Crochet cactus pattern — three pieces, 27 rounds written out
A free crochet cactus pattern for a stout barrel cactus in a terracotta pot, about 11 cm tall, worked on a 3.5 mm hook in three colours over roughly four hours. Eleven of the cactus's sixteen rounds are the same eighteen stitches, so the shaping is finished almost before it starts and the rest of the piece is a barrel you count rather than steer. All 27 rounds are written out below across three pieces, and each one shows the stitch count it finishes on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 27 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 Easy
Easy: the only shaping is three increase rounds and two decrease rounds on the cactus, plus one increase round on the pot. Everything between them is single crochet at a constant count.
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 skeinDK cotton
scrapsDK cotton
scrapsDK cotton
Tools
3 you probably own, 1 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
You need to buy
Polyester stuffing
Optional
A handful of dry rice to weight the pot
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Tight enough that no stuffing shows between the stitches. Exact gauge is not critical — a looser hand gives a taller cactus and a wider pot in the same proportion.
Finished size
~5 cm across the pot, ~11 cm tall
A 4 mm hook and worsted cotton gives a taller cactus on the same counts. Work both pieces on the same hook either way — a pot made at a different tension will not take the cactus.
How to make the potted cactus, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US6 sc in magic ringUK6 dc in magic ringWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The cactus
Out to eighteen stitches in three rounds, then eleven straight rounds…16 RNDS
starts in cactus· magic ring· Piece 1 of 3
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [18] [18] [18]
The base, out to 18
RND 1–31[6]
2[12]
3[18]
The straight barrel
RND 4–144[18]
5[18]
6[18]
7[18]
8[18]
9[18]
10[18]
11[18]
12[18]
13[18]
14[18]
Closing the crown
RND 15–1615[12]
16[6]
US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasemrmagic ring
When this piece is doneStuff it firmly before you work the last two rounds — an under-stuffed barrel folds along the eleven straight rounds, which have nothing but stuffing to hold them apart. Leave a long tail to sew it into the pot.
2
02The pot
A flat base out to twenty-four stitches, three straight rounds of…9 RNDS
starts in terracotta· magic ring· Piece 2 of 3
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [24] [24]
1[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[24]
6[24]
7[24]
8[30]
9[30]
US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasemrmagic ring
When this piece is doneDo not stuff the pot on its own. Weight the base with dry rice up to the top of round 7, then pack stuffing above the rice so the cactus has something firm to sit on.
3
03The bloom
Five stitches in a ring, doubled once to ten. Two rounds is the whole…2 RNDS
starts in bloom· magic ring· Piece 3 of 3
First two rounds[5] [10]
1[5]
2[10]
US termsscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasemrmagic ring
When this piece is doneLeave it flat and unstuffed, and pull the magic ring closed hard before you fasten off. Ten stitches around a loose ring will gape and show the cactus green through the middle.
You are here
Three notes on the potted cactus
Read themClose
01Weight the pot with rice under the stuffing and it will not topple.
02The last round of the pot flares to make the rim.
03An original Crochet Genie design.
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 many pieces make up the potted cactus?
How much yarn will the potted cactus take?
What hook will the potted cactus need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the potted cactus 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 3, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
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