Crochet Cat Potholder Pattern

If you would have told me a week ago that I would be spending a chunk of the weekend designing a crochet cat potholder pattern, I would have told you that was crazy.  

I would have reminded you that I am committed to finishing up the wedding afghan for my son and soon to be daughter in law.  Dedicated even.  No sidetracked crafts for me!   Plus I’m more of a dog person.

Then it happened.  I was minding my own business… or maybe I was searching “crochet kitchen” on Pinterest (I’ll never tell) and I saw it.  Cat potholders!

Only I thought I could do better. The potholders I saw had plastic eyes and a nose and was for decoration only, because, hello, plastic will melt!  What?!  Who does that?!  If I’m making a potholder, you can bet you can actually use it to take a hot pot out of an oven!  Or display it if you want.

And speaking of melting, here’s a little tip… if you use acrylic yarn, it probably WILL melt.  So this potholder is made out of cotton yarn and is double thick to help protect your hands from the heat.

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Crochet Cat Potholder Pattern

Here is what you will need:

• US G6/4 mm crochet hook (Did you know you can purchase my go-to hooks on Amazon?)
• Worsted weight cotton yarn. I used Lily brand worsted weight cotton yarn: Red, Sea Breeze, Ahoy Ombre, Black.
• tapestry needle and scissors

Resources and tutorials you may find helpful in following this pattern: Crochet Abbreviations, US to UK Crochet Conversion Chart.  Find links to stitches on the “Tutorial” menu: Getting Started will show basic stitches used in many patterns and Crochet Stitch Dictionary shows our growing collection of crochet stitch tutorials.

Cat Muzzle:

With Ombre color, Make a magic ring

R1: ch3, 13 dc, join with sl st to top of starting chain (14 st)

R2: ch3, dc in same stitch, *2dc in next st, repeat from * around. Sl st to top of starting chain and fasten off, leaving a long length for sewing (28 st)

Cat Nose:

With black, ch 4, work the following in the 3^rd ch from hook: 2 dc, ch 3, sl st. Fasten off, leaving a long length for sewing.

Cat Potholder Face (make 2):

With red, make a magic ring.

R1: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc in this and subsequent rounds), 13 dc, join with sl st to top of starting chain (14 st)

R2: ch3, 2 dc in next st, (2 dc in next st) 3 times, *dc in next st, 2 dc in next st*, repeat * to * around. Sl st to starting chain (24 st).

NOTE: The set of 3 dc towards the start of this round are the top of the head. You may want to mark the exact center with a stitch marker and carry it up your work to make it easier to start the ears in the proper place.  You don’t absolutely have to do this, but there are extra stitches here to make the head more oblong instead of perfectly round and you want to make sure you keep the head going the right direction

R3: ch 3, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next st, 2 dc in next st*, repeat * to * around. Sl st to 1^st st. (36 st)

R4: ch 3, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next st* repeat * to * around, sl st to 1^st st. (48 st)

R5: ch 3, dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 3 st, 2 dc in next st*, repeat * to * around (60 st), sl st to 1^st st.

Now, you will stitch the 1^st inner ear. Each ear has 7 sc and there are 8 stitches in between the ears. To get to the proper spot, with red, slip stitch in the next 4 st, changing to blue in the last sl st.

Ears:

R1: With blue in the proper stitch, ch 1, sc in same stitch as joining, sc in next 6 st, turn. (7 st)

R2: ch 1, sc across (7 st)

R3: ch 1, sc 2 tog, sc in next 3 st, sc 2 tog, turn (5 st)

R4: ch 1, sc across (5 st)

R5: ch 1, sc 2 tog, sc in next st, sc 2 tog (3 st)

R6: ch 1, sc 3 tog. Fasten off blue.

With right side facing, count over 8 stitches and attach blue yarn into the 9^th stitch to begin the 2^nd ear, following instructions.

Make a 2^nd face with 2 ears so that the crochet cat potholder will be a double thickness. Now is a good time to sew on the nose and eyes with matching yarn, that way any sewing ends and knots can be hidden in between the 2 layers of the potholder. Backstitch on the mouth and whiskers with black yarn.

Eyes (make 2):

With blue make a magic ring:

Work the following into the magic ring: 2sc, hdc, 2dc, hdc, 2sc. Sl stitch to starting sc. Fasten off and leave a long length for sewing.

Pupil: with black, make a French knot. Start with the black yarn coming up through the center of the magic ring of the eye. Put the tip of the needle in part of a nearby stitch and while the needle is in the stitch, wrap the yarn around 5 times. Gently pull the needle through the wraps, keeping the wraps in a nice, even line, stitch this down to the bottom of the eye.

Sew on Facial Features on Cat Potholder

Now is the best time to sew on the facial features on your crochet cat potholder.  I actually sewed mine on at the very end, but it is much more difficult to hide the yarn ends that way, so I suggest you sew the pieces on now the front now.  Refer to the photos and sew on the muzzle, nose and eyes.  Use black yarn and back stitch a mouth and whiskers.

Putting Potholder Together

In the next step, we will be crocheting the edge through the double thicknesses of potholder. This will also trim the ears and form the side “fluffs”. The yarn is attached 5 stitches to the left of the bottom center of the face. To find this point, fold the face right sides together, matching the ears. Note the center at the bottom of the face and then count back 5 stitches so that you are fastening the yarn to the 5^th stitch from right of center as you are looking at the front of the potholder, with the ears facing down.

Now, place the two sides of the crochet cat potholder together, wrong sides together, lining up the ears. Working through double thicknesses, attach the red yarn to the indicated stitch.

Trim row: ch 1, sc in same st as joining, sc in the next 13 st. (neck done) *In the next st, work (2dc, ch 2, 2 dc), sc in the next 2 st*, repeat * to * 2 more times (right side fluff done),

sc along the side stitches to the top of the ear, work 3 stitches in the center tip of the ear, then sc along the 2^nd side of the 1^st ear. (ear 1 done), sc in next 4 st, ch 5, sc in next 4 stitches (top of head and hanging loop done), sc around the 2^nd ear, working 3 sc in the center tip of the ear (ear 2 done), sc in next 2 st, *In the next st, work (2dc, ch 2, 2 dc), sc in the next 2 st*, repeat * to * 2 more times, sc in last 2 st (left side fluff done). Fasten off red.

As you can probably tell, I wing it a bit when I stitch around odd shaped pieces like ears.  I try to keep my stitches even and make sure the piece doesn’t curl one way or another when I am done.

Cat Collar:

Join blue with sl st to 1^st st in prior row. Ch 2, hdc in same st as joining. 2hdc in next 8 st, in next st (hdc, ch 2, sl st). Fasten off.

Weave in any ends.

And there you have it.  A cute crochet cat potholder!

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Be sure to check out my crochet potholder pattern collection for even more fun patterns!

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