How to Make a Conker God's-Eye: an Easy Autumn Weaving Craft

2 Conker God's eyes hanging on a window.

Autumn is a wonderful time to collect little treasures from nature, and conkers are perfect for simple handmade crafts. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a conker God’s Eye using a conker and colourful wool. This easy weaving craft is a lovely activity to enjoy with children, combining natural materials with the simple pleasure of working with our hands. Inspired by Waldorf crafts, it’s a beautiful way to bring a little autumn magic into your home.

Materials you will need

Conkers on top of leaves. A basket with chestnuts, coloured wool and skewers.

A chestnut
Wooden skewers
Wool of different colours
An awl or cake tester to make the conker holes.
Scissors
Pliers to cut the skewers

How to Make a Conker God’s-Eye

Step 1:

Cut the wooden skewers to your desired length, then use an awl, cake tester or needle to poke 6 or 8 evenly spaced holes around the conker.

A hand inserting a stick into a chestnut, and a hand holding a chestnut with four sticks.

Step 2:

Insert the skewers into the holes; don’t worry if they aren’t perfectly even, but make sure they are fully inserted.

A conker with 8 sticks inserted, and a hand weaving wool to a conker with sticks.

Step 3:

Once all the skewers are inserted, tie the piece of wool you want to start with to one of the sticks right close to the conker.

Keep the knot under the stick and go over and around the next stick.

A hand holding a conker with wool woven into it.

Step 4

Continue for a few rounds until you want to change colour. Before you change colour, tie a knot, leaving enough wool to tie to the next colour.

A chestnut with sticks inserted and wool woven into it, adding a new wool colour.

Tie the next colour to the first colour of wool, keep the new knot at the back, then continue around each stick with the new colour.

Making a Conker God's eye two pictures with more colours added to it.

Keep adding colours.

Making a Conker God's eye into two pictures with more colours added.

Finishing a Conker God's-eye knot on a stick.

Step 4

When you are done, tie a strong knot to one of the sticks and leave a long piece of wool to hang the conker God’s eye.

Cutting the leftover wool from the knots at the back of the Conker God's eye.

Step 5

Cut all the extra wool from the knots you made when joining wool colours.

Step 6

Hang your finished conker-God’s-eye on a wall or window.

Tips for making a conker God’s-Eye with children.

This activity is best for children around 6 or 7, but younger children can help collect chestnuts from the garden or the park and watch you create the conkers god eye.
Prepare the chestnut with the sticks, leave different colours of wool for the child to choose from, and work on yours while they join in by imitating you.
Let the children freely experiment with different colour combinations.
Some children might need a little help securing the wool.
Take your time and enjoy the weaving process rather than aiming for a perfect result.