This chunky, textured fake wasp nest makes an excellent natural deterrent (wasps are highly territorial and usually avoid nesting near existing ones!).
Nesting uses thick, strong yarn and is worked from the bottom up, ending with a narrow hanging stalk.
Materials and Tools:
- Yarn: heavy (Size 5) or super bulky (Size 6) tan, beige or light brown yarn. Tip: You can also hold two strands of standard worsted weight (size 4) yarn together.
- hook: 6.5 mm (US K-10.5) or 8.0 mm (US L-11) hook.
- Filling: Poly-fill filling Or crumpled plastic grocery bags if you plan to hang them outside (plastic won’t hold moisture or mold!).
- Concepts: Stitch marker, tapestry needle and scissors.
Pattern Notes:
- Terminology: US Crochet Terms.
- Work style: Worked in a continuous round (a spiral). Do not cut a stitch to join or chain at the end of the round. Use your stitch marker to mark the first stitch of each round.
- Composition: To mimic a ridge-like texture, you can work all single crochets in Back Loops Only (BLO), although standard single crochet works beautifully as well. The pattern below is written for standard stitches, but use BLO for extra stitches!
Step-by-step crochet pattern:
1. Aadhaar (Increasing)
- Round 1: Make a magic ring (MR) and work 6 single crochet (sc) into the ring. (6 sts)
- Round 2: 2 SC in each st around. (12 sts)
- Round 3: 1 sc, repeat around inc. (18 sts)
- Round 4: 2 sc, repeat around inc. (24 sts)
- Round 5: 3 sc, repeat around inc. (30 sts)
- Round 6: 4 sc, repeat around inc. (36 sts)
- Round 7: 5 sc, repeat around inc. (42 sts)
- Round 8: 6 sc, repeat around inc. (48 sts)
2. Main organization (also work)
- Rounds 9-24: Sc in each st around. (48 sts for 16 rounds)
- Note: This forms the height of the structure. If you want a longer, more rectangular nest, add 2-4 more rows here.
3. Tapered Top (Reduction and Stuffing)
- Round 25: 6 sc, repeat around the dec. (42 sts)
- Round 26: Sc in each st around. (42 sts)
- Round 27: 5 sc, repeat around the dec. (36 sts)
- Round 28: Sc in each st around. (36 sts)
- Round 29: 4 sc, repeat around the dec. (30 sts)
- Round 30: 3 sc, repeat around the dec. (24 sts)
- Stop and stuff: Pack your nest firmly with your chosen stuffing material (plastic bags or fiberfill). Make sure it holds its round, egg-like shape well before the opening gets too small.
- Round 31: 2 sc, repeat around the dec. (18 sts)
- Round 32: 1 sc, repeat around the dec. (12 sts)
- Round 33: About 6 times dec. (6 sts)
4. Hanging stem
- Rounds 34-39: Sc in each st around. (6 sts for 6 rounds)
- This creates a narrow funnel/rope appearance at the top.
5. Finishing and hanging loop
- To make a loop: Chain 8, then slip stitch the opposite side of the top round to make a loop.
- Close leaving a 6-inch tail.
- Thread the tail onto the tapestry needle, weave it securely through the top stitch to strengthen the loop, and hide the yarn tail inside the stem.
Hanging tip
To hang your decoy nest exactly as pictured, secure an outdoor cup hook or adhesive hook to the underside of your porch or eave and slide the crochet loop right over it!
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