For anyone even the least bit interested in crafting, the internet can be a gold mine – a place to find inspiration, patterns, or a community to cheer you on and share your finished work with. And when it comes to crochet, there’s plenty to admire in various corners of the internet. We’ve seen our fair share of breathtaking projects that have changed our perception of crochet from something of a granny pastime to a modern craft you’d be proud to wear or display in your home.
But to be clear, those aren’t the crochet projects we’re looking at today. They’re eye-catching, for sure, but this time, there’s a different reason we can’t tear our eyes away. In short: they’re cursed. Just keep scrolling to see what I mean.
#1 Reverse Mermaid
Image source: pokedpixels
#2 Scrat
Image source: Waddiwasi893
#3 My Therapist: “Slenderfrog Isn’t Real, He Can’t Hurt You”
Image source: Limosa
Just over a decade ago, in 2015, a photo of a man standing in a room full of tomatoes appeared on Tumblr, posted by the account CursedImages. Staring expressionlessly into the camera, the old farmer looked like “someone’s nice grandpa,” as Emma Grey Ellis wrote for Wired. Yet there was something unsettling about the scene: the fuzzy focus, the crates of produce piled up in a wood-paneled basement, the inexplicable context. The caption, therefore, was oddly fitting: “This image is cursed.”
#4 Two-Faced Bride
Image source: Fotontr
#5 Pink Panther
Image source: idk1dk
#6 My First Attempt…
Image source: Chrysocanis
The initial image gained just over a thousand notes, making it hardly viral by today’s standards. Still, it seems that with that one blurry image, a whole new internet genre was born: “The concept of the cursed image took off,” Paper’s Matt Moen explains, “with scores of copycat blogs popping up across Tumblr, then migrating to Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and, if you were particularly desperate, Facebook.”
#7 “It’s A Waste Of Time,” They Said. “You’ll Never Wear It,” They Said. 13 Years Later…
Image source: zeroduckszerofucks
#8 Carrot 🥕💀
Image source: Fotontr
#9 Got Mum A Crochet Kit And This Is What She Made. So Proud 😊
Image source: TurnMajestic3608
Since then, as Jia Tolentino wrote for The New Yorker, we’ve seen “cursed” become “central in the online vernacular,” with countless accounts across the internet dedicated to sharing cursed content. And so perhaps it was only a matter of time before that fascination with all things captivating in an “ew-lol way,” as Ellis put it, found its way into the crafting world.
#10 Crocheting Myself A Life-Sized Friend (Guy On The Right) And It Turns Out The Masks I Make Fit Him! I’m Open To Any Name Suggestions For My Friend 💜
Image source: ashleighbuck
#11 I Think My Most Recent Creation Belongs Here
Image source: Miserable-Piglet9008
#12 8th Year Of Costumes! Gremlins!
Image source: zeroduckszerofucks
And really, it makes sense. We’ve all surely seen a kid’s drawing that’s inexplicably creepy, an ambitious cake-icing project that’s taken a turn for the horrifying, or a handmade doll that looks more Annabelle than adorable. And if you thought the cozy, homely crafts of crochet and knitting could be spared, think again. That’s exactly where r/cursedcrochet comes in.
#13 My Girl/Pfp Hummus Would Like To Say Hello
Image source: Extra-Progress-3272
#14 “Oops!… I Did It Again” I Meant To Make A Cute Bunny, But Well… Things Happened
Image source: Fotontr
#15 Tan Buff Hello Kitty
Image source: Any_Peanut7115
“Home of your best crochet fails and scares,” the subreddit was created at the start of 2025 and has since amassed some 36.7K followers who delight in yarn projects gone terribly—or wonderfully—wrong. Its members share creations that range from a little derpy to downright disastrous: pattern fails, amigurumi atrocities, creepy-cute creatures, and the occasional Frankensteinian oddity.
Some look nothing like what their makers intended. Others leave you wondering why anyone would want to make them in the first place—let alone spend hours doing it. And yet, somehow, they’re hard to look away from.
#16 I Wanted To Do Something Funny. You Can Take The Eye Out Of The Ice Cream Cone 😅
Image source: AnnaCarax
#17 Just Looking 👀
Image source: Fotontr
#18 Accidentally Crocheted My Inner Demon
Image source: Massive-Association2
Part of that comes down to a tension at the heart of most “cursed” things. Speaking to Tolentino, artist Jenny Odell called it an “unholy juxtaposition”—things that shouldn’t go together but are combined anyway to create what she calls “normcore horror.” And crochet, it turns out, is perfectly suited to this kind of juxtaposition.
#19 My Take On Marcus The Worm AKA The Most Cursed Way To Present A Gift
Image source: Competitive-Town8299
#20 Crochet Behelit Bag From Berserk (1997)
Image source: moodyjuicecrochet
#21 I Freehand Weird Dolls Out Of Scrap Yarn. This Is Gibberellen, My Latest Creation
Image source: ultimate_hamburglar
The craft comes loaded with preconceptions: cozy blankets, delicate patterns, cute amigurumi, things made with care to be cherished. So when those same stitches are used to make something bizarre or unsettling instead, the contrast becomes the joke itself.
Then there’s the time involved: a single piece can take hours, days, or even longer to complete. In other words, someone didn’t just dream up a cursed object—they sat down with a hook and yarn and patiently brought it into being, one stitch at a time, which somehow makes it all the more wonderfully absurd.
#22 The Build Of This Project Is Looking Pretty Cursed Along The Way
Image source: ScarletOnyx
#23 Behold, I Have Made My First Child
Image source: freejazzisntfree
#24 Me Too, Little Guy
Image source: Massive-Association2
Perhaps that’s why these creations can inspire such a strange reaction. Ellis describes cursed images as being “unaccountably horrifying, hilarious, and baffling all at once.” And it’s that “yuck-yum, ew-lol, love-hate tension” that she says is at the heart of creepiness and cursed images: we’re repelled and entertained at the same time.
And maybe that’s the perfect response to cursed crochet. It doesn’t matter if the result comes from questionable execution, questionable judgment, or deliberate design. You don’t necessarily have to understand why it exists, appreciate the craftsmanship, or even like what you’re looking at. Sometimes being simultaneously horrified, amused and utterly baffled is enough.
#25 Cursed Amulets (Halloween Edition)
Image source: Sufficient_Inside_59
#26 It’s An Otter I Swear
Image source: ArtsyRabb1t
#27 Alice In Wonderland Cheshire Cat Fail
Image source: HurricaneJoy
#28 Oobi And Friends!
Image source: Moneywench
#29 I Crocheted An Angel Ornament For The Tree
Image source: Louiesloops
#30 I Almost Left Him As A ‘Work In Progress,’ But I Pulled Myself Together And Finished This Horse.😁
Image source: Allatpro
#31 Had To Skin Roger To Restuff Him
Image source: Rude-Log-158
#32 Peep My Glasses Holder
Image source: whattheella
#33 I Tried To Make My Mom A Turkey Hat But I Dont Know How To Read Patterns
Image source: 1egg_4u
#34 Bald Cat, He’s So Dumb
Image source: Intelligent-Mind-258
#35 Ok Which One Of You Unleashed This On The Uninitiated [general Public], And Whoever You Are: I Salute You! 😂
Image source: [deleted]
#36 Tea For One
Image source: ashlewhy
#37 New Pics Of My Cursed Spider
Image source: [deleted]
#38 A Ring-Deer, Maybe?
Image source: Extra-Progress-3272
#39 The Giant Worm!
Image source: Common-Operation-842
#40 My Beholder Plushie
Image source: Pusheenqueen12
#41 Roger The Banini Is Complete. Thank You For All The Support
Image source: darthmozz
#42 Least Favorite
Image source: The_Poppeteer
#43 He Has Seen The 6th Dimension
Image source: SapphireScully
#44 I Accidentally Made The Most Anxious Ghost
Image source: Mountain-Inside5391
#45 My Second Two-Headed Plushie Friend!
Image source: algoreithms
#46 I Got Spooked By Fb Marketplace. This 2-Eyed Wonder Was Listed For $90
Image source: LiquidCryptic
#47 Made An Octopus/Pug Hybrid: An Octopug!
Image source: TheKnottyDruid
#48 Remembered I Have Free Will
Image source: AizaSouto
#49 Just Discovered This Sub!! I Want Everyone To Meet The Cat Snail
Image source: lovefromneptune
#50 Nailed It
Image source: braingoesblank
#51 He Has Come
Image source: Toob_Brother
#52 Tried To Make A Frog. Ended Up With A Monster
Image source: SadBoyKlaus
#53 T. Ocellus From Alien Earth
Image source: Al1n1x
#54 Perfectly Horrifying Jar Jar Binks Hat For My Boyfriend
Image source: Potatisprinsessan
#55 Biblically Accurate Star Hat
Image source: soundandcooler
#56 I’m Sorry, Rum Ham
Image source: S_L33T
#57 Sometimes All Ideas Are Not Good Ones And Should Stay Inside Your Head 😂😂😂
Image source: ILikeHornedAnimals
#58 Fantasy Top That Was Inspired By Something Iconic
Image source: moodyjuicecrochet
#59 Wandering Eyes!
Image source: The_Poppeteer
#60 Bigfoot Is Done 👣
Image source: KatarinaMyne
#61 My 12 Yr Old Requested A Crocheted Jar Of Pickles, For A Friend’s Birthday. I Did My Best!
Image source: zeroduckszerofucks
#62 The Intrusive Thoughts Won
Image source: deadblackwings
#63 I Love/Hate It When A Project Goes Through A Cursed Baby Phase Before It Gets Cute
Image source: FerretFaerie
#64 No Longer Cursed Flotsam And Jetsam Scarf 🙌
Image source: KatarinaMyne
#65 Patrick Star
Image source: AlyzaQ
#66 Barefeet Sonic
Image source: Public_Somewhere_624
#67 My First Project…
Image source: Snakesrlife
#68 My Crobubu
Image source: GoodcupofTea
#69 Cursed Derpy
Image source: No-Preparation3139
#70 Was Told This Belongs Here, Made For Coworker
Image source: [deleted]
#71 Tardigrade I Crocheted While In Labor To Ease The Pain Haha
Image source: terribubblejill
#72 After Many Requests, I’ve Finally Finished My Newly Designed Catfish!
Image source: TheKnottyDruid
#73 Teaching My Husband How To Crochet And This Is Just Some Of What He’s Come Up With. They All Have Names And Backstories
Image source: brittanypdeluca
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