If you are anything like me, you have probably scrolled on Pinterest to see dozens of cats in cute little sweaters. As both a cat and crochet lover, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to blend my two passions! In my cat sweater pattern, there are three main steps: body, ruffles, and bows. I will be going through each of these steps, explaining how you can customize this pattern to perfectly fit your furry friend!
The Body:
Before we even get started crocheting, the first step in this project is to take some measurements. To start working on the body, you will need to measure the neck/collar area of your cat. You can use either a soft measuring tape or a string of yarn and then lay it on a ruler. To make sure the sweater is not too tight, don’t cinch the measuring tape as tightly as possible. Instead, I recommend securing the tape so that it is snug to the fur on the collar, but you can still fit two fingers between the tape and your cat’s neck. For example, my measurement came out to be 11.5 inches.
Once you have your measurement, we can begin crocheting. To create the collar, you are going to chain to the length you just measured. If you end up with an odd number, I recommend rounding up to the nearest even number, as this will make crocheting the rest of the body much easier. For my sweater, I chained 46.
Then, to create a loop, slip stitch into the first chain you made. At this point, you can slip the loop over your cat’s head, just to ensure that it can easily go on and that the collar fits. If needed, this is the place where you can chain more or less to get the perfect fit.
Next, to start building the collar, I did 4 rows of 1 double crochet in each stitch. To start my rows, I chained 3 and flipped my work before double crocheting. I find that flipping keeps my stitches straight. To finish, I slip-stitched in the 3rd chain made at the start. This brought me to about halfway between the collar area and my cat’s front legs. To tailor this pattern to your specific cat, you can add more or less rows to reach this point.
Now we will begin increasing the body to fit the abdomen of your cat. To begin, you are going to lay your project flat, with the chain 3s at the beginning of the rows facing you in the middle. Then you are going to mark the stitches on each corner (you can use a proper stitch marker, or something like a bobby pin, as I did). I would recommend counting after you mark to make sure that each side has the same number of stitches. For example, I had 46 stitches, so I made sure that each side had 22 stitches- not including the stitch with a marker.
With our stitches marked, you can start the next row by 1 double crocheting in each stitch until you reach the mark. In the marked stitch, you are going to make 2 double crochets. Then you are going to mark the first of the 2 stitches (or the outer stitch closer to the start of the row). Continue double crocheting 1 in each stitch until you reach the second marked stitch. Do the same increasing pattern as earlier. While you will still be marking the stitch closer to the start of the row, this will end up being the second double crochet made in that stitch. Finish by double crocheting 1 in each stitch to the end.
For the next row, repeat the same pattern of increasing in the marked stitch. However, instead of marking in the stitch closest to the beginning of the row, mark the stitch farther from the beginning (or the inner stitch closer to the middle of the row). By alternating the marked stitches, your sweater will increase evenly on each side.
Continue this pattern of increasing rows until you reach your cat’s front legs. For me, this took 5 rows.
Next, we will begin creating the leg spaces for the sweater. To create the leg holes, you will skip a certain number of stitches and chain to connect back to the body of the sweater. You can take a rough measurement of how much space you need for each leg hole and the distance they should be apart. For me, I needed about 10 stitches between the leg spaces. Also, I needed to skip 6 stitches to create the leg spaces. I recommend chaining a few more than the number of stitches skipped to ensure the sweater does not get too tight in the abdomen. For example, because I skipped 6 stitches, I chained 10.
To start this row, you are going to double crochet half the space needed between the leg holes (I needed 10 stitches, so I double crocheted in 5). Then you can chain your specific number and skip your stitches. Continue double crocheting through the row until you get near the end of the row. To figure out when to create the second leg hole, add together the number of stitches you made at the beginning and the amount you need to skip. For example, I added 5+6 to get 11. Count back this number from the end of the row and mark the stitch. At that marking, you make your chain, skip your stitches, and double crochet to the end of the row.
For the rest of the body rows, all you need to do is double crochet in each stitch. Continue making these rows until you reach the desired length of your sweater. If you want to add ruffles to the bottom of the sweater, leave about 3 rows worth of room at the bottom.
The Ruffles:
I think that adding ruffles to your cat sweater is a simple way to enhance your project.
After you have made the body to your desired length, you can begin adding ruffles. For the first row of ruffles, you are going to make 2 double crochets in each stitch for the entire row. Next, you are going to make a row following the pattern of 1 double crochet, then 2 double crochets in the same stitch. Finally, for the last row you will double crochet 1 twice, then make 2 double crochets in once stitch.
If you also want to make ruffles at the collar of your sweater, you can follow a similar pattern. The only change I recommend making is starting with making a row of double crocheting 1 in each stitch before starting the ruffles. This allows the ruffles to fold over more smoothly and also provides room in case you want to add a bow to the collar.
You can finish off the ruffles by cutting your yarn, leaving enough of a tail to weave in.
The Bows:
To me, the bows are the easiest part of this project and really put it over the top! I made two types of bows for this sweater: 2 small ones and 1 large one.
The 2 smaller bows I attached to the body of the sweater. I put the first one halfway down and the second one about three-fourths of the way down. To make these ones, I chained 60 and made one single crochet in each stitch. After tying them in a bow, I used a yarn needle to secure them to the sweater.
I used the larger bow to both cinch in the collar of the body and to keep the ruffles in place. I chained 120 and made one single crochet in each stitch. To add it to the sweater, I first filled the collar to make sure that the first row of the ruffle was over the first row of the body. Then I threaded the large bow through the two rows, skipping about 3-4 stitches each time. Once threaded through the entire collar, you can take the ends to finally tie the bow.
Congratulations, you have officially created a cat sweater! I hope you had as much fun with this project as I did making/sharing the pattern!
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