How to Crochet a Cactus (Easy Amigurumi for Beginners)

Steps

1. 1. Gather Your Yarn, Hook, and Safety Eyes

   Lay everything out before you cast on. You need DK or worsted-weight green yarn for the body, a small amount of contrasting yarn for the flower (pink, yellow, or white all work), a 3.75 mm hook (3.5 mm or 4 mm are fine substitutes), a yarn needle, scissors, polyester fiberfill stuffing, and a small 2 to 3 inch...

   Tip: Safety eyes lock on permanently once the washer snaps.

   

2. 2. Make a Slip Knot in the Green Yarn

   Start the body with a slip knot. Wrap the yarn once around your finger so you have an X shape on top of your fingertip.

   Tip: If you've never made a slip knot, practice three or four times before you start the cactus.

   

3. 3. Chain 19 and Single Crochet 18 Across

   Yarn over and pull through the loop on your hook nineteen times. Each pull-through is one chain stitch.

   Tip: If your stitch count is off at the end of this row, count again.

   

4. 4. Work 20 Rows of Back-Loop Single Crochet

   This is the row that builds the whole cactus. Chain 1 and turn your work.

   Tip: Drop a stitch marker into the first row so you can count rows without losing your place. The back-loop stitches blur into each other once you have 10 or 12 rows piled up.

   

5. 5. Cut a Long Tail and Attach the Safety Eyes

   When the panel is 20 rows tall, cut your yarn but leave a very long tail - at least 18 inches. You'll use it to drawstring the top, sew the side seam, and drawstring the bottom.

   Tip: Hold the panel up and squint at it from a few feet away before snapping the washers on.

   

6. 6. Drawstring the Top of the Cactus Closed

   Thread the long tail onto a yarn needle. Working along the short edge of the panel that will become the top of the cactus, weave the needle in and out along the row ends - in through one row end, out through the next, all the way around the short edge.

   Tip: If the cinch leaves a gap that's wider than your flower base will cover, take a few extra random stitches across the hole before you tie off the tail.

   

7. 7. Sew the Side Seam and Stuff the Body

   Bring the two long sides of the rectangle together to form a tube and sew them with a whip stitch using the same long tail. Insert the needle through both edges, pull tight, move down a row, and repeat.

   Tip: If you stuff the cactus into a perfect ball shape, you can skip the flower and you've got a barrel cactus.

   

8. 8. Start the Flower with a Magic Ring and 6 Single Crochets

   Switch to your contrast color yarn for the flower. Make a magic ring - wrap the yarn around your finger so you have an X, pick up the back strand, pull a loop through, and snug it onto your hook.

   Tip: The magic ring will sometimes loosen when you pull the increase round tight. After you finish round 2, tug the tail one more time to recinch the center before you start the petals.

   

9. 9. Add 6 Petals Around the Flower Base

   Each petal is just three stitches plus a slip stitch anchor. Chain 3, then single crochet into the second chain from your hook, single crochet into the next chain, then slip stitch into the next stitch on the flower circle.

   Tip: The petals will curl naturally because of the height difference between the chain and the single crochets. Don't try to flatten them - that curl is what makes the flower look real.

   

10. 10. Sew the Flower On and Wedge the Cactus Into the Pot

    Thread the flower tail onto a yarn needle. Push the needle down through the center of the flower and out through the top of the cactus, then back up through the cactus and out near the edge of the flower.

    Tip: If the cactus sits too low in the pot, slip a small wad of fiberfill under it before pushing it in.