ruffled cream edging or a flatter red one — so you can make each cover look a little different. It slips over a standard candy cane sweet and turns a handful of sweets into a bowl of decorations, tree ornaments or the sweetest place settings. The whole thing uses basic stitches — chain, single and double crochet — and takes very little yarn, so it is a genuine scrap-buster. The pattern is free on the Craftorator page with both edging options written out in full.
Pattern: Crochet Candy Cane Holder by Craftorator — Get the free pattern
19. Coasters With a Candy Cane Border
Kylee Keller at Okie Girl Bling n Things brings the candy cane to the Christmas table: plain white coasters — round or square versions, both included — finished with a candy cane border, a clever edging where red and green strands are crossed over each other in chain-four loops so the rim looks like twisted candy rope. In worsted cotton on a 5 mm hook the round coasters come out at about four and three-quarter inches across, and one skein makes a whole stack. There is a video tutorial for the border stitch, which is much easier than it looks, and an ad-free PDF in her Etsy shop if you want one; the pattern itself is free on her page. Under a mug of cocoa on Christmas morning, these are peak festive.
Pattern: Christmas Candy Cane Border Coasters by Kylee Keller at Okie Girl Bling n Things — Get the free pattern
20. A Striped Treat Cone in Candy Cane Colours
We are finishing with the candy cane look in its biggest form: DROPS Extra 0-1434, the Candy Cone, a hanging treat cornet worked in the round in red and off-white diagonal colourwork. It is crocheted with two strands of DROPS Nepal on a 5.5 mm hook, so it grows quickly to about twenty-eight centimetres tall with a loop at the top for hanging on the tree, a door handle or a hook by the fireplace — then you fill it with wrapped sweets, nuts or little gifts. One honest note: like most DROPS colourwork, the pattern is chart-based, following diagrams A.1 and A.2 with written guidance around them, so it suits crocheters happy reading charts. As always with DROPS, the pattern is completely free on the Garnstudio site.
Pattern: Candy Cone (DROPS Extra 0-1434) by DROPS Design — Get the free pattern
Conclusion
And that is twenty candy canes, my friend — stuffed and softied, flat and appliquéd, twisted around pipe cleaners, holding real sweets as reindeer, trees and Mrs Claus, edging the Christmas coasters and even blown up into a treat cone for the door. Almost every one is a scrap-yarn project you can finish in an evening: a few for your own tree, a few for gift toppers, and a little production line of holders for everyone who crosses your doorstep in December. My practical tip: make them in November, while the evenings are dark and the cocoa is hot, and December-you will be very grateful.
Now tell me — are you team classic red-and-white, or do you love the fresh green-and-white and pastel versions too, and which of these twenty is going on your hook first? I read every comment, and I cannot wait to see your makes!
