It can be a lot of fun to make cozy accessories for our furry feline friends, so why not crochet a cute collar for your cat?
A great way to make sure you never lose your cat, and to give them something special to prowl around in, a crocheted collar is an interesting craft project to undertake.
So how do you crochet a cat collar? After choosing the right type of yarn, you’ll need to consider the safety and style of your cat collar, then you’ll use a chain-stitch technique to crochet a cat-friendly collar.
Making your own cat collar doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, I’m sure that by the end of this article you will be ready to start making one straight away.
Plus, it’s a great way to save yourself some money and make something to fit your pet’s personality!
How To Choose The Right Yarn for Crocheting A Cat Collar
First, I want to talk a bit about how to make sure you select the right yarn for the job, and then we’ll get stuck into the process of crocheting your new cat collar.
If you’re considering crocheting a collar for your cat, the first thing you’ll want to do is pick out the right type of yarn. This is important for a number of reasons, which I’ll explore in the following section.
Weather Conditions
First and foremost, if you care about your cat (which I hope you do), comfort should be one of your highest priorities as you decide what yarn to use for this project.
With this in mind, it’s worth taking into account a few important factors.
Does your cat spend the majority of its time in warm or cold environments?
If it is usually warm and cozy bundled up indoors, then perhaps a lighter material like cotton or nylon would be ideal. However, if they like venturing out into the cold, then maybe a wool yarn could help them feel a touch more comfortable.
Is your feline friend an indoor cat or an outdoor cat?
If it spends the majority of its time at home then you won’t have to worry as much about the collar getting ruined. On the other hand, if they enjoy roaming around outside in nature, it’s worth getting a durable yarn that is also waterproof.
Some yarns deal with water better than others, so take care when deciding which to opt for, especially if you live somewhere it rains a lot.
Safety
The next factor to consider, which is also an important one, is your cat’s safety. While it may seem strange to bring up safety when we’re talking about making a collar for your cat, some pets can’t resist chewing and eating things they shouldn’t.
With that said, if your cat fits that bill, then you will want to choose a yarn that won’t harm your cat should it choose to eat its new gift.
Cotton might be your best bet in this case as it can be at least partially digested. An alternative though would be to use wool and then felt it, that way it will be too dense for your cat to get its teeth stuck into.
Style
Lastly, and the fun part of choosing the yarn for your cat collar, is deciding how you want it to look on your cat. If for example you want the warm and cozy look, with full Christmas spirit on display, then wool would be a good option.
On the other hand, if your cat is a social animal and is always out and about in the sun, then a cotton collar will ensure its the coolest cat in the neighborhood.
I personally think this yarn on Amazon is the best for crocheting a cat collar not only because it’s 100% yarn, but because the many options of ombre colors add incredible style points!
How to Crochet A Cat Collar
Now you’ve decided upon the yarn you’re going to use for this project, let’s dive into the specifics of how to crochet your very own cat collar.
First, you’ll want to gather your materials together. Of course, the yarn will be the most important material for this craft, so make sure you have plenty on hand.
Aside from yarn, you’ll need a trusty crochet hook to help you with the process.
Now, you’re ready to start crocheting!
- First, you’re going to want to take your chosen yarn, and begin to crochet it into a long chain with the help of your crochet hook. This basic chain will need to be more or less the length that you’ll want to fit around your cat’s neck.
- I’d recommend that you aim for a relatively snug fit on your cat, since the material will likely stretch.
- Using a slip stitch, create a ring in the chain and then start to work your way back down the chain using a single crochet on every stitch.
- Make sure you are working on the front of the chain, as this way you are less likely to cause it to twist as you are crocheting. Once you get back to the beginning of the chain, you’ll notice that the chain looks sturdy and more closely resembles a finished collar.
It’s likely that there are a few gaps throughout the collar which need to be reinforced, to bolster the collar and ensure it is 100% cat-proof.
- In order to do this, go back to the beginning of your collar, grab the loop of a stitch with your crochet hook, and work another single stitch into it, continuing to do so all the way around.
- Once you are done cleaning up the stitch work, you will have a more complete collar.
- At this point you can decide whether you want to continue adding extra stitches and layers to the collar for a stronger product, or if you’d rather keep it as it is and give it a go.
For most cats, this double stitch approach should suffice, but if you are afraid that it might be damaged or you have a slightly bigger cat, then feel free to continue adding stitches.
Then tie off the loose ends when you have finalized your collar design, and you’ll be left with a great end product, fit for your cat to start wearing straight away.
Related Questions
Below are some questions that I’ve answered in hopes of making this guide even more helpful to you and your cat.
Is the crocheted cat collar beginner-friendly?
What’s great about this crocheted cat collar project is how easy it is to put together, regardless of how much experience you have working with yarn and with a crochet hook.
While crocheting may not be the easiest hobby to get into, making a cat collar with this technique is just about as easy as it gets.
Even as a beginner, this could be one of your first ventures into the world of crochet!
The reason why this is such an easy, beginner-friendly craft is because you will only have to use the most basic of stitches to complete the collar. Equipped with the knowledge of how to do a chain stitch and single crochet, you will be able to pull this collar off without a problem.
The main issue you could encounter as a beginner taking on this project is making sure the collar is the right length for your cat. This can be solved with some measurements of your cat, and erring on the side of caution (going a little longer if you aren’t sure).
But even this shouldn’t be a big deal since the yarn will be stretchy, so even if it is a touch short it should be comfortable enough.
How do you do a chain stitch?
If you are a complete beginner to crochet, then the chain stitch is one of the techniques that you can learn right off the bat, and that will help you a lot with your future craft projects.
To do a crochet chain stitch, you will need a crochet hook and some yarn. Once you have a basic slip knot in the yarn, you are going to feed some yarn into the hook of the crochet hook, and twist before pulling it back through the loop of the knot.
If you’re more of a visual learner and prefer to watch a video demonstration, then you might find this video useful:
Can I crochet a collar for my dog too?
Maybe after creating your very own crochet collar for your cat, you might be wondering what you can do for your other furry friends.
You absolutely can crochet a collar for your dog too!
I also wrote a recent article about how to crochet a sweater for your dog, which you could totally use for your cat as well.
