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10 Free Crochet Cat Patterns, From 20-Minute Keychains to Full Cat Beds
There are two kinds of crochet cat projects.
The first is the one you finish during a single episode of something. The second eats an entire weekend and 32 ounces of yarn, and at the end your actual cat sniffs it once and walks away.
Both are worth making. This list has both.
Every pattern here is genuinely free, hosted on the designer’s own site, and I checked each one was still live before adding it. No “free preview, buy the real thing for $6” nonsense.
I have also listed the yarn, hook, and honest time cost for each, because nothing is worse than falling in love with a pattern and then finding out it wants a 30mm hook you do not own.
Quick Comparison
| Pattern | Designer | Time | Hook | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No-Sew Cat Keychain | Misty Lard, Mom in a Stitch | 15-20 min | 4.5mm | Absolute beginners |
| No-Sew Loaf Cat | Nicole Riley, Nicki’s Homemade Crafts | 1-2 hrs | 4.5mm | The viral loaf look |
| Cat Coaster | Fay, Stitch by Fay | Under 1 hr | 3.5mm | Using up cotton scraps |
| Cat Bookmark | Fay, Stitch by Fay | Under 1 hr | 2.5mm | Gifts for readers |
| Tiny Cat Amigurumi | Mariska Vos-Bolman, DIY Fluffies | 1-2 hrs | 2.5mm or 5mm | Two sizes from one pattern |
| Toy Mouse for Cats | Heather, Daisy and Storm | Under 1 hr | 2.75mm | Something your cat uses |
| Cat Granny Square | Eleonora, Elendipity | 1 hr per square | 3.5mm | Blankets and bags |
| Granny Square Cat Beanie | Viv, VivCrochets | A weekend | 5.5mm | Wearing it yourself |
| Pumpkin Cat Bed | Melissa Hassler, Lovable Loops | A weekend | 5mm | Fall photos |
| Chunky Cat Bed | Susie, Loganberry Handmade | A weekend | 30mm | Big cats |
The 20-Minute Projects
1. No-Sew Cat Keychain by Mom in a Stitch
This is the one to start with if you have never made an amigurumi anything.
It takes 15 to 20 minutes once you have done it once, and the whole thing is worked as a single piece. No separate ears, no separate paws, nothing to sew on and get crooked.
The trick is bobble stitches. The ears and paws pop out of the body as you go, which sounds like magic and is really just one stitch you will learn in about four minutes.
Designer Misty Lard calls the bobble the only tricky part, and that is fair. Your first one will look like a lump. Your third one will look like an ear.
Bulky size 5 yarn, 4.5mm hook, finishes around 2.5 to 4 inches tall. You still embroider the face, so budget a couple of extra minutes for that.
Get the free pattern from Mom in a Stitch
2. Cat Coaster by Stitch by Fay
A flat cat face with two ears sticking off the top, roughly 4 inches square, in worsted cotton on a 3.5mm hook.
This is the pattern for the yarn you have too much of and no plan for. Cotton scraps, odd half-balls, that color you bought and immediately regretted.
It uses more stitch types than you would expect for something this small, including treble crochet for the ear points. Fay describes it as needing minimal focus, which is the correct energy for a coaster.
Make six in six colors and you have a housewarming gift.
Get the free pattern from Stitch by Fay
3. Toy Mouse for Cats by Daisy and Storm
Finally, one your cat gets to keep.
About 7cm long without the tail, DK yarn, 2.75mm hook, and it takes maybe 20 yards of yarn total. Heather designed it to be beginner friendly and it shows.
One important change I would make. The pattern gives the tail as a chain, and a commenter pointed out their cat chewed straight through it. Work the tail as a foundation single crochet instead and it will survive actual cat ownership.
Also see the safety section below before you put safety eyes in anything your cat will have in its mouth.
Get the free pattern from Daisy and Storm
The Evening Projects
4. No-Sew Loaf Cat by Nicki’s Homemade Crafts
The loaf cat is the shape your cat makes when it tucks all four legs underneath and becomes a bread product. It is also, currently, the single most-searched crochet cat shape on Pinterest.
Nicole Riley’s version is fully no-sew. In her words, not a single limb to attach, tail to fuss with, or head to wrangle into place.
Super bulky cuddle yarn, 4.5mm hook, finishes around 2.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches tall, and works up in under an hour or two. She rates it advanced beginner, which mostly means you should have made one amigurumi thing before.
The chenille yarn is what sells it. It photographs like a real loaf.
Get the free pattern from Nicki’s Homemade Crafts
5. Cat Bookmark by Stitch by Fay
A cat head that sits on top of your book with a tail that hangs down between the pages. About 12 inches long, DK cotton, 2.5mm hook, done in under an hour.
Mostly single crochet, so it is genuinely beginner level. There is a small amount of sewing for the nose, whiskers and mouth, plus a bow on the tail if you want it.
This is the gift you make in bulk in December. Cheap, fast, and it fits in an envelope.
Get the free pattern from Stitch by Fay
6. Tiny Cat Amigurumi by DIY Fluffies
Mariska Vos-Bolman wrote this one to work at two completely different scales from the same instructions.
Cotton sport weight on a 2.5mm hook gives you a 2 inch cat. Chenille super bulky on a 5mm hook gives you a 4 inch cat. Same pattern, same rounds, wildly different object.
She calls it an easy beginner pattern and includes a video tutorial alongside the written version, which helps a lot if you are still translating abbreviations in your head.
Make the tiny cotton one, glue a pin back on it, done.
Get the free pattern from DIY Fluffies
7. Cat Granny Square by Elendipity
Most cat granny squares are a normal square with a cat sewn on afterwards. This one is not.
Eleonora builds the square around the cat, so the cat is part of the structure from round one rather than an applique stuck on at the end. It sits flatter and it does not peel.
3.5mm hook, cotton 8/8, and under 5 grams of yarn per square. She rates it intermediate, and it does assume you have made her cat applique first, so read both pages before you start.
The colorway swaps are where this gets fun. She mentions black and purple for Halloween and red and green with gold glitter for Christmas.
Get the free pattern from Elendipity
The Weekend Projects
8. Granny Square Cat Ear Beanie by VivCrochets
This is the one for you, not the cat.
Viv takes plain granny squares and assembles them so the corners stick up as ears. Eight squares in a 2 by 4 layout, or a simplified 2-square version if you want it faster.
Medium weight yarn, 5.5mm hook, finishes at 26cm wide by 20cm tall. Intermediate, because you need to be comfortable with granny squares and with seaming.
Her description of the flat unassembled hat is the best part: it is very rectangular, but once you put it on, you will have these ears sticking out.
There is a free video tutorial alongside the written pattern.
Get the free pattern from VivCrochets
9. Pumpkin Cat Bed by Lovable Loops
A round orange bed with a green stem and an 8 inch doorway, sized at 13 inches wide and 12 inches deep.
Melissa Hassler builds it over an 8 inch macrame ring, which is the detail that makes it hold its shape instead of sagging into a sad orange puddle after a week.
Super bulky #6 yarn on a 5mm hook. You will need about 15 ounces of orange and a small amount of green. She rates it advanced beginner, mostly for the shaping.
Obviously this is a fall pattern, but plenty of people make it in grey or cream year round and skip the stem.
Get the free pattern from Lovable Loops
10. Chunky Cat Bed by Loganberry Handmade
The big one. Jumbo weight 7 yarn, a 30mm hook, and roughly 32 ounces of yarn per bed.
Susie’s pattern is genuinely easy in terms of stitches. The difficulty is entirely physical, because you are wrestling rope-thick yarn with a hook the size of a chair leg.
She includes a scaled-up version too, prompted by her own 20 pound cat. If your cat is a unit, use that one.
Worth knowing before you commit: jumbo yarn at this quantity is the most expensive project on this list by a wide margin. Everything else here runs on scraps.
Get the free pattern from Loganberry Handmade
Safety, If Your Cat Is Actually Going to Use It
This part matters and most roundups skip it.
Never put safety eyes in a toy your cat will chew. Safety eyes are designed to resist a toddler pulling them, not a cat working at one spot with its back teeth for a month. Embroider the eyes with yarn instead.
Skip the polyester fiberfill in chew toys too. If the toy opens up, that stuffing is a swallowing problem. Stuff cat toys with more yarn scraps, or with an old cotton sock.
Use cotton or wool for anything your cat mouths. Acrylic is fine for a coaster or a keychain, but it frays into long strands, and long strands are the thing you do not want a cat swallowing.
Cut loose tails short. Anything dangly that is not meant to be dangly should go.
And catnip is a nice addition, but put it in a small removable pouch inside the toy rather than loose in the stuffing, so you can refresh it when it goes stale.
Which One Should You Make First
If you have never crocheted a cat before, make the keychain. Twenty minutes, one new stitch, and you will know immediately whether you like this kind of project.
If you have made amigurumi before and want the thing people will actually comment on, make the loaf cat.
If you want your cat to get something out of this, make the mouse and use the foundation single crochet tail.
If you want to burn a whole Saturday, the chunky bed is right there, and your cat will sleep in the box it came in instead. That is the deal we all signed up for.
Common Questions
Do I need special yarn for any of these?
Only the two big beds. The chunky bed needs jumbo weight 7 and the pumpkin bed needs super bulky #6. Everything else runs on standard worsted, DK, sport or scraps you already have.
Can I sell what I make from these?
Most of these designers allow selling finished items but not reselling the pattern. Elendipity states it directly, and Daisy and Storm explicitly permits commercial sale. Check each designer’s own note before you list anything, because the terms are theirs to set and they do change.
What is a no-sew pattern actually doing?
It works the ears, paws and sometimes the tail directly into the body as you crochet, usually with bobble stitches, instead of making them separately and sewing them on. Fewer pieces, no crooked ears, much faster.
I do not know how to do a bobble stitch.
Both no-sew patterns here include a walkthrough, and the keychain pattern has a video. It is one stitch and it takes about ten minutes to get right.
Which of these use the least yarn?
The granny square, at under 5 grams. The coaster and the mouse are next. All three are proper scrap-busters.
One Last Thing
Bookmark two of these, not ten.
The fastest way to kill a crochet habit is opening fourteen tabs of patterns you are definitely going to make and then making none of them. Pick the keychain and one weekend project, and go.
And when you finish something, your cat is legally required to sit on it. Rules are rules.
