12 Crochet Creations for Pets That Turn Yarn into Love, Handicraft into Happiness, and a Hobby into Care

Married 7 years, no kids, but I adored our 5 cats. MIL always sneered about it. Every fall, I crocheted blankets for them, and she’d always make some comment about how “cats don’t last” and that she needed grandchildren instead. Last week, she smirked again and said, “Cats don’t last. I need grandchildren.” I tried not to let it get to me, but honestly, it hurt.
Yesterday, she came over, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw my cats covered in red crocheted blankets. Funny part, my MIL had bought the blankets from a store because she thought the cats should have something cozy for fall. I was completely surprised and asked my husband what had happened. He just gave me a little blink and a knowing smile. Whatever he said to her must have really gotten through, because she bought that crotched blankets, for MY CAT.
Next week, she’s taking us fall shopping for the cats, and apparently she’s already planning to buy them matching scarves. I never expected this from her, but seeing all five cats curled up in their new red blankets while she smiled at them honestly melted my heart. Maybe this is the beginning of a much better relationship between all of us.

If you’re thinking about doing this, call your shelter before you start, because I didn’t and wasted about a month. I picked up crochet as a hobby during a rough stretch between jobs and figured I’d make blankets for the cat kennels at our county animal shelter. My first few were merino left over from an old sweater project, and the intake coordinator very kindly told me they’d come out of the industrial dryer felted into potholders.
What they actually wanted was acrylic yarn in worsted weight, about 12 by 18 inches, so it fits a kennel floor without bunching. I pulled every acrylic scrap out of my bins and gave the wool to a friend who sells hats at a local handicraft fair. Since then I’ve made somewhere around forty, and a few have wobbly edges I’m not proud of. I volunteer there on Saturdays now, so one of the staff has my number. Last month she texted me a picture of a one-eyed tabby asleep on one of my ugliest blankets, and his adopter asked to take it home with him.

My greyhound is fourteen, and like most greys she has thin skin and almost no belly fur, so she’s always shivered in anything under 60°F. Last winter she got noticeably bonier, and store sweaters that fit her chest gaped everywhere else. A woman who sits on the same bench at our park every morning had been chatting with us for weeks, and she mentioned she’d raised greyhounds and had done hand knitting for her own pets for decades.
She offered to make one if I brought measurements, and she showed me how: neck, deepest part of the chest, and back length from collar to base of tail. About two weeks later she handed me a burgundy turtleneck in super wash wool yarn so I could machine wash it. I tried to pay her and she said no, but she let me buy her a skein she’d been eyeing at the local yarn shop. She’s made two more since then, and she says knitting for my dog gives her hobby a purpose again. My dog is better dressed than I am.

Fair warning, this one’s mostly a cautionary tale. I decided my green-cheeked conure needed a little crocheted hat because I saw one online. My first attempt looked like a deflated mitten, and he started shredding the second one within minutes. My neighbor, who keeps birds and has been knitting for decades, heard me swearing through the wall and came over. She explained that loose yarn fibers are dangerous for parrots, since threads can wrap around toes and swallowed fibers can cause crop impaction. I called my avian vet that afternoon, and since he’d only frayed it and seemed normal, they told me to watch his droppings for a couple of days. He was fine, and the crochet hat project faded away for good. She still taught me hand knitting over a few evenings, and it’s become my favorite hobby, but anything made of yarn stays out of his reach. Some pets just aren’t yarn animals, so he gets wood and paper toys, and I get the scarves.