Here is the free crochet pattern for Henry Elephant.
Meet Henry; a little elephant with a big heart. His one mission in life is to spread a little joy into people’s lives. The young and young-at-heart will delight from his soulful expression and quiet patience.
“Can you make an elephant? My daughter loves elephants”. Up until this point in my early adventure into crochet amigurumi, I had focused primarily on teddy bears and unicorns, they were my favourites and I was content to explore the different colour palettes I could make them in. However a friend of mine had seen what I made and wanted to see what else I could come up with. I loved the challenge and came up with pattern for Henry Elephant which I am happy to share with you today .
Until she uttered those words I had not considered what else I could design, but those words lit a fire within me. She saw that I was capable of more and encouraged me to go for it. When was the last time that you stepped out of your comfort zone and tried something new? You might be pleasantly surprised what you can achieve.
Below is my free amigurumi crochet pattern for you. An ad-free printer-friendly version of this pattern can be purchased.
This is an easy pattern suitable for those that have practised the basics of crochet and are ready for their next project. There is no set gauge for this pattern, however the finished size should be approximately 10-13 cm standing. Here is what you will need:
Materials
- You can use any DK or light weight yarn. I used the following acrylic yarn. You don’t need much, I needed less than 50g of each colour.
- Stylecraft Special Double Knit in Silver (yarn A)
- Stylecraft Special Double Knit in Citron (yarn B)
- Patons Smoothie DK in black (approx 100 cm)
- Polyester stuffing
- 2.5mm crochet hook
- Yarn needle and long sewing needle
- Stitch marker or scrap piece of yarn
- Sewing pins to position the limbs before attaching (optional)
- Four 6mm buttons (optional)
- Upholstery thread (optional)
- Two washers approx. 2cm in diameter (optional – you can also use two one-cent coins or pennies)
Special Techniques
This pattern uses a magic adjustable ring to start. It also uses invisible decreases.
Invisible decrease: insert hook into the front loops of the next 2 stitches, yarn over, pull through the first 2 loops of the hook, yarn over, pull through the final 2 loops on the hook. This counts as 1 sc.
Notes
- I have used US crochet stitch terms for this post. Check out Tutorials & Resources in the main menu for a US to UK stitch conversion guide. The PDF version has both US and UK instructions.
- Unless the patterns specifies, work in continuous (spiral) rounds with the right side facing you at all times. Do not turn or join at end of each round unless the pattern says to do so. I find it handy to use a stitch marker or scrap piece of yarn to mark the beginning of each round and move marker up as each round is complete.
- Keep your stitches tight to produce a solid looking fabric. You don’t want gaps between your stitches.
- When you add the stuffing, you do not want to overstuff to the point that the stuffing is visible.
- To change colour, work the last stitch of old colour to the last yarn over. Yarn over with new colour and draw through all loops on hook to complete stitch. You can then continue with new colour. Knot and trim loose ends on the inside of the crochet fabric to hide the join.
Safety Caution
If you are making this as a gift for younger children DO NOT weight the feet or use buttons to joint the limbs. Please instead securely sew the arms and legs to the body.
Head
Make one.
With yarn A, work 8 sc into a magic adjustable ring (see end of pattern for tutorial). Pull tail to close.
Round 1. 1 sc in BL of each sc to end. (8 sts)
Round 2-3. 1 sc in each sc to end. (8 sts)
Round 4. 2 sc in each sc to end. (16 sts)
Round 5. 1 sc in each sc to end. (16 sts)
Round 6. *2 sc in FL of next sc, 1 sc in FL of next sc; rep from * to end. (24 sts)
Round 7-8. 1 sc in each sc to end. (24 sts)
Round 9. *2 ch, 2 tr in FL of next sc, 1 ch, 3 tr in FL of next sc, 1 ch, 2 tr in FL of next sc, 2 ch, 1 sc in each of the next 8 sc; rep from * 1 time, 1 sc in each of the next 2 sc. (24 sts, do not include the ear stitches in the stitch count, instead count the sc and the BLs of the sc that were crocheted into).
Round 10. 1 sc in each of the 3 BLs behind the ear, 1 sc in each of next 8 sc, 1 sc in each of the 3 BLs behind the ear, 1 sc in each of next 10 sc. (24 sts)
Round 11. 1 sc in each sc to end. (24 sts)
Round 12. *1 sc in each of next 2 sc, inv dec; rep from * to end. (18 sts)
Round 13. *1 sc in next sc, inv dec; rep from * to end. (12 sts)
Stuff firmly.
Round 14. inv dec 5 times. (5 sts, leave the last 2sts unworked)
Fasten off, leaving a long tail. Use tail to close hole, weave in ends.
Body
Make one.
With yarn A, work 7 sc into a magic adjustable ring. Pull tail to close.
Round 1. *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc; rep from *2 times, 2 sc in next sc. (11 sts)
Round 2. *1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc; rep from *4 times, 1 sc in next sc. (16 sts)
Round 3-4. 1 sc in each sc to end. (16 sts)
Round 5. *1 sc in each of next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc; rep from * to end. (20 sts)
Round 6. 1 sc in each sc to end. (20 sts)
Round 7. *1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc; rep from * to end. (30 sts)
Round 8. 1 sc in each sc to end. (30 sts)
Round 9. 1 sc in each of next 18 sc, *1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc; rep from * to end. (36 sts)
Round 10. *1 sc in next sc, inv dec; rep from * to end. (24 sts)
Round 11. *1 sc in next sc, inv dec; rep from * to end. (16 sts)
Stuff firmly.
Round 12. inv dec to end. (8 sts)
Round 13. inv dec once. (1 st)
Fasten off, leaving a long tail. Use tail to close hole, weave in ends.
Leg
Make two.
With yarn B, work 6 sc into a magic adjustable ring. Pull tail to close.
Round 1. 2 sc in each sc to end. (12 sts)
Round 2. *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc; rep from * to end, finish last st with yarn A. (18 sts)
Round 3. With yarn A, work 1 sc in BL of each sc to end. (18 sts)
Round 4. 1 sc in each sc to end. (18 sts)
If weighting the feet, insert the coin or washer into the base of the foot (DO NOT weight the feet if making for younger children).
Round 5. 1 sc in each of next 6 sc, inv dec to end. (12 sts)
Round 6. 1 sc in each of next 6 sc, inv dec to end. (9 sts)
Round 7-8. 1 sc in each sc to end. (9 sts)
Stuff firmly. Do not continue to stuff the leg.
Round 9-10. 1 sc in each sc to end. (9 sts)
Round 11. Flatten the leg together and close with 1 sc in each of next 3 sc going through both sides. (3 sts).
Fasten off, weave in ends.
Arm
Make two.
With yarn A, work 6 sc into a magic adjustable ring. Pull tail to close.
Round 1. 2 sc in each sc to end. (12 sts)
Round 2. 1 sc in each sc to end. (12 sts)
Round 3. *1 sc in next sc, inv dec; rep from * to end. (8 sts)
Round 4-9. 1 sc in each sc to end. (8 sts)
Stuff lightly.
Round 10. Flatten the arm together and close with 1 sc in each of next 3 sc going through both sides. (3 sts). See photo above.
Fasten off, weave in ends.
Assembly
1. Attach head to body using matching yarn. The front of the body is identifiable by the little tubby belly.
2. Attach arms and legs using matching yarn. For movable limbs attach by button jointing.
SAFETY CAUTION. If making for younger children DO NOT make with buttons, instead securely sew the arms and legs to the body.
3. Embroider on the face (following the tutorial below).
Face – Eyes and Eyebrows
Placement: The eyes are one stitch wide. There is a space of two stitches in between the eyes. The eyebrows are directly above the eyes and are two stitches wide.
1. Thread the black yarn (approx. 100 cm) through yarn needle, line both ends of the thread up to sew using doubled thread.
2. Insert the needle into the bottom of the face. Bring the needle out to where the first eye will go.
3. Sew across the stitch four times to make the eye, then carry thread under face to the next eye.
4. Sew across the stitch four times to make the next eye, then carry thread under face to the start of the first eyebrow.
5. Sew the eyebrows on.
6. Thread the needle back through the face, bringing it out exactly in the same place where the needle was first inserted.
7. Knot both parts of the yarn securely. Fasten off and hide loose ends within the head.
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And there you go, I hope you enjoy making your own Henry Elephant using this free crochet amigurumi pattern. Why not make two? One for a loved one and one for your own miniature amigurumi collection. Check out these other free patterns to add to your collection.
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