Learn how to crochet Saint Prickolaus the Christmas Cactus with my free crochet cactus pattern! This quick and easy crochet pattern is accessible for beginners and makes a wonderful christmas crochet project that you can treasure for years to come.
When I first started designing, my very first design was a crochet cactus. I’m terrible with plants and I wanted a plant that I couldn’t kill. Once I started, I couldn’t stop making them! It didn’t take long for me to start giving personalities to my toys and some of my first personalities to create were christmas cacti. The first of which was Saint Prickolaus. My family and I love a good pun so we had a lot of fun coming up with his name. Initially this project was posted as a free crochet cactus pattern on the Made With a Twist blog as part of her first 30 Days of Cozy bundle but I’m happy to say that the pattern has been updated and is now available here on my own blog.
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Get an ad-free PDF version of the Saint Prickolaus the Christmas Cactus pattern HERE on Ravelry or HERE on Etsy.
Saint Prickolaus is a relatively quick and easy amigurumi cactus project. You start by creating the soil then working on the main body of the cactus, his arms and his hat. This project is accessible for beginners as there are no fancy stitches or techniques utilized in this project. You simply need to know how to do to the single crochet (find a tutorial HERE), how to increase and decrease, how to do the Magic Circle (tutorial HERE) and change colours. I recommend using the invisible decrease technique for your decreases as it does create a neater fabric. Check out my Invisible Decrease Tutorial!
Saint Prickolaus makes a great decoration for a mantle or he can be given as a gift. I have personally had mine for a few years and still enjoy bringing him out to display each Christmas season. My kids always get a kick out of my crochet christmas cactus characters and people that come over always comment on how cute they are.
There are actually a few other free crochet cactus patterns available on my blog. Three of them are Christmas-themed (one is a super-sized, cuddle version of Saint Prickolaus) and the fourth is Easter themed. I’ll link to them below for you in case you’d like to create yourself a whole gang of fun crochet cactis.
- Stanley the Snowman Cactus
- Penny the Bunny Cactus
- Randy the Reindeer Cactus
- Saint Prickolaus Cactus Cuddler
- I have a PDF pattern bundle available that combines all of my crochet Christmas cactus characters for a lower price than buying them individually on Ravelry and on Etsy.
I sometimes struggle trying to come up with a name for my patterns so I enlisted the help of my family to come up with something for this guy. We had a lot of fun trying to come up with something fun and punny. Since Saint Prickolaus wears a Santa hat and Saint Nickolaus is another name for Santa, we decided to go with Saint Prickolaus!
Skill Level:
- Easy
Terminology:
- U.S. Terminology
Supplies:
- 3.5 mm (E) Odyssey Crochet Hook<– Save 15% off Furls Hooks when shopping through this link and using the code LOOPYLAMB15 at the check out
- Bernat Premium (100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight (4) medium, 360 yds/329m, 198g/6.98 oz), 1 Ball Each of the Following:
- Spring Green
- Red
- White
- Loops & Threads Impeccable Solid (100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight (4) medium, 285 yds/260m, 127.5g/4.5 oz), Chocolate Brown, 1 Ball.
- 6 mm Safety Eyes
- Stitch Marker
- Scissors
- Tapestry Needle
- Polyester Stuffing
- Pot For Your Cactus (See Notes)
Abbreviations:
- CH = Chain
- FLO = Front Loop Only
- FO = Finish Off
- MC = Magic Circle
- SC = Single Crochet
- SCDEC = Single Crochet Decrease
- SCINC = Single Crochet Increase
- SLST = Slip Stitch
- BLO = Back Loop Only
- ST(S) = Stitches
Finished Size:
- Approx. 8” tall from bottom of soil to top of hat once assembled.
NOTES:
- This pattern is worked in continuous rounds (unless stated otherwise). Do not join at the end of the Round, unless indicated. A stitch marker is used to keep track of the beginning of the round.
- For a cleaner SCDEC, do your SCDEC under the front loops only of each stitch rather than under both loops. This is often referred to as an invisible decrease. Find my tutorial HERE.
- Gauge is not vital to the project but maintaining the same gauge/tension throughout your project will ensure that your pieces fit accordingly.
- The size of the pot you will require will depend on how big your soil turns out which can vary depending on your tension and how much you stuff it.
Get an ad-free PDF version of the Saint Prickolaus the Christmas Cactus pattern HERE on Ravelry or HERE on Etsy.
SOIL
Round 1: Using brown yarn, make a MC and SC 6 into the MC (6)
Round 2: (SCINC) x 6 (12)
Round 3: (SCINC, SC 1) x 6 (18)
Round 4: SC, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) x 5, SC 1 (24)
Round 5: (SCINC, SC 3) x 6 (30)
Round 6: SC 2, SCINC (SC 4, SCINC) x 5, SC 2 (36)
Rounds 7 – 16: SC around (36)
Round 17: SC 2, SCDEC (SC 4, SCDEC) x 5, SC 2 (30)
Round 18: (SCDEC, SC 3) x 6 (24)
Round 19: SC 1, SCDEC, (SC 2, SCDEC) x 5, SC 1 (18)
Round 20: (SCDEC, SC 1) x 6 (12)
Round 21: (SCDEC) x 6 (6)
FO and weave in ends.
Body
Round 1: Using green, make a MC and SC 6 into the MC. (6)
Round 2: (SCINC) x 6 (12)
Round 3: (SCINC, SC 1) x 6 (18)
Round 4: SC 1, SCINC, (SC 2, SCINC) x 5, SC 1 (24)
Insert safety eyes in Row 9, with 2 stitches in between them. Start stuffing cactus, continuing to stuff as you work
Rounds 5 – 27: SC in each stitch around (24)
Round 28: SC 1 (SCDEC, SC 2) x 5, SCDEC, SC 1 (18)
FO and sew body onto the soil.
Arms (Make 2)
Round 1: Using Green, make a MC and SC 6 into the MC. (6)
Round 2: (SCINC) x 6 (12)
Round 3: (SC 5, SCINC) x 2 (14)
Rounds 4 – 10: SC around (14)
Round 11: Stop working in rounds. CH 1 and turn. SC in the first stitch. SC 6. (7)
FO leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew an arm onto each side of the body.
Santa Hat
Using White, CH 24. Join with a SL ST to first CH to form a ring.
Round 1: CH 1. SC in the first ST and in each ST around. Join with a SL ST (from here on out referred to only as “Join”. (24)
Round 2: CH 1. SC in the first ST and in each ST around. Join. (24)
Change to Red. The rest of the hat will be worked in unjoined rounds.
Round 3: In BLO, SC in each ST around. (24)
Round 4: SC in each ST around. (24)
Round 5: (SC 6, SCDEC) x 3 (21)
Round 6: SC in each ST around. (21)
Round 7: (SC 5, SCDEC) x 3 (18)
Round 8: SC in each ST around. (18)
Round 9: (SC 4, SCDEC) x 3 (15)
Round 10: SC in each ST around. (15)
Round 11: (SC 3, SCDEC) x 3 (12)
Round 12: SC in each ST around. (12)
Round 13: (SC 2, SCDEC) x 3 (9)
Round 14: SC in each ST around. (9)
Round 15: (SC 1, SCDEC) x 3 (6)
Round 16: SC in each ST around. (6)
FO leaving a long tail. Make a mini pompom and secure to hat. Bend the top of the hat off to one side and use the tail to secure the tip of the hat to the side of the hat. Weave in ends. Using a long piece of white yarn, sew the hat onto the top of the cactus body.
Scarf
Using Red, CH 61.
Row 1: SC in the 2nd ST from the hook and in each ST across. CH 1 and turn. (60)
Row 2: In FLO, SC in the first ST and in each ST across. (60)
FO and weave in ends. Wrap the scarf around the cactus body, just above the arms and sew onto body at the point where the scarf crosses over itself.
Disclaimer:
Feel free to sell the item created by this pattern but please provide pattern credit back to me when posting online, and please provide a link to my blog: https://theloopylamb.com. Please do not resell, distribute, duplicate, or share this pattern in any printed or digital form, or claim this pattern as your own original design. Please do not use my photos when selling your finished items.
I’d love to see your finished items! Please share your finished makes by tagging the pattern on Ravelry, sharing it to our Facebook page or Instagram. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest
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Looking for some other great free amigurumi patterns? Check out my Saint Prickolaus Cactus Cuddler, Randy the Cactus Reindeer, Carter the Carrot and Wanda the Whale and Ned the Narwhal.
I’d love to see your finished cacti! Please share your finished makes by tagging the pattern on Ravelry, sharing it to our Facebook page or Instagram. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheLoopyLamb
Instagram: www.instagram.com/TheLoopyLamb
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/theloopylamb
Newsletter: Sign up for my newsletter!
