This guinea pig hammock came about through the most tragic of circumstances.
Unfortunately our beautiful, cheeky Cino became ill very suddenly and despite two trips to the vets, antibiotics and syringe feeding, we sadly lost him. We were all devastated. His cage buddy Pancake was lonely and the silence was unbearable. We knew that we had to get him a new friend.
Now, introducing two boy guinea pigs is not for the faint hearted. It has to be done on neutral territory, there are often dominance fights. Rumblestrutting is inevitable. We decided to get a little baby guy so there was more chance of them getting on. I knew that I wanted to make a little hidey place for their cage but didn’t want to make anything enclosed, so a quick escape could be made if needed.
And so the guinea pig hammock was born.
I’d ordered a whole load of Hoooked Zpagetti a couple of years ago for a bean bag project (which still needs to be sewn up and stuffed!) and in the parcel Hoooked had kindly sent me a mini roll as a gift. I’d never quite figured out what to use it for, until now.
Helpfully, the mini roll came with a centre pull to make it super simple to get started. Yay!
I decided to use a smaller hook than I usually would for t-shirt yarn. Although I doubted that either of the piggies would actually use it as a hammock, I didn’t want the finished item to stretch and risk trapping a little foot. After a bit of experimentation I decided that an 8mm hook would be perfect.
Guinea Pig Hammock Free Crochet Pattern
You will need
Mini Ball of Hoooked Zpagetti (Or leftover t-shirt yarn)
8mm hook
Large eyed needle
At least three carabiners or other clips to attach hammock to cage
Pattern UK Terms (Scroll down for US Version after photos)
Chain 2
Row 1: 3dc in 1st chain, turn
Row 2: Chain 1, *2dc in next st, dc in next, 2dc in last stitch, turn
Rows 3: Chain 1, *2dc in next st, dc in each stitch across, 2dc in last stitch, turn
Row 4: Repeat row 3
Row 5: Chain 1, dc in each st across.
Rows 6-16: Repeat row 3.
Fasten off and sew in loose ends.
Attach carabiners to the corners and clip to the cage. To wash, simply unclip and throw in the washing machine and allow to air dry.
The best thing about working with t-shirt yarn is that it works up super quick!
You could easily make this bigger by just repeating row three until it is the size you wanted. A bigger version would be a great sunshade for a run in the garden.
Rockie testing out his new little hidey hammock. We often put hay on it for them to reach up and find. Him and Pancake both love it and I often catch one of them there curled up taking a snooze. I take it as a compliment that they feel relaxed enough to sleep there.
Pattern US Terms
Chain 2
Row 1: 3sc in 1st chain, turn
Row 2: Chain 1, *2sc in next st, sc in next, 2sc in last stitch, turn
Rows 3: Chain 1, *2sc in next st, sc in each stitch across, 2sc in last stitch, turn
Row 4: Repeat row 3
Row 5: Chain 1, sc in each st across.
Rows 6-16: Repeat row 3.
Fasten off and sew in loose ends.
Attach carabiners to the corners and clip to the cage. To wash, simply unclip and throw in the washing machine and allow to air dry.
I’d love to see your makes (and piggies!)
If you make your own version, please feel free to tag me so I can see it:
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Happy making xx
