Roomy Cat Yurt
Furniture ·I live with a very long cat who doesn’t fit into the cave built into his cat tree because he is relatively long and slightly overweight. At the same time, I wanted to make something using t-shirt yarn, just because. So… I made a roomy cat yurt, and he walks into it multiple times a day!
This project is incredibly simple and easy to execute. It is an exercise in patience and planning, not skill. Unlike the other two patterns I’ve written, the important part to pay attention to is your gauge (pull tight!) and make sure you buy enough materials.
Specs
- Requires 400 meters of jumbo t-shirt yarn. I used just under four skeins of Fox Yarn’s 7-9mm yarn.
- Diameter: 19.5 in
- Height (floor to tip): 16 in
- Gauge: 8 rows of 8 stitches is a 4x4 in square using a 10mm crochet hook
- Dimension of entrance: 9 in wide by 6 in tall
Pattern
Instructions below use American crochet terminology and abbreviations. When the pattern says sc2tog, it means sc2tog, not invdec.
- Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6)
- Rnd 2: 6 inc (12)
- Rnd 3: (sc, inc) six times (18)
- Rnd 4: (2 sc, inc) six times (24)
- Rnd 5: (3 sc, inc) six times (30)
- Rnd 6: (4 sc, inc) six times (36)
- Rnd 7: (5 sc, inc) six times (42)
- Rnd 8: (6 sc, inc) six times (48)
- Rnd 9: (7 sc, inc) six times (54)
- Rnd 10: (8 sc, inc) six times (60)
- Rnd 11: (9 sc, inc) six times (66)
- Rnd 12: (10 sc, inc) six times (72)
- Rnd 13: (11 sc, inc) six times (78)
- Rnd 14: (12 sc, inc) six times (84)
- Rnd 15: (13 sc, inc) six times (90)
- Rnd 16: (14 sc, inc) six times (96)
- Rnd 17: (15 sc, inc) six times (102)
- Rnd 18: (16 sc, inc) six times (108)
- Rnd 19: (17 sc, inc) six times (114)
- Rnd 20: (18 sc, inc) six times (120)
- Rnd 21-25: sc around (120)
This next bit forms the opening and is effectively worked in rows. On odd-numbered rows, your hand/hook will be on the inside of the piece instead of on the outside.
- Row 26-39: sc 100, ch 1 and turn (100)
At this point, the cave is probably not standing upright, like in the picture blow. That’ll be rectified at the very end, so don’t worry about it yet.
Next, close the top of the entrance using some ch stitches and the first sc of Rnd 41.
- Rnd 40: sc 100, ch 20 (100 + 20ch)
- Rnd 41-45: sc around (120)
- Rnd 46: (sc 18, sc2tog) six times (114)
- Rnd 47: (sc 17, sc2tog) six times (108)
- Rnd 48: (sc 16, sc2tog) six times (102)
- Rnd 49: (sc 15, sc2tog) six times (96)
- Rnd 50: (sc 14, sc2tog) six times (90)
- Rnd 51: (sc 13, sc2tog) six times (84)
- Rnd 52: (sc 12, sc2tog) six times (78)
- Rnd 53: (sc 11, sc2tog) six times (72)
- Rnd 54: (sc 10, sc2tog) six times (66)
- Rnd 55: (sc 9, sc2tog) six times (60)
- Rnd 56: (sc 8, sc2tog) six times (54)
- Rnd 57: (sc 7, sc2tog) six times (48)
- Rnd 58: (sc 6, sc2tog) six times (42)
- Rnd 59: (sc 5, sc2tog) six times (36)
- Rnd 60: (sc 4, sc2tog) six times (30)
- Rnd 61: (sc 3, sc2tog) six times (24)
- Rnd 62: (sc 2, sc2tog) six times (18)
- Rnd 63: (sc, sc2tog) six times (12)
- Rnd 64: 6 sc2tog (6)
Fasten off. Your cat probably won’t mind if there’s a little tail hanging inside.
After fastening off, reinforce the door by single-crocheting all around the entrance and then fastening off. To get started, stick your hook in a st somewhere from outside-in, draw up a loop, and ch 1, like at the start of a magic ring. At the corners, sc2tog instead of single crochet. pull really tight!