A4 PDF: materials, every round with a tick box, assembly and face
Free crochet cactus pattern: a Tiny Desk Cactus with a Bee amigurumi, about 11 cm tall in DK yarn with a 2.5 mm hook. A round barrel cactus with darker ribs, cream spines and a tiny pink flower sits in a sky-blue striped pot, with a small bee resting on the bloom and a calm smile below.
You need about 75 m of yarn: 20 m green, 10 m sky blue, 10 m white, 10 m hot pink, 5 m brown, 5 m dark green, 5 m black, 5 m yellow and 5 m pink. Plan on roughly 3 hours.
Beginner-friendly: the cactus, pot, flower and bee are all simple rounds, and the spines are a few embroidered crosses. A cheerful desk buddy or a gift for plant lovers who forget to water. You can spin the 3D model and follow the round-by-round pattern.
How to crochet the Tiny Desk Cactus with a Bee
Beginner-friendly · 11 cm tall · about 3 h · DK yarn · 2.5 mm hook
Crochet the 9 pieces in rounds: Pot, Cactus, Cheek ×2, Flower, Flower centre, Bee, Wing ×2 (60 rounds in all).
Stuff and put it together in 7 steps; each one lights up where it goes on the 3D model.
Add the face: safety eyes by round and stitch, or embroider them for a child under 3.
Every round with its stitch count is in the Pattern tab below, and in the free printable PDF.
1 sc ≈ 4 mm wide, 1 round ≈ 3.6 mm tall (10 cm ≈ 25 sc × 28 rounds); yarn about 1.9 mm thick. The gauge sets the size of the toy; crochet tightly so the stuffing does not show.
Worked in
Continuous spiral rounds. Don't join. Move a stitch marker up every round.
Size before assembly: about 5.8 cm at the widest, 5.5 cm long; 21 rounds.
Change to white (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R7).
Change to sky blue (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R9).
Change to white (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R12).
Change to brown (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R14).
→ Start stuffing (firmly) and keep adding as you decrease.
Top up the stuffing if needed. Fasten off leaving a 15 cm tail; with the needle weave it through the front loops of all 6 stitches of the last round, pull tight and hide the end inside.
Size before assembly: about 7.6 cm at the widest, 5.8 cm long; 20 rounds.
Multi-colour rounds are listed stitch by stitch from the round-start marker; keep the round start on the piece's centre front line (as it sits on the finished toy). The order is for right-handed crocheting (right to left on the outside); left-handed: reverse it.
Fasten off leaving a long tail (30–40 cm) for sewing.
Insert the safety nose/eyes now, while the piece is open (positions: see “Face”).
Stuff firmly just before sewing it on; a little less near the edge, then add a pinch when the seam is nearly done.
A flat circle about 1.5 cm across; 2 rounds.
Fasten off leaving a long tail (30–40 cm) for sewing.
Do not stuff.
Flat motif — lobed (lobes round a magic ring, worked in rounds, one layer of fabric), about 3.5 × 3.5 cm; 3 rows.
Fasten off leaving a long tail (~30 cm) for sewing. Do not stuff. Weave in the starting tail, pin the motif out to shape on a soft surface and steam it lightly.
A flat circle about 1.5 cm across; 2 rounds.
Fasten off leaving a long tail (30–40 cm) for sewing.
Do not stuff.
Size before assembly: about 2.4 cm at the widest, 2.2 cm long; 8 rounds.
Change to black (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R2).
Change to yellow (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R4).
Change to black (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R5).
→ Start stuffing (moderately) and keep adding as you decrease.
Change to yellow (pull it through on the last yarn-over of R7).
Top up the stuffing if needed. Fasten off leaving a 15 cm tail; with the needle weave it through the front loops of all 6 stitches of the last round, pull tight and hide the end inside.
Size before assembly: about 1 cm at the widest, 1.2 cm long; 4 rounds.
Fasten off leaving a long tail (30–40 cm) for sewing.
Do not stuff. Press the piece flat (the opening becomes a straight line), front and back walls together.<!-- flattened 70 % -->
Safety eyes and noses go in before the piece is stuffed and closed (see the pieces above); embroidery is easier before the piece is sewn on.
Safety eyes with a printed glint 9 mm (on the cactus): between rounds 8 and 9, 6 st apart (count along round 8: about 3.2 st each side of the centre front line).
Embroidery in brown thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 10, 1 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 11, 0.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 11, on the centre front line) → (in round 11, 0.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 10, 1 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in black thread (on the bee), straight stitches through: (in round 5, 0.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 5, 0.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 5, on the centre front line ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 5, 5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 6, 6.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 5, 5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 6, 5.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 5, 5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 6, 5.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 5, 5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 6, 6.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 11, 14.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 12, 15.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 11, 15.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 12, 14.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 11, 15.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 12, 14.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 11, 14.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 12, 15.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 14, 10 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 15, 11 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 14, 11 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 15, 10 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 14, 11 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 15, 10 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 14, 10 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 15, 11 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 10, 6.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 11, 5.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 10, 5.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 11, 6.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 10, 5.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 11, 6.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 10, 6.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 11, 5.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 13, 0.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 14, 0.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 13, 0.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 14, 0.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 4, 7.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 5, 10 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 4, 8 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 5, 9.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 4, 8 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 5, 9.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 4, 7.5 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ) → (in round 5, 10 st from the centre front line, toward the toy's right ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 7, 2.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 8, 2.5 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ).
Embroidery in cream thread (on the cactus), straight stitches through: (in round 7, 2 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ) → (in round 8, 3 st from the centre back line, toward the toy's left ).
× scV incΛ dec
Abbreviations
MR
magic ring
sc
single crochet
inc
2 sc in the same stitch
dec
single crochet two stitches together (invisible decrease recommended)
