Crochet Cat Paw Fingerless Gloves with Toe Beans

These gloves turn your hands into cat paws: white, with a scalloped edge over the fingers and pink toe beans on the palms. They look tricky, but they aren't knitted tubes or shaped gloves at all. Each glove is two flat U-shaped panels of double crochet, sewn together with gaps left for your fingers and thumb, plus a ribbed cuff.

Elise split the tutorial into two videos on her lilthings channel: part 1 makes the panels, part 2 adds the paw pads and puts the gloves together. Both are below, with the steps written out in between.

Written from both videos. Fitting is done against your own hand, so keep the video handy for the sizing part.

Materials

• 5-ply milk cotton in white and pink
• 3.5 mm hook
• A tape measure, stitch markers, scissors and a darning needle

Part 1: the paw panels

Video tutorial by Elise on her YouTube channel, lilthings: watch "crochet cat paw fingerless gloves 🐾 pt.1 | beginner-friendly crochet tutorial" on YouTube.

Make 4 panels: a back and a palm for each hand.

Centre and the first arch

1. With white, chain 16.
2. Starting in the 4th chain from the hook, work 12 dc along the chain. With the turning chain counted as a stitch, that is 13 stitches along the side.
3. Work 6 dc into the last chain to turn the corner in a half-circle.
4. Work 13 dc back down the other side of the chain. (32 stitches)

Growing the arch (rows 2 to 4)

Each row goes up one side, around the arch and down the other side. The sides stay at 13 stitches; only the 6 arch stitches grow.

Turn and chain 2 at the start of each row. Check the panel against your palm after row 4: it should cover the width of your hand. If it doesn't, add a row with [3 dc, inc] × 6 around the arch.

Finger scallops (row 5)

Across the top of the arch, work four shells, one for each finger: [skip 1, 6 dc in the next stitch, skip 1, 1 sc in the next stitch] × 4. Then work dc down the side. Centre the four shells on the top of the arch; the video shows where Elise starts them.

Part 2: toe beans and assembly

Video tutorial by Elise on her YouTube channel, lilthings: watch "crochet cat paw fingerless gloves 🐾 pt.2 | beginner-friendly crochet tutorial" on YouTube.

Toe beans (5 per glove)

With pink, magic ring, chain 1, 10 hdc in the ring, pull it closed and slip stitch to the first hdc. Leave a tail for sewing. You need 4 finger beans and 1 for the thumb side on each glove.

Central pad (1 per glove)

• Round 1: magic ring, 12 dc.
• Round 2: 2 dc in each stitch. (24)
• Round 3: 1 dc, 1 tr, 2 dc in the next stitch, 5 sl st, 1 sc, 2 hdc in the next stitch, 1 sc, 5 sl st, 2 dc in the next stitch, 1 tr, 1 dc, chain 2, 5 sl st.

Round 3 uses all 24 stitches and pulls the circle into the three-lobed shape of a cat's paw pad: the slip stitches stay low, the trebles stand up. Sew the pad and toe beans onto two of the panels; these are the palms.

Joining the glove

Hold one plain panel and one palm panel wrong sides together. With white, slip stitch them together:

1. Up the side seam, leaving a gap of about 4 cm on the thumb side.
2. Across the top, joining only the valleys between the scallops, so each scallop stays open for a finger.
3. Down the other side.

Try it on before you fasten off: the thumb gap should sit where your thumb comes out.

Ribbed cuff

Join white at the wrist opening. Chain 6, work 5 sc back along the chain, then slip stitch twice into the glove edge. Turn, and work back up the 5 sc in the back loop only. Keep going around the wrist: each pair of rows is joined to the glove with 2 slip stitches. Seam the two ends of the cuff together.

Tips

• Make the second glove a mirror. Sew the toe beans to the palm side that will face your palm on the other hand, so the thumb gap ends up on the correct side.
• Count the side stitches. Every row has 13 on each side; if the panel starts to lean, a side has lost a stitch.
• Back loop ribbing stretches over the wrist and springs back. Our BLO and FLO guide shows which loop is which.

Frequently asked questions