Loaf cat crochet pattern, six pieces and 39 rounds
A free loaf cat crochet pattern for a ginger cat folded into a loaf, about 7.5 cm nose to back and about 5 cm tall as it sits, worked on a 4 mm hook in five colours over about two and a half hours. Rounds 4 to 11 do not shape at all — twenty-eight stitches, eight rounds running — and that flat stretch is the whole reason the cat reads as a loaf rather than a ball. All 39 rounds are written out across the six pieces, each round carrying the count it ends on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 39 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 Medium
Medium for the colour rather than the shaping: eight of the body's fifteen rounds carry a cream front worked into the round, so each one changes colour twice with the ginger carried loosely behind.
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 — five colours, all weight 4
1 skein, about half of itWorsted acrylic, weight 4
1 skein, well under half of itWorsted acrylic, weight 4
a short lengthScrap yarn or six-strand embroidery floss
a short lengthScrap yarn or six-strand embroidery floss
a short lengthScrap yarn or six-strand embroidery floss
Tools
5 you probably own, 2 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
You need to buy
8 mm black safety eyes ×2
Polyester stuffing (~20 g)
Optional
Charcoal embroidery floss instead of safety eyes, which is the safer choice for a child under three
A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the round start
A small bag of plastic pellets to weight the base so the cat sits flat
Blush and a soft brush for the cheeks
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Not critical. Work tight enough that the stuffing does not show between stitches. A looser hand gives you a larger cat and nothing worse.
Finished size
~7.5 cm nose to back and about 5 cm tall as it sits, with the tail curled alongside
A 3.5 mm hook with the same worsted gives a smaller cat off the same 39 rounds. Whatever hook you use, do not work the cream rounds loosely; the ginger carried behind them shows through a slack fabric.
How to make the loaf cat, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US16 sc around a chain of 8UK16 dc around a chain of 8Work a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The loaf
Body and head in one piece. An oval base, eight rounds that do not…15 RNDS
starts in gingerOrange· picked up· Piece 1 of 6
First six rounds[16] [22] [28] [28] [28] [28]
The oval base
RND 1–31[16]
2[22]
3[28]
Straight sides — cream chest from round 6, eyes at round 11
RND 4–114[28]
5[28]
6[28]
7[28]
8[28]
9[28]
10[28]
11[28]
Doming into the head — stuff lightly
RND 12–1512[22]
13[16]
14[10]
15[5]
US termsmrmagic ringchchainscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff lightly and press the base flat as you go; a loaf cat wants a flat bottom more than a firm middle, so stop before the sides bulge. The last round closes on five stitches — thread the tail through their front loops and draw it shut.
2
02The ears
Two the same, three rounds each: six stitches out to twelve, then one…3 RNDS
starts in gingerOrange· magic ring· Piece 2 of 6
First three rounds[6] [12] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
3[12]
US termsmrmagic ringchchainscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is donePinch each one closed across the last round before you sew it down.
3
03Right ear
— the same 3 rounds again, worked from piece 023 RNDS
starts in gingerOrange· magic ring· Piece 3 of 6· mirrors the ears
First three rounds[6] [12] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
3[12]
US termsmrmagic ringchchainscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
4
04The front paws
Two tiny cream ovals worked on a chain of 3 the same way the base is…2 RNDS
starts in cream· picked up· Piece 4 of 6
First two rounds[6] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
US termsmrmagic ringchchainscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneFlatten them and sew them to the front edge so the cat looks like it has tucked them under.
5
05Right front paw
— the same 2 rounds again, worked from piece 042 RNDS
starts in cream· picked up· Piece 5 of 6· mirrors the front paws
First two rounds[6] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
US termsmrmagic ringchchainscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
6
06The tail
A plain tube of 12 stitches, twelve rounds of nothing but single…14 RNDS
starts in gingerOrange· magic ring· Piece 6 of 6
First six rounds[6] [12] [12] [12] [12] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
3[12]
4[12]
5[12]
6[12]
7[12]
8[12]
9[12]
10[12]
11[12]
12[12]
13[12]
14[12]
US termsmrmagic ringchchainscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneLeave it unstuffed or barely stuffed so it curls around the base instead of standing out.
You are here
Six pieces from four lists. Two lists — the ears and the front paws — are written once and worked twice, identical round for round; the grey bars are piece length, all drawn to the same scale.39 ROUNDS IN ALL
Seventeen notes on the loaf cat
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02The body is worked in a continuous spiral from an oval base. Nothing is joined and nothing is turned, so mark the first stitch of every round and carry the marker up with you.
03The oval base starts on a foundation chain rather than a magic ring. Chain 8, then work 16 single crochet around both sides of it — 7 along one side, one in the end chain, 7 back along the other side, one in the last chain. The app records that as round 1 of 16 stitches, which is what you have in your hands once the ring is closed.
04Rounds 2 and 3 each add 6 stitches, three spread across each rounded end and none along the straight sides. That is what keeps the base an oval instead of letting it grow into a circle.
05Rounds 4 to 11 are straight at 28 stitches. They are the loaf's parallel sides, and the cat reads as a loaf because they do not shape at all.
06Rounds 6 to 13 carry a cream front. Work the round start at the centre back so the cream run lands on the chest, carry the ginger loosely behind the cream, and pick each colour up under the other so the change does not gap. The stitch counts are unchanged — every one of these rounds is still an ordinary single crochet round.
07The cream narrows as the top domes: 8 stitches wide on rounds 6 to 11, 6 on round 12, 4 on round 13. That taper is what turns the chest into a muzzle.
08Set the safety eyes between rounds 11 and 12, about 6 stitches apart and sitting just above the cream, while the body is still open at 28 stitches.
09Stuff lightly and press the base flat as you go. A loaf cat wants a flat bottom more than it wants a firm middle, so stop adding stuffing before the sides bulge.
10The last round closes on 5 stitches. Thread the tail through their front loops and draw it shut.
11The ears are worked flat and left unstuffed. Pinch each one closed across the last round and sew it to a top corner of the head, three or four stitches out from the centre, with the pinch running front to back.
12The inner ears are a small fan of dusty pink stitches worked on the front of each ear once it is sewn down.
13The paws are two small ovals on a chain of 3, worked the same way as the base: chain 3, then 6 single crochet around both sides. Flatten each one and sew it to the front edge of the body at round 5, side by side and close together, so they read as tucked under the chin.
14The tail is a plain tube. Sew the open end to the side of the body at round 4 and curve it around the base, tacking it down in two or three places so it stays curled.
15The tail tip changes to cream at round 13, at the round boundary. The charcoal stripes across the ginger part of the tail are embroidered afterwards, three or four short bands worked around the tube.
16The nose is a small dusty pink triangle worked over the cream at round 13, with two short charcoal stitches running down from it into a curved mouth. The whiskers are three long white stitches on each side, laid across the cream and caught at each end.
17Everything that is not a stitch count is surface work at the end, so the only sewing is six pieces becoming one cat.
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.
How is the colour worked into the loaf cat?
How much yarn will the loaf cat take?
What hook will the loaf cat need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the loaf cat 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 6, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
