Hey there crochet friends! I hope you are beginning to get into the festive spirit because I’ve got a rather adorable little Christmas character to introduce you to. Meet Festive Felix, the cutest Christmas cat around. With his sweet little face, playful charm and a perfectly perched Christmas hat, this delightful feline is ready to bring a little extra magic to your Christmas tree.

Crocheted black-and-white cat ornament wearing a red Santa hat, surrounded by evergreen branches and red berries.

This little Christmas kitty is full of personality and would make such a cute addition to your festive decorations. Whether he’s hanging proudly from the branches of your tree, adding a special touch to a Christmas gift or joining a different collection of handmade decorations, Festive Felix is sure to bring a smile.

🐈‍⬛ SAVE FESTIVE FELIX THE CAT ON RAVELRY 🐈‍⬛

Nice and relatively quick to crochet, he’s a lovely little project to squeeze in between all of those other Christmas makes. And why stop at one? You could crochet a whole little litter of festive felines, perhaps in different colours, to create your very own collection of Christmas cats.

I’d say Festive Felix sits at an intermediate skill level, simply because you’ll want to be comfortable with amigurumi-style crochet, shaping, simply colour changing and working in the round to get his features just right.

Crocheted black-and-white cat Christmas ornament wearing a red Santa hat, held in front of a Christmas tree

What you need for the pattern

For Festive Felix, I used Scheepjes Catona, which is one of my absolute favourite yarns to work with. It’s a lovely 100% cotton, a 4-ply that comes in 10g, 25g or 50g balls (138 yards / 126 metres), and it gives such beautiful stitch definition on small amigurumi makes. I used:

YARN A – 110 Jet Black (20g)
YARN B – 390 Poppy Rose (20g)
YARN C – 106 Snow White (10g)
YARN D – 222 Tulip (small amount)

Which I paired with a 3 mm hook (the closest US size is D/3), which helped keep him neat, compact, and full of character. His finished size is approximately 9 cm [3.5”] high.

Crocheted black and white cat ornament wearing a red Santa hat, hanging on a frosted Christmas tree branch.

The only other things you will need for this pattern are:

Pin for Later:

Crocheted black-and-white cat tree ornament wearing a red Santa hat, displayed among festive Christmas greenery with text promoting a free crochet pattern.

Whether you’re looking for a special handmade decoration for your own Christmas tree, or fancy making something a little different to gift a fellow cat lover, Festive Felix is a lovely fun and whimsical project to enjoy.

Where to Find the Pattern

Scroll down for the free version of this pattern but I’d recommend the purchase of the ad-free PDF Pattern if you’d like all the instructions and pictures in a nice document which you can print and take notes on without relying on your phone or an internet connection.

The PDF pattern is available in both UK and US crochet terminology, so you can choose whichever version you prefer to work from.

This pattern is one of the patterns showcased in this year’s Christmas Ornament Keepsake Blog Hop hosted by Stardust Gold Crochet, celebrating all things festive, fun, and full of crochet cheer! So pop on over there, or read my previous blog post, to learn about all the free Christmas Ornaments Keepsakes you can get as part of the hop.

All the patterns from Christmas Ornament Keepsake Blog Hop are also available in a limited edition bundle which is a fabulous 15 ornament crochet patterns from different designers. Patterns range from vintage baubles and whimsical amigurumi to sparkling snowflakes and tiny keepsake treasures.. Go straight to the bundle via the link below:

Festive Felix Crochet Pattern

The pattern below is written just in US terms but you can view a handy conversion chart here on the blog.

ABBREVIATIONS:

Slip Stitch (sl st): Insert hook in st indicated, yarn over and draw through all loops.
Single Crochet (sc): Insert hook in st indicated and pull up a loop (two loops on hook), yarn over, pull through both loops on hook.
Single Crochet two together (sc2tog): Insert hook into stitch and draw up a loop. Insert hook into next stitch and draw up a loop. Yarn over, draw through all 3 loops on hook.

PATTERN NOTES:

Finished Size: 9 cm [3.5”] high
Gauge: 6 sc = 2.5cm [1″]. Obtaining the correct gauge is not critical for this project.
Magic ring: is also known as a Drawstring Ring or Magic Loop and is often used as a start for working amigurumi. If you are not familiar with this technique you could substitute with a ch2 and then work in the second ch from the hook.
Working in the round: Most of the sections of this pattern are worked in the amigurumi style without joining in continuous rounds. Place the stitch marker in the top of the first st to mark the start of each round.
[ … ] Repeat section in square brackets until specified

HEAD

Rnd 1: With YARN A; working into a magic ring, 6 sc. (6 sts)

Rnd 2: [2 sc] 6 times. (12 sts)

Rnd 3: [1 sc in the next st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (18 sts)

Rnd 4: [1 sc in the next 2sts, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (24 sts)

Rnd 5: [1 sc in the next 3sts, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (30 sts)

Rnd 6: [1 sc in the next 4sts, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (36 sts)

Rnd 7: Sc around. (36 sts)

Changing Colors (cc): When changing to a different color, pull the new color through the last two loops of the previous st to complete that st. Continue in the new color, following the pattern. Change colors in this manner, whenever indicated on the pattern.

When changing to and from a color carry the unused colored yarn along the wrong side of the work loosely so that the work does not gather. Crochet over the unused color as they are carried along; this will hide the strands of yarn and eliminate long unused strands carried across the back of the work.

Rnds 8 – 14: Sc in the next 17 sts, cc to YARN C, sc in next 4 sts, cc to YARN A, sc in next 15 sts. (36 sts) Fasten off YARN C.

Rnd 15: [1 sc in the next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st] six times. (42 sts)

Rnds 16 – 25: Sc around.

Using the photos as a guide;

Add eyes, with white section inbetween, to rnds 12 – 13, approx 7 sts apart.
With YARN C add a little highlight next to each eye.
With YARN D embroider on cheeks next to each eye.
Start to stuff and continue to stuff as you go.

Rnd 26: [Sc2tog in next st] 21 times. (21 sts)

Rnd 27: [Sc in the next st, sc2tog in next st] 7 times. (14 sts)

Rnd 28: [Sc2tog] 7 times. (7 sts). Fasten off with a sl st to the next st, but leave a long yarn tail. Use the tail end to sew up the remaining 7 sts.

SNOUT

Rnds 1 – 3: With YARN C make as Head. 18 sts

Rnds 4 – 6: Sc around. Fasten off but leave a long yarn tail for attaching the snout to the Head.

Using the photos as a guide;

Add the flocked nose.
Use a strand of YARN A to embroider a mouth under the nose.
Stuff the snout.

HAT

On every even rnd work sc in each st around up to rnd 30;

Rnd 1: With YARN B; working into a magic ring, 6 sc. (6 sts)

Rnd 3: [1 sc in the next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (8 sts)

Rnd 5: [1 sc in the next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (10 sts)

Rnd 7: [1 sc in the next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (12 sts)

Rnd 9: [1 sc in the next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (14 sts)

Rnd 11: [1 sc in the next 6 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (16 sts)

Rnd 13: [1 sc in the next 7 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (18 sts)

Rnd 15: [1 sc in the next 8 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (20 sts)

Rnd 17: [1 sc in the next 9 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (22 sts)

Rnd 19: [1 sc in the next 10 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (24 sts)

Rnd 21: [1 sc in the next 11 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (26 sts)

Rnd 23: [1 sc in the next 12 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (28 sts)

Rnd 25: [1 sc in the next 13 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (30 sts)

Rnd 27: [1 sc in the next 14 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (32 sts)

Rnd 29: [1 sc in the next 15 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (34 sts)

Rnd 31: [1 sc in the next 16 sts, 2 sc in next st] twice. (36 sts)

After Rnd 30, fasten off YARN B and weave in ends.

Rnd 32: Attach YARN C to the top of any st;

[1 sc in the next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (42 sts)

Rnd 33: [1 sc in the next 6 sts, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (48 sts)

Rnd 34: Sc around. (48 sts). Fasten off but leave a long yarn tail.

BOBBLE

Stuff as you go;

Rnd 1: With YARN C; working into a magic ring, 6 sc. (6 sts)

Rnd 2: [2 sc] 6 times. (12 sts)

Rnds 3 – 4: Sc around.

Rnd 5: [Sc2tog] 6 times. (6 sts).

Fasten off with a sl st to the next st, but leave a long yarn tail. Use the tail end to sew up the remaining 6 sts.

EAR OUTER

Make 1. Ear is not stuffed.

Rnds 1 – 5: With YARN A; make as Hat (14 sts)

Rnds 6 – 7: Sc around. Fasten off but leave a long yarn tail for fastening to the head.

EAR INNER

Make 1. The ch1 at the beginning of a row does not count as a st.

Row 1: With YARN D; working into a magic ring, 3 sc, turn. (3 sts)

Row 2: Ch1, 2 sc in same st, 1 sc in the next st, 2 sc in the last st, turn. (5 sts)

Row 3: Ch1, 2 sc in same st, 1 sc in the next 3 sts, 2 sc in the last st, turn. (7 sts)

Row 4: Ch1, sc across. Fasten off but leave a long yarn tail.

FINISHING

Add the bobble onto the end of the hat,
Add the hat on the top of the head.
Attach the ear inner to the outer ear.
Add the ear onto one side of the head on the top of the hat.
Attach the snout to the front of the head, the top of the snout should line up with rnd 14.
Fold over hat in front of where the other ear would be and and secure into place.
Add a loop for hanging, and make sure your head is balanced so it hangs nice and level.
Whiskers: Cut four short lengths of sewing thread and group them together. Attach them to the snout as you would a tassel, securing them in place to create the whiskers. Trim to the desired length.

And that’s it!

Crocheted cat ornament wearing a Santa hat among decorated Christmas tree branches and pinecones

I can’t wait to see your versions of the Festive Felix the Cat pattern. Be sure to tag me on social media (facebook, twitter or instagram) or as a project on Ravelry) with your WIPs or finished projects – I love seeing what you all come up with. And if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below.

If you like festive patterns you may also like…

Crocheted grey mouse ornament wearing a red and white Santa hat, held by a hanging string.

NOEL NIBBLES

Handmade crocheted reindeer ornament with antlers, a red nose, and a small bell, held against a leafy background.

REINDEER CROCHET KIT

Hand-crocheted angel ornament with golden wings and a halo, displayed in front of a potted plant.

ANGEL CROCHET KIT

Looking for even more festive crochet inspiration? Take a look at my Christmas Crochet Patterns collection for more seasonal designs, including Christmas decorations, adorable characters and plenty of ideas to make your festive season extra special! 🎄

Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

Stylized handwritten text displaying the name 'Heather xo'

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