Crochet mouse pattern: fifteen rounds in a single piece
A free crochet mouse pattern for a catnip toy about 9 cm nose to tail tip, with the body 6 cm of that, worked in three colours on a 3.0 mm hook in about an hour. The nose is the whole shape: the ring opens on four stitches instead of the usual six, and the increase rounds are held apart by plain rounds at 8 and at 12 so the point stays sharp before the sides run straight at twenty-four. Fifteen rounds cover the single piece, each with the count it ends on. The ears are embroidered fans and the tail is a plait knotted through the closing stitches.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 15 rounds was checked against the round before it by machine — the counts, the increases and the decreases all add up. What nobody can promise you yet is how it sits in the hand.How we check
6 of 8 checks ran on 2026-09-04
- 1 format and stitch chainscripts/validate.py — 113 patterns, all counts chain.
- 2 catalogue auditscripts/audit-patterns.py — 113 audited, 0 errors, 66 warnings.
- 3 geometrygeometry-check.py — 113 checked, 0 errors, 4 warnings.
- 5 not a duplicate113 distinct display names across 113 patterns
- 6c target on the recordseo.headKeyword, confidence and demand present and cross-checked by scripts/validate.py
- 8 page readinessscripts/check-completeness.py --gate — 0 required fields missing, 114 editorial flags, 0 unearned claims.
Not yet checked
- 4 render matches the pattern — no image has been compared against its own prompt, so a render showing a piece the rounds do not make would not be caught here. Nothing has counted how many do.
- 6a recognisability — provenance.recognisability is empty in every pattern, so there is no feature list to check the parts against.
Why it is rated Beginner
One piece, fifteen rounds, plain single crochet throughout. The only care it asks for is pulling a four-stitch magic ring properly closed before the mouse is stuffed.
Sell what you make. Anything you crochet from this pattern is yours to sell — any quantity, no fee, no credit required.
00
00What you need before you start
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What you need before you start
Yarn — three colours, all weight 3
1 small ball, about 20 gDK cotton, worked tightly
scrapsDK cotton, or six-strand embroidery floss
scrapsDK cotton, or six-strand embroidery floss
Tools
4 you probably own, 2 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
A chopstick or similar for stuffing
You need to buy
Polyester stuffing (~8 g)
Dried catnip (~1 teaspoon)
Optional
A 5 cm square of thin cotton or muslin, to tie the catnip into a pouch
A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the round start
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Tight enough that no stuffing shows between stitches. A mouse that a cat will carry in its teeth wants a denser fabric than a shelf toy, so go down a hook size before you go up.
Finished size
~9 cm nose to tail tip — the body is about 6 cm of that and 3.5 cm across at its widest
Cotton on a 3.0 mm hook is what gives the dense fabric this one is written for. If you only have worsted, go down a hook size from what the label suggests rather than up, and expect a slightly larger mouse.
How to make the catnip mouse
Switching rewrites every round:US4 sc in mrUK4 dc in mrWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The mouse
A teardrop worked from the nose back. Four stitches in the ring, then…15 RNDS
starts in dove· magic ring· Piece 1 of 1
First six rounds[4] [8] [8] [12] [12] [16]
The pointed nose
RND 1–81[4]
2[8]
3[8]
4[12]
5[12]
6[16]
7[20]
8[24]
Straight sides
RND 9–129[24]
10[24]
11[24]
12[24]
Closing in, stuffing as you go
RND 13–1513[18]
14[12]
15[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff firmly as you close the last three rounds, with a teaspoon of catnip in the middle. Cinch the final six stitches shut through the front loops. Then the needle work: two blush fans on rounds 5 to 7, one on each side of the back, about six stitches apart for the ears; a blush satin patch over the tip of the nose; two charcoal knots for eyes, roughly four stitches behind the nose. For the tail, cut three 25 cm strands of dove, thread them through the closing stitches, plait them and knot the end.
You are here
Six notes on the catnip mouse
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Worked in a continuous spiral from the nose backwards — nothing to join and nothing to turn. Mark the first stitch of every round.
03One piece, nothing sewn on. The ears are embroidered fans and the tail is a plait of yarn knotted through the closing stitches, so there is no seam for a cat to work loose.
04This toy gets chewed, so it carries no safety eyes, no beads and no plastic. Embroider the eyes in charcoal and pull every end through to the inside.
05The magic ring opens on 4 stitches rather than the usual 6, which is what keeps the nose pointed. Pull the ring closed hard and secure the tail end before you stuff.
06Stuff firmly through rounds 13 to 15, with the catnip in the middle of the stuffing. Tying the catnip into a small square of thin cotton first stops the leaves working out between stitches.
Four questions this pattern answers
Not questions anybody asked. Each one is written from this pattern's own record, and every answer is read off the fields it names.
Can the catnip mouse be made with a different hook or yarn?
How much yarn will the catnip mouse take?
What hook will the catnip mouse need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the catnip mouse take to crochet?
A round that will not add up?
Tell us the piece and the round number — the stepper already knows where you are.There is nowhere to send one yet.
Put the laptop down mid-round
The iPhone app keeps your place — piece of 1, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
