This jingle roller cat toy is an easy crochet pattern that requires scraps of yarn and the ability to work around in a tube shape. Even if you haven’t tried crocheting roundish objects, have no fear as this project is small.
Craft Project Materials
You will need scraps of worsted weight acrylic yarn. I like using two colors, although you can work with one color.
Crochet hook H/5 mm
Small amount of polyester fiberfill
One jingle bell
One-to-two teaspoons of dried catnip (optional)
Crochet Cat Toy Pattern
The pattern works around in a spiral as opposed to joining rounds. If you’d prefer to do this, you can; just slip stitch the last stitch to the first and chain one to start the next round.
Select the color you will use for the ends and start with this yarn.
Chain 2 Work 6 sc into the second chain from the hook.
Round 1: Work 2 sc into each stitch (12 sts).
Round 2: Work 1 sc into the next stitch, 2 sc into the next sc. Continue around (18 st).
Rounds 3 through 8: Switch to your second color and work around for the body of your cat toy jingle roller. (18 st) If you want to make the toy longer, simply work more rows. Add a little bit of polyester fiberfill, then insert the jingle bell, add a bit more fiberfill, add the catnip, and then tuck more fiberfill on top so the catnip doesn’t fall out as you finish the toy. If necessary, work some of the decrease stitches so you have a smaller opening and don’t spill the catnip.
Round 9: Switch back to the first color as you start working on the end. Work 1 sc into the next 2 stitches, skip the next stitch (to decrease), continue around so you are left with 12 stitches in the round. You can continue to add a bit more polyester fiberfill as you close up the tube shape of this cat toy.
Round 10 and 11: Work 1 sc into the next stitch and skip the next stitch, continuing around until you are left with 4 or 5 st; slip stitch, cut the yarn and then weave in the ends. (I usually leave a slightly longer tail and after working it through a few stitches pull it into the body of the jingle roller.)
This crochet cat toy pattern adds a longer middle piece to the basic ball shape. By removing four rows of the middle section, you can transform this into a ball cat toy. You can also make the tube longer and add more jingle bells and more catnip if you think this will entice your fun-loving feline!
Photo by Susan Caplan McCarthy