This is a cat rattle: two ears joined into a 42-stitch head, a 12-stitch handle that runs through the middle, and a small bell tucked inside before the handle is closed. It is about 14 cm long, worked in cotton at 2 mm, and it is the only baby toy on this site.
The construction is unusual and worth understanding before you start. The ears are made first, then joined with a chain of 9 to form a ring of 42 stitches, and the head is crocheted straight up from that ring. The handle comes out of the head on round 19 and runs 34 rounds, then folds back in and is sewn to the other side.
Every round is written out below.
What you need
- Yarn: cotton 8/6 in two colours
- Hook: 2 mm
- Notions: fibrefill, a small bell, yarn needle, stitch marker
Abbreviations
- MR magic ring, sc single crochet, inc increase, dec decrease
- The number in brackets at the end of a round is the stitch count
Ears (make 2)
- Rnd 1: 6 sc in MR (6)
- Rnd 2: (inc, sc) x3 (9)
- Rnd 3: sc in each stitch (9)
- Rnd 4: (inc, 2 sc) x3 (12)
- Rnd 5: sc in each stitch (12)
Fasten off the first ear. Work the second ear the same way, but at the end of Rnd 5 do not fasten off: crochet 9 chain stitches and join them to the first ear. That brings you to 42 stitches around — 12 + 9 + 12 + 9.
Head
- Rnd 6–18: sc in each stitch (42) — 13 rounds
Separate 12 stitches at each end, leaving 9 stitches free in the centre. Check that the opening is centred before you continue; if it is not, add or skip a few stitches without counting them.
Handle
- Rnd 19–52: sc in each stitch (12) — 34 rounds
Embroider the face on the head, fill the head and the handle with fibrefill, put the bell inside the head, then sew the end of the handle to the other end so the rattle closes into a ring. Finally, sew the 9 centre stitches closed with the needle.
Embroidering the face
The face is entirely embroidery: two closed, downward-curving eyes and a tiny triangle nose, with the mouth as a short line under it. Work with a single strand and keep the stitches small — at this scale, a stitch that is one millimetre too long changes the expression.
Notes
Use a bell that is small enough to be fully enclosed by the stuffing, or it will rattle against the fabric and sound dull. Cotton at 2 mm gives a firm ring that a small hand can grip; if you make it in acrylic, work one hook size down.
For cats of other sizes, Cat Keychain with a Donut is the 7 cm one, Little Miki Cat is the hooded 4-inch one, and Cream and Brown Kitty is the jointed full-size cat. Everything is on the patterns page.
Pattern source: cat rattle, as shared by the original designer on the amigurumi pattern blogs.
