Free crochet elephant pattern — ten pieces and 124 rounds
A standing elephant about 18 cm tall, worked on a 3.5 mm hook in worsted acrylic over about five hours, with the head roughly 6.5 cm across and the body about 8 cm long. Nine of the ten pieces begin on a magic ring and the trunk does not: it is worked forward off twelve marked stitches on the front of the head, nine straight rounds before the tip draws in, which means the face has to be finished and the eyes already in before the trunk exists. All 124 rounds are written out across the ten pieces, each round carrying the count it ends on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 124 rounds was checked against the round before it by machine — the counts, the increases and the decreases all add up. What nobody can promise you yet is how it sits in the hand.How we check
6 of 8 checks ran on 2026-09-04
- 1 format and stitch chainscripts/validate.py — 113 patterns, all counts chain.
- 2 catalogue auditscripts/audit-patterns.py — 113 audited, 0 errors, 66 warnings.
- 3 geometrygeometry-check.py — 113 checked, 0 errors, 4 warnings.
- 5 not a duplicate113 distinct display names across 113 patterns
- 6c target on the recordseo.headKeyword, confidence and demand present and cross-checked by scripts/validate.py
- 8 page readinessscripts/check-completeness.py --gate — 0 required fields missing, 114 editorial flags, 0 unearned claims.
Not yet checked
- 4 render matches the pattern — no image has been compared against its own prompt, so a render showing a piece the rounds do not make would not be caught here. Nothing has counted how many do.
- 6a recognisability — provenance.recognisability is empty in every pattern, so there is no feature list to check the parts against.
Why it is rated Medium
Medium for one reason: the trunk has no ring to start from. Twelve stitches are marked on the finished face and round 1 worked into them, and a patch marked crooked gives a sideways trunk.
Sell what you make. Anything you crochet from this pattern is yours to sell — any quantity, no fee, no credit required.
00
00What you need before you start
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What you need before you start
Yarn — four colours, all weight 4
1 skein (about 130 m / 70 g)Worsted / aran acrylic, CYC weight 4
scraps (about 10 m)Worsted / aran acrylic, CYC weight 4
scrapsWorsted acrylic or six-strand embroidery floss
scrapsWorsted acrylic or six-strand embroidery floss
Tools
5 you probably own, 4 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
You need to buy
9 mm black safety eyes x2
Polyester stuffing (~60 g)
Cream embroidery floss for the toenails
Charcoal embroidery floss for the nostrils
Optional
A short pipe cleaner inside the trunk, if you want it to hold a curve
A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the round start
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Gauge is not critical, but the fabric has to be dense enough that no stuffing shows between stitches. A looser hand gives a bigger elephant, not a worse one.
Finished size
~18 cm tall standing — the head is about 6.5 cm across and the body about 8 cm long
A 4 mm hook with the same worsted gives a larger elephant off the same 124 rounds. Going down to 3 mm makes the twelve-stitch trunk patch tight to work into, so leave the head a little under-stuffed until the trunk is on.
How to make the elephant, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US6 sc in mrUK6 dc in mrWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The head
A plain ball. Six rounds out to 36 stitches, seven rounds straight…18 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 1 of 10
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [30] [36]
Opening out
RND 1–61[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[30]
6[36]
Straight sides
RND 7–137[36]
8[36]
9[36]
10[36]
11[36]
12[36]
13[36]
Closing in
RND 14–1814[30]
15[24]
16[18]
17[12]
18[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff it firmly while the last rounds are still open, then gather the final six stitches. Keep a long tail — it sews the head to the body.
2
02The trunk
No magic ring here. Pick up twelve stitches on the front of the head…12 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· picked up· Piece 2 of 10
First six rounds[12] [12] [12] [12] [12] [12]
Nine rounds forward
RND 1–91[12]
2[12]
3[12]
4[12]
5[12]
6[12]
7[12]
8[12]
9[12]
The tip draws in
RND 10–1210[10]
11[8]
12[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff it lightly. A soft trunk curls and a firm one points straight out, so stop well short of full.
3
03The body
An egg rather than a ball. Five rounds out to 30, then nine straight…18 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 3 of 10
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [30] [30]
Out to thirty
RND 1–51[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[30]
Where the legs attach
RND 6–146[30]
7[30]
8[30]
9[30]
10[30]
11[30]
12[30]
13[30]
14[30]
Closing in
RND 15–1815[24]
16[18]
17[12]
18[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff firmly and evenly as it closes. The long straight run in the middle is where all four legs attach, so keep that section round.
4
04The ears
Two the same, and the only colour change in the pattern. Pink out to…6 RNDS
starts in blushPink· magic ring· Piece 4 of 10
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [24] [24]
1[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[24]
6[24]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneLeave them unstuffed. The two straight rounds at 24 cup the rim, which is what makes an ear read as an ear rather than a coaster.
5
05Right ear
— the same 6 rounds again, worked from piece 046 RNDS
starts in blushPink· magic ring· Piece 5 of 10· mirrors the ears
First six rounds[6] [12] [18] [24] [24] [24]
1[6]
2[12]
3[18]
4[24]
5[24]
6[24]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
6
06The front legs
A foot and then a column. Out to 18 for the foot, three straight…14 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 6 of 10
First six rounds[6] [12] [15] [18] [18] [18]
The foot opens out
RND 1–41[6]
2[12]
3[15]
4[18]
The ankle ridge
RND 5–85[18]
6[18]
7[18]
8[12]
Six rounds of shaft
RND 9–149[12]
10[12]
11[12]
12[12]
13[12]
14[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff the foot before round 8 pulls it closed. The shaft above takes light stuffing.
7
07Right front leg
— the same 14 rounds again, worked from piece 0614 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 7 of 10· mirrors the front legs
First six rounds[6] [12] [15] [18] [18] [18]
1[6]
2[12]
3[15]
4[18]
5[18]
6[18]
7[18]
8[12]
9[12]
10[12]
11[12]
12[12]
13[12]
14[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
8
08The back legs
The same pillar as the front pair, worked again. All four legs are…14 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 8 of 10
First six rounds[6] [12] [15] [18] [18] [18]
The foot opens out
RND 1–41[6]
2[12]
3[15]
4[18]
The ankle ridge
RND 5–85[18]
6[18]
7[18]
8[12]
Six rounds of shaft
RND 9–149[12]
10[12]
11[12]
12[12]
13[12]
14[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneStuff the foot first, close the top flat, and sew all four on at the same height before you trust it to stand.
9
09Right back leg
— the same 14 rounds again, worked from piece 0814 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 9 of 10· mirrors the back legs
First six rounds[6] [12] [15] [18] [18] [18]
1[6]
2[12]
3[15]
4[18]
5[18]
6[18]
7[18]
8[12]
9[12]
10[12]
11[12]
12[12]
13[12]
14[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
10
10The tail
Six stitches for eight rounds. No shaping and no stuffing — a thin…8 RNDS
starts in stormGrey· magic ring· Piece 10 of 10
First six rounds[6] [6] [6] [6] [6] [6]
1[6]
2[6]
3[6]
4[6]
5[6]
6[6]
7[6]
8[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreaseBLOback loop onlyst(s)stitch, or stitches
When this piece is doneThread three short strands of charcoal through the last round and trim them to about a centimetre for the tuft.
You are here
Ten pieces from seven lists. Three lists — the ears, the front legs and the back legs — are written once and worked twice, identical round for round; the grey bars are piece length, all drawn to the same scale.124 ROUNDS IN ALL
Ten notes on the elephant
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Everything is worked in a continuous spiral. Nothing is joined and nothing is turned, so keep a marker in the first stitch of every round.
03Round 8 of each leg is worked in back loops only; that ridge is what gives the foot a crisp edge instead of letting it blend into the shaft. The stitch count is unchanged.
04The trunk has no magic ring. Mark a flat patch of twelve stitches on the front of the head, a little below the eyes, and work round 1 into them so the trunk grows forward off the face.
05The ears carry the only colour change in the pattern: blush pink for rounds 1 to 3, storm grey from round 4 onward.
06Leave the ears unstuffed. Stuff each foot before round 8 closes it in, and stuff the head and body firmly while their last decrease rounds are still open.
07The toenails and the tail tuft go on after assembly with a needle, so cream and charcoal appear in the materials but in none of the rounds.
08The head is wider than the body on purpose. Four identical legs and a firmly stuffed body carry the weight; a soft body lets it tip forward.
09Yarn, hook and eye sizes are recommendations for this scale rather than a tested gauge. The stitch counts are what fix the shape.
10For a child under three, embroider the eyes in charcoal instead of using safety eyes.
Four questions this pattern answers
Not questions anybody asked. Each one is written from this pattern's own record, and every answer is read off the fields it names.
How many pieces make up the elephant?
How much yarn will the elephant take?
What hook will the elephant need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the elephant take to crochet?
A round that will not add up?
Tell us the piece and the round number — the stepper already knows where you are.There is nowhere to send one yet.
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