Jiji Amigurumi Black Cat Crochet Pattern

Please note that this blog post is the crochet pattern for Jiji the Black Cat amigurumi crochet pattern. Please see the tutorial for additional photos and assembly instructions.

A few weeks ago, I posted some tips for using faux fur yarn that I've learned along the way while working on an amigurumi using Lion Brand's Go For Faux. I am so happy to finally share with you my final product!

During the pandemic lockdown, my kids have been really productive with going through all of our family-friendly movies and TV shows. Their most recent favorite is Kiki's Delivery Service.

Kiki is a witch-in-training. Once they come of age, they move away from home to train for a year and try to establish their own life. So she brings her talking cat, Jiji and moves to a seaside city.

I watched many Ghibli Studio films while growing up, but I didn't watch Kiki's Delivery Service until recently with my kids. But after seeing it for the first time, it's quickly become one of my favorites. The story is just so cute!

My kids quickly fell in love with the movie as well and have been asking for Kiki's little black cat, Jiji!

I envisioned making an amigurumi Jiji that is soft, and cuddly. Most importantly, I wanted my Jiji to be able to be repositionable so that it could be sitting or lying down.

Most amigurumi that I've made in the past using worsted-weight yarn require tight stitches so that the stuffing doesn't show through. But tight stitches also come with stiff fabric and don't make it floppy enough to be cuddled.

A few years ago, I used Lion Brand Yarn's Homespun Thick and Quick and made a cute little floppy bunny using 1DogWoof's crochet pattern (here).

The stitches weren't as tight as traditional amigurumis which allowed it to be floppy and more cuddly. And the stuffing didn't show through because the curls of the yarn were able to cover it all.

That's when I decided to use Lion Brand Yarn's Go For Faux for my black cat amigurumi. The stitches don't have to be super tight for the stuffing to still be hidden well.

Their eyes are like a window to their souls. Especially for amigurumis that are inspired or based on well-known cartoon characters or anime, like my Forky amigurumi!

I spent a lot of time making and re-making Jiji's eyes, so I hope he will feel as real to you as they do to me and my kids.

Remember to like Once Upon a Cheerio on Facebook. I'd also love it if you followed @onceuponacheerio on Instagram!

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Black Cat Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

What You Need / Materials

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• Two balls of Lion Brand Yarn's Go For Faux in Black Panther
• Worsted weight yarn in the following colors:
• White (Try Lion Brand's Basic Stitch in White)
• Black (Try Lion Brand's Basic Stitch in Black)
• Purple (Try Lion Brand's Basic Stitch in Purple)
• 8 mm Crochet Hook
• 4.5 mm Crochet Hook
• Small bean bag (optional)
• Poly-fil or any Polyester Stuffing of your choice
• Yarn Needle
• Stitch Markers
• Scissors

Stitches & Abbreviations

• st/sts - stitch/stitches
• ch - chain
• sc - single crochet
• sc inc - single crochet increase, 2 single crochet in one stitch
• sc dec - single crochet decrease, single crochet 2 together

Notes

• When using the faux fur yarn, use the 8.0 mm crochet hook
• When using the worsted weight yarn, use the 4.5 mm crochet hook
• The front legs are crocheted along with the body, so make sure you make the front legs before you start on the body.
• Both sides of the fabric that you create using Go For Faux are equally as soft and fluffy, so it doesn't really matter which side you decide to use as the outside of your amigurumi
• But as an FYI, I used the "wrong side" to be the outside of my amigurumi.
• Make all the pieces using Lion Brand's Go For Faux with an 8.0 mm crochet hook unless otherwise noted.
• Check out my 5 Tips for Crocheting Amigurumi using Faux Fur Yarn to help make your life easier.
• The red bow that you see in some of these photos is actually a headband that I made a while back. I will write up the crochet pattern and post it on the blog soon.

Amigurumi Cat Crochet Pattern

Head

Using an 8 mm crochet hook and black faux fur yarn...

Round 1: Magic Circle with a base of 6 sc (6 sts)

Round 2: Sc inc in each st around (12 sts)

Round 3: [Sc, sc inc] x 6 times (18 sts)

Round 4: [Sc 2, sc inc] x 6 times (24 sts)

Round 5-7: Sc in each st around (24 sts)

Round 8: Sc inc x 2, then sc in each st around (26 sts)

Round 9: Sc dec x 3, [Sc, sc dec, sc] x 5 times (18 sts)

Try to stuff his head firmly with stuffing.

Round 10: [Sc, sc dec] x 6 times (12 sts)

Round 11: Sc dec in each st around (6 sts)

Cut and fasten off.

The little bump created in round 8 with the extra 2 increases is meant to be the tip of his nose. After you stuff it with poly-fil stuffing, try to shape the head so that it's nice and round and have the nose just stick out just a tiny bit as shown in this photo.

Front Legs (x2)

Using an 8 mm crochet hook and black faux fur yarn...

Round 1: Magic Ring with a base of 6 sc (6 sts)

Round 2-8: Sc in each st around (6 sts)

Cut and fasten off.

Then make a second one following rounds 2-8 but don't cut and fasten off. Instead, follow the instructions below for the remaining part of the second front leg.

Round 9-10: With the second leg, single crochet around the 8th row of the first leg, and then around the second leg again (12 sts)

Stuff both of the legs.

You can find more photos of how to attach the legs together here.

Body

Note: make sure you've made the front legs before making the body.

Using an 8 mm crochet hook and black faux fur yarn...

Round 1: Magic Ring with a base of 6 sc (6 sts)

Round 2: Sc inc in each st around (12 sts)

Round 3: [Sc, sc inc] x 6 times (18 sts)

Round 4: [Sc 2, sc inc] x 6 times (24 sts)

Round 5-6: Sc in each st around (24 sts)

Round 7: [Sc, sc dec] x 4 times, sc 12 (20 sts)

Round 8: Sc in each st around (20 sts)

If you decide to use a small bean bag to help your cat sit better, here's a good place to insert it before the opening gets too small and continue crocheting.

Round 9: Sc dec, [sc, sc dec] x 2 times, Sc 12 (17 sts)

Round 10: Sc in each st around (17 sts)

Round 11: [Sc, sc dec] x 2, sc in the next 11 sts (15 sts)

Round 12: Sc in each st around (15 sts)

Round 13: Sc, sc dec, sc in the next 12 sts (14 sts)

Round 14-15: Sc in each st around (14 sts)

This is the part where you're going to add the front legs to the body. You can find additional photos in this tutorial for the following two rows.

Round 16: Sc 2, then crochet the body and front legs together with 2 sc sts, and then continue to crochet 10 Sc around the body (14 sts) - Click here for more photos.

Round 17: Sc, sc2tog (one stitch from the body and one stitch from the legs), Sc 8 around the legs, Sc2tog (one stitch from the legs and one stitch from the body), then sc in the next 9 sts (20 sts) - Click here for more photos.

Round 18: [Sc 2, sc dec] x 5 times (15 sts)

Round 19: [Sc, sc dec] x 5 times (10 sts)

Round 20-21: Sc in each st around (10 sts)

Continue to stuff your black cat amigurumi as you go. Cut and fasten off with a long tail to sew the head to the body.

Hind Legs (x2)

Using an 8 mm crochet hook and black faux fur yarn...

Round 1: Magic Ring with a base of 5 sc (5 sts)

Round 2-5: Sc in each st around (5 sts)

Stuff the hind legs. Cut and fasten off with a tail to sew to the body.

Tail

Using an 8 mm crochet hook and black faux fur yarn...

Ch 16,

Row 1: Sc into the second ch from the hook and in each st across (15 sts)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (15 sts)

Fasten off with a long tail and then use the tail to stitch the tailpiece length-wise.

Use the remaining yarn tail to attach it to the bottom of the body to form the cat's tail.

The curl to the tail depends on how tight you gather your stitches at the end.

Ears (x2)

Using an 8 mm crochet hook and black faux fur yarn...

Ch 2,

Row 1: Sc 2 into the first ch (2 sts)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (2 sts)

Row 3: Ch 1, turn, sc inc in each st across (4 sts)

Row 4: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (4 sts)

Row 5: Ch 1, turn, sc inc, sc 2, sc inc (6 sts)

Cut and fasten off.

Inner Ears (x2)

Using a 4.5 mm crochet hook and purple worsted-weight yarn...

Ch 2,

Row 1: Sc 2 into the first ch (2 sts)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (2sts)

Row 3: Ch 1, turn, sc inc 2 (4 sts)

Row 4: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (4 sts)

Row 5: Ch 1, turn, sc inc, sc 2, sc inc (6 sts)

Row 6: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (6 sts)

Row 7: Ch 1, turn, sc inc, sc 4, sc inc (8 sts)

Row 8: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across (8 sts)

Cut and fasten off with a long tail to stitch onto the black part of the ears and then to the head.

Nose

Using a 4.5 mm crochet hook and pink worsted-weight yarn...

Ch 3,

Row 1: Sc into the back bump of the second ch from the hook and in the next st (2 sts)

Cut and fasten off with a tail to stitch onto the face.

Whites of the Eyes (x2)

Using a 4.5 mm crochet hook and white worsted-weight yarn...

Round 1: Magic Ring with a base of 6 sts (6 sts)

Round 2: Sc inc in each st around (12 sts)

Round 3: [Sc, Sc inc] x 5, hdc, [dc, hdc] in the same stitch, slst into the first st of the round (18 sts)

Cut and fasten off a long tail to sew it onto the face.

Pupils of Eyes (x2)

Using a 4.5 mm crochet hook and black worsted-weight yarn...

Ch 4

Row 1: Sc into the second ch from the hook and then in each st across (3 sts)

Cut and fasten off to sew onto the whites of the eyes.

Did you make your own Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service? I'd love to see it! Please share it with me on Instagram and/or use the #onceuponacheerio hashtag.

This is an original crochet pattern written by Juli Anne of Once Upon a Cheerio. Please do not claim this crochet pattern as your own. If you wish to share this crochet pattern, you may link to this blog post but please do not reprint it on your site. You may keep a copy for personal use but please DO NOT sell or distribute the crochet pattern.

Disclaimer: We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Studio Ghibli, or any of its subsidiaries or its affiliates. Jiji of Kiki's Delivery Service is a trademarked character owned by Studio Ghilbi. Please reserve this crochet pattern and its finished product for personal use ONLY.