Crochet Cactus Free Pattern – Amigurumi Cactus

Please welcome Cali the Cactus to the world. Cali is drought friendly (necessary if you live in California, like me), adorable and adorable. This crochet cactus free pattern is super easy for beginners, will liven up any room, requires little to no water and flowers all year round. Everyone needs an amigurumi cactus friend!

Crochet Cactus Free Pattern – Amigurumi Cactus

If you’re in any part of the world, you’re probably doing something similar to me: digging through your yarn stash to see what patterns you can work because all the craft stores are closed. Luckily for us, we have crochet as a hobby so while we are all doing our due diligence with social distancing and staying home, we can finish or finally start those projects we’ve been thinking of.

In my scouring through my stash, I noticed I had a lot of green yarn and one thought popped into my head: amigurumi cactus! I just had to create a beginner friendly crochet cactus free pattern to share.

This amigurumi cactus is a perfect addition to anyone’s collection and is an awesome little project for stash busting. While I did have all of the colors necessary to design this crochet cactus free pattern with realistic colors, you could make this cactus in any colors you like. Some cacti are psychedelic, after all.

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Cali the Cactus - The Loophole Fox

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This crochet cactus free pattern is incredibly beginner friendly because it is worked flat and most of the accents are sewn on while flat. There’s only one part that includes increasing with no decreasing necessary, so this pattern is straight forward. As long as you don’t have your husband working from home wanting you to make hot cocoa every half hour or a puppy that wants to play fetch, you can make this pattern in a couple of hours.

Let’s get to creating this little amigurumi cactus lady.

SKILL LEVEL

Beginner – Easy

MATERIALS & TOOLS

All yarn used is medium (4) weight and scraps from my previous patterns.

I used:
Loops and Threads Impeccable in Deep Forest (Green)
Red Heart with Love Super Saver in Cameo (Pink)
Paintbox in Paper White (White)

You will also need:
Safety Eyes – I used 12 MM (I’ve used these safety eyes for all of my stuffed animal patterns. I find that they work great. They are so tight that if I place them and want to move them, I have to use pliers to get them off).
Stuffing – Any standard stuffing you prefer is fine.

Tools

5mm hook
Stitch Marker(s)
Scissors
Tapestry Needle

GAUGE

Gauge is not extremely important, but you do want to make sure your stitches are tight so your stuffing won’t show through.

FINISHED SIZE

This amigurumi cactus is approximately 7 inches tall and 12.5 inches around when finished.

ABBREVIATIONS

This pattern is worked in US terms.

  • ch – chain
  • sc – single crochet
  • dc – double crochet
  • tr – treble crochet
  • scblo – sc in back loop only
  • blo – back loop only
  • spc – space
  • inc – increase (Place two sc in one stitch)
  • mc – magic circle
  • st – stitch
  • * * – Repeat inside
  • sl st – slip stitch
  • FO – finish off

NOTES

This crochet cactus pattern is worked flat to begin and then later seamed.

Ch 1 at beginning of each row does not count as a stitch. Place your first sc in the very first stitch of each row.

Flower rounds are worked in closed rounds (sl st to close and chain up). Bottom cap rounds are worked in continuous rounds (no sl st to close).

This pattern calls for using a magic circle. If you don’t know how to create one, you can follow my tutorial here.

How to Make this Crochet Cactus

With green, ch 31
R1 – Place sc in second chain from hook and each ch across (30)
R2 through 36 – ch 1, turn. Place 1 sc in blo of first st and each st across (30).

Do not FO. Place stitch marker to hold stitch.

From here, decide which side of your work is going to be your right and wrong side. We will be sewing on most of the accents while the work is flat, which is what makes this pattern so easy. I recommend to lay your work so that your right side has your working yarn in the bottom right hand corner of your work. This will be the easiest when it comes to seaming.

AMIGURUMI CACTUS: EYES, BLUSH & SPINES

To attach eyes, place first eye between rows 13 and 14, approximately 10 stitches down from the top. Place second eye between rows 20 and 21, approximately 10 stitches down from the top.

Cali the Cactus - The Loophole Fox
How creepy is this?

With pink yarn and a tapestry needle, sew on blush. Starting from behind, sew around rows 12 and 15 approximately 2 stitches below the first eye three times. Do not FO. Proceed to second blush and sew around rows 19 and 22 approximately 2 stitches below the second eye three times. By “sew around rows 12 and 15”, I mean to come up from behind your work in row 12 and back into your work in row 15.

With white yarn, sew on the spines. Starting from behind, sew X’s around the ridge created by single crocheting in back loop only. Start with sewing your first line of X’s around row 2 and 3. Place 3 X’s an equal distance apart down the row – I eyeballed this. Skip rows 4 and 5 (1 ridge) and work around rows 6 and 7, placing 2 X’s in the areas between the 3 X’s from the previous row. Continue in this method, alternating 3 X’s and 2 X’s. When I came to the rows that had the safety eyes, I found that both were rows that had 2 X’s. I simply moved the X’s up a bit in this case. This will help your X’s have a more “random” yet uniform look. Alternatively, you can always place the X’s wherever you like.

Cali the Cactus - The Loophole Fox
Completed X’s before seaming and closing.

When you have finished sewing on these accents, your wrong side will look like a war zone. Ignore this, no one will see it.

CROCHET CACTUS: SEAMING & CLOSING TOP

Pick up the working green yarn and ch 1. Place your two long edges together with right side facing out. Seam the work together by placing 1 sc through both stitches of each edge (30 sts). You should be working from the bottom of the cactus up to the top of the cactus if you followed my recommendation regarding which side to use as “right” side. FO and leave a long tail.

Using the long tail and tapestry needle, use whip st around the top of the cactus, pulling tight as you work to pull the top of the cactus closed. It will not fully close on it’s own, so pull it as tightly closed as you can and then stitch a few times with needle to fully close the top. FO, weave ends.

Set your seamed crochet cactus aside and pick up pink yarn to create the flower.

Cali the Cactus - The Loophole Fox
She is a bit wonky without stuffing, but fret not. She will be perfect once stuffed.

CROCHET CACTUS FLOWER

With pink
R1 – 15 sc in mc, sl st to close
R2 – ch 4, skip 1 st, *dc in next st, ch 1*. repeat 6 x. sl st to close in top of ch 4.
R3 – In each ch 1 spc, work [sc, dc, tr, dc, sc] (8 petals), sl st to close in first sc.
R4 – Working behind the petals, sc around the first *dc post from row 2 and ch 4*. Rpt 7x. sl st final ch 4 into the first sc around dc post. (8 ch 4 sets)
R5 – In each ch 4 spc, work [sc, dc, 2 tr, dc, sc]. Slip st to first sc. (8 petals) FO and leave a long tail for attaching.

Using the tapestry needle, sew back through the stitches to center of the flower. Attach the flower to the top of the cactus near the closed top, slightly to the right side so it doesn’t sit directly on top.

Cali the Cactus - The Loophole Fox

BOTTOM CAP & FINISHING CACTUS

With green, worked in continuous rounds.
R1 – Place 6 sc in mc (6)
R2 – Place 2 sc in each st (12)
R3 – *1 sc first st, inc* Repeat 6x. (18)
R4 – *1 sc in next 2 sts, inc* Repeat 6x (24)
R5 – *1 sc in next 3 sts, inc* Repeat 6x (30)
R6 – *1 sc in next 4 sts, inc* Repeat 6x (36)
R7 – 1 sc each st. (36)
Do not FO.

Stuff your crochet cactus firmly, being sure not to stretch the stitches out so the stuffing doesn’t show through. Place the bottom cap against the open bottom of cactus with right side facing out. Ch 1 and sc through both the bottom cap stitches and the rows of the stuffed cactus. You should place 1 sc through each stitch of the bottom cap and each row of the stuffed cactus. Continue around until you are approximately 3/4 of the way around and stop to check your stuffing. I added more stuffing around the bottom to fill out the cactus because otherwise it would have been a bit skinny and awkward looking in this area. Once happy with stuffing, finish your round of sc and sl st to close. FO and weave ends.

With those final steps, you have your very own Cali the Crochet Cactus!

Okay, so she isn’t the best at social distancing… But who wouldn’t want to cuddle with Onyx or Cali?

Isn’t she adorable? I have gifted a few of these stuffed crochet cactus’s to friends and family and they have been a huge hit!

One of my greatest joys is seeing your finished crochet projects from my patterns or tutorials, so when you post to Instagram, don’t forget to tag me so I can show you some love! I’m @theloopholefoxcrochet. You can also share pictures on my recent posts on Facebook or within my Facebook group!

And don’t forget to pin this to your Pinterest boards, so you can remember it for later!

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group so we can chat all about your creations! We are a group for crocheters of all experiences, all interests and love to hang out together. Come join the fun!

Shannon | Designer & Editor

Shannon helps crocheters find their next project and build their skills with in depth tutorials and crochet patterns on her blog, theloopholefox.com.

With more than a decade of crochet experience, Shannon knows that understanding why we do something matters just as much as how we do it. She teaches new techniques and crochet stitches in depth so you can crochet with confidence.

Find More Free Crochet Patterns:

Little Sheep Amigurumi
Crochet Spa Set
Easy Moss Stitch Scarf

Crochet Cactus Free Pattern – Amigurumi Cactus