A pumpkin kitten is a cat whose body is a pumpkin: white head with a green nose and whiskers, an orange pumpkin belly divided into six sections, a little brown stem on top, and a green bowtie at the neck. He sits about 15 cm tall in plush yarn, and he is the reason I keep a bag of orange chenille in the cupboard all year round.
What I like about this pattern is the order of work. The legs are joined first, the body is crocheted straight up from them, the arms are attached as you go on R17, and the head follows on the same piece. There is almost no sewing: only the hat, the stem and the bow are sewn on at the end.
Every round below is written out, including the two rounds where you crochet an arm and an ear into the piece. There is also a scary version — black triangle eyes and a zigzag mouth — and I have noted where that changes.
What you need
- Yarn: plush or chenille yarn in white, orange, brown and green
- Hook: 4 mm to 5 mm, small enough that the stuffing does not show
- Safety eyes: 8 mm to 10 mm, or black yarn for the scary version
- Notions: stuffing, yarn needle, stitch marker, scissors
Abbreviations
- MR magic ring, sc single crochet, slst slip stitch
- inc increase, dec decrease, BLO back loop only
- R round, st stitch
Step 1 — Arms (make 2)
In white.
- R1: 4 sc in MR (4)
- R2: inc x4 (8)
- R3–6: sc around (8) — 4 rounds
Fasten off. Stuff lightly or not at all; the arms are crocheted into the body later, so leave them flat.
Step 2 — Ear (make 1)
In white, all in one round.
- R1: 4 sc in MR (4)
- R2: 2 sc in first st, 3 sc in second st, 2 sc in third st, slst in fourth st (8)
Fasten off. The rounded side is the top of the ear — keep that in mind when you crochet it into the head on R28.
Step 3 — Legs (make 2)
In white.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: inc x6 (12)
- R3: sc around (12)
Fasten off leg 1 and leave a long tail — that tail closes the gap between the legs later. Do not fasten off leg 2.
Step 4 — Body
Change to orange and carry on from leg 2.
- R4: sc around leg 1, join back to leg 2 and sc around — the two legs are now one piece (24)
- R5: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30)
- R6: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36)
- R7–14: sc around (36) — 8 rounds
Use the tail from leg 1 to sew the gap between the legs closed, and start stuffing here — the body is a pumpkin, so it wants to be round and firm.
- R15: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30)
- R16: (3 sc, dec) x6 (24)
- R17: dec x3, dec x2 through both the arm and the body, dec x4, dec x2 through both the arm and the body, dec (12)
R17 is the round where the arms disappear into the body. Hold each arm against the side of the body, insert the hook through the arm and the body at the same time, and work the decrease across both. Do not fasten off — the head follows directly.
Step 5 — Head
Change to white.
- R18: (sc, inc) x6 (18)
- R19: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24)
- R20: (3 sc, inc) x6 (30)
- R21: (4 sc, inc) x6 (36)
- R22–26: sc around (36) — 5 rounds
- R27: (4 sc, dec) x6 (30)
Place the eyes between R24 and R25, 6 stitches apart. For the scary kitten, skip the eyes and embroider black triangles two stitches wide instead.
The next three rounds are where the ear goes in. R28 has to start in the middle of the head, so add or skip a stitch before you begin.
- R28: (3 sc, dec) x4, 2 sc, sc through the ear and the head (rounded side up), dec, 3 sc, dec (24)
- R29: (2 sc, dec) x4, sc, sc through the ear and the head, dec, 2 sc, dec (18)
- R30: (sc, dec) x4, sc through the ear and the head, dec, sc, dec (12)
Stuff the head, then close it.
- R31: dec x6 (6)
Fasten off and pull the gap shut.
Pumpkin hat
Start in brown for the stem.
- R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- R2: BLO (sc, dec) x2 (4)
- R3–4: sc around (4) — 2 rounds
Change to orange for the brim.
- R5: inc x4 (8)
- R6: inc x8 (16)
- R7: (sc, inc) x8 (24)
- R8: (2 sc, inc) x8 (32)
Fasten off leaving a long tail. Sew the hat between R26 and R30 on top of the head, then pull the thread tight: that tension is what wrinkles the hat into a pumpkin.
Bowtie
In green.
- Part 1, R1: ch 6
- Part 1, R2: 4 sc in the second chain from the hook, sc, slst, sc, 4 sc in the last chain, then continue on the other side of the chain: sc, slst, sc, slst in the first stitch of the round
- Part 2: 4 sc in MR, slst in the first sc
Sew part 2 onto part 1 to make the knot, then sew the bow to the stem.
Shaping the pumpkin
Thread a long orange tail and divide the body into six sections, passing the needle from the bottom centre to the top centre under and over the rounds. Pull each section tight before moving to the next one. This is the step that turns a ball into a pumpkin, and it is worth taking slowly: six even dents look deliberate, five uneven ones do not.
Finish with the details: green nose between R19 and R20, two or three whiskers on each side of the hat, and the V-shaped mouth in black sport weight one row under the eyes. If you want the scary version, the zigzag mouth runs from R22 to R23.
Making it yours
The pumpkin body works in any colour. A grey body and a black hat gives a bat-cat, a cream body reads as a harvest kitten, and a purple one is the easiest Halloween shortcut there is. The hat and the bow are also the two pieces you can swap between projects without touching the pattern.
If you like this construction — pieces joined as you go, almost no sewing — the Cucho the Cat pattern uses the same logic at a smaller scale, and Little Miki Cat is the version with clothes. The Castor the Magician Cat is the full-size doll if you want to go bigger, and everything is listed on the patterns page.
Pattern source: Plush Pumpkin Kitten, as shared by the original designer on the amigurumi pattern blogs.
If you want the same Halloween idea with a cat in it, Mini Pumpkin Man is the smaller, all-sewn version: four pieces and five dents.
The other Halloween doll on the site is Jack Skellington: same palette, felt face, and a shirt front worked as a colour change.
Another plush Halloween make: Purple Zombie Bunny, a lilac rabbit with a stitched face and tulle bows.
If you want a seasonal toy with a hat, Christmas Bear is the Christmas answer to this pumpkin kitten.
For a monster rather than a kitten, One-Eyed Monster is 22 cm of purple with a black top hat.
The bunny version of this pumpkin idea is Pumpkin Bunny: bobble ribs and a hat crocheted into the front loops.
If you like a toy with a skirt-like frill, Penny works 3 hdc in every front loop of her base.
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