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Get ready to bring the charm of the forest floor to your yarn stash with this adorable Caterpie crochet pattern! As one of the very first Bug-type Pokémon introduced, Caterpie is known for its docile nature and signature green body, making it a nostalgic favorite for many Pokémon fans. Its bright orange antenna (or osmeterium) is not just iconic—it’s a unique defense mechanism used to ward off predators in the wild!
Caterpie is also the first stage in a beautiful evolution line, eventually transforming into the stoic Metapod and the graceful Butterfree – both with matching amigurumi patterns 😉
This pattern captures all of Caterpie’s delightful details, from its segmented body to its curious little face. Whether you’re starting your own evolution trio or simply love the classics, crocheting Caterpie is a wonderful way to celebrate one of Kanto’s most beloved early-route companions!
Supplies you'll need to crochet Caterpie
General supplies:
- Crochet hook 2,5 mm, I recommend clover amour hooks for my projects!
- Sewing needle
- Stuffing
- Stitch marker
With Amigurumi you guage doesn’t matter much. Using smaller hook and yarn will make you finished Caterpie smaller, and bigger hook and yarn will make it bigger. Just make sure that your yarn and hook fits together and makes a tight fabric so the stuffing won’t show through!
In the recommended yarn, the Caterpie is about 8 cm/3 inches tall
I reccomend Hobbii Rainbow cotton 8/4. This yarn is a 100% cotton and very nice to work with! With this yarn, I use a 2,5 mm hook (or a B-1 or C-2 should work too!). If Rainbow cotton is sold out, I can also recommend Friends cotton from Hobbii as a direct substitute.
- green
- pale yellow
- a bit of black and bright orange or red
Abbreviations in this Caterpie crochet pattern
Rnd = round
mr = magic ring
sc = single crochet
inc = increase, 2 sc in the same stitch
dec = decrease, make 2 stitches into 1
ss = slip stitch
BLO = Back Loop Only
FLO = Front Loop Only
FO = Finish Off
Caterpie crochet pattern
Head
Rnd 1: 6 sc in mr (6)
Rnd 2: inc x 6 (12)
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x 6 (18)
Rnd 4: (sc, inc, sc) x 6 (24)
Rnd 5: (7sc, inc) x 3 (27)
Rnd 6-9: sc around (27)
Rnd 10: (sc, dec, sc) x 6 (18)
Rnd 11: (sc, dec) x 6 (12)
Stuff
Rnd 12: dec x 6 (6)
FO with tail for sewing.
Mouth piece
Work in green.
Rnd 1: 6sc in mr (6)
Rnd 2: inc x 6 (12)
Rnd 3: in BLO, sc (12)
ss, FO with tail for sewing.
Body pieces
Work in green yarn
The body is made of 2 separate spheres
Rnd 1: 6sc in mr (6)
Rnd 2: inc x 6 (12)
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) x 6 (18)
Rnd 4: (5sc, inc) x 3 (21)
Rnd 5-6: sc around (21)
Rnd 7: (5sc, dec) x 3 (18)
Rnd 8: (sc, dec) x 6 (12)
Stuff the piece.
Rnd 9: dec x 6 (6)
FO with tail for sewing. Make 2.
Tail (of the body)
Work in green
Rnd 1: 6sc in mr (6)
Rnd 2: (sc, inc) x 2 (8)
Rnd 3: sc around (8)
Rnd 4: inc, 6sc, inc (10)
Rnd 5: 4sc, dec, 3sc, inc (10)
Rnd 6: inc, 2sc, 4hdc, 2sc, inc (12)
Rnd 7: 4sc, 4hdc, 4sc (12)
Rnd 8: inc, 3x, 4hdc, 3sc, inc (14)
Rnd 9: 4sc, 2hdc, 2hdc-inc, 2hdc, sc, ss, FO early with tail for sewing.
Yellow belly patch
Work in pale yellow yarn
In this piece we incorporate the legs as bobble stitches. Right below is a guidee to how I do the bobble stitch, but any stitch that creates a bobble effect, will work just as well. A bobble st will be denoted with BO in the pattern.
The following describes how to do a bobble stitch (BO): (yarn over, insert hook into stitch, yarn over, pull through the loop, yarn over, pull through 2 loops) repeat a total of 5 times. After 5 repetitions you have 6 loops on your hook. Yarn over and pull through all 6 loops to finish the stitch. Work the stitch like normal on the next rnd.
Rnd 1: 6sc mr (6)
Rnd 2: 6inc (12)
Rnd 3: 3sc, inc, BO, inc, (sc, inc) x 2, BO, inc, sc, inc (18)
ss, FO leaving tail for sewing.
Make a second circle following rnd 1-3, but don’t FO. Instead follow the rounds below to make the belly piece fit the tail of Caterpie.
make 3sc, ch 1, turn
Rnd 4-6: 7sc, ch 1, turn (7)
Rnd 7: dec, 5sc, ch 1, turn (6)
Rnd 8: dec, 4sc, ch 1, turn (5)
Rnd 9-11: 5sc, ch 1, turn (5)
Rnd 12: sc, dec, 2sc, ch 1, turn (4)
Rnd 13: 4sc, ch 1, turn (4)
Rnd 14: sc, dec, sc, ch 1, turn (3)
Rnd 15: 3sc, ch 1, turn (3)
Rnd 16: dec, sc, ch 1, turn (2)
Rnd 17: dec, FO leaving long tail for sewing.
Tail
In pale yellow.
This is a very small piece, så feel free to work round 2-3 in the the front loops to make it easier to work with.
Rnd 1: 4sc in mr (4)
Rnd 2: 4sc (4)
Rnd 3: 2sc, dec, FO tightening st.
Osmeterium (aka antenna)
Work in bright orange
Start by chaining 6. The first stitch is the 2nd ch from the hook.
Row 1: 3sc, ch4, work in 2nd chain and back along the chain, 3sc. Work 2 sc in the “main chain” that you made first.
This will give a T-shape. FO with tail for sewing.
Eyes
Work in black
8sc in mr
FO
Attach pale yellow in a back loop. Ss around the piece in BLO. FO. Leave tail for sewing, Make 2 eyes.
Assembly of your crochet Caterpie
Start by assembling the head. Add the mouth piece to round 5-8 of the head. The eyes sit around rnds 5-7, make sure they are level and sit on either side evenly compared to the mouthpiece. Lastly add the antenna above the mouthpiece.
Now we assemble the body. Pin the pieces together to form a curve of the body. The first piece of the body sits 1 rnd below the mouth piece. The top of the tail piece should sit around halfway up on a piece of the body. Before sewing in place, make sure the belly pieces fit along the belly without leaving gaps. Then sew the body in place.
Next sew the belly pieces onto the now assembles body. Make sure the 2 belly pieces touch to make them look like 1 long piece. Add the little yellow tail to the back of the piece.
Embroider small pale yellow circles along the side of Caterpie to finish its signature look!
