Crochet fox pattern, five pieces and 50 rounds
A free crochet fox pattern for a fox lying down, about 20 cm from nose to tail tip and about 5 cm across the body, worked on a 3.5 mm hook in four colours over about two and a half hours. There are no safety eyes anywhere in it: the closed eyes are two short charcoal curves embroidered at the end, which is both the whole of the sleepy look and the reason there is no hard plastic in the finished fox. All 50 rounds are written out across the five pieces, each round carrying the count it ends on.
Maths verified, not yet made. Every one of the 50 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 Easy
Easy, with one round to read twice: round 1 works sixteen stitches around both sides of a foundation of eight, and the increases after it sit at the two ends of that oval rather than spread around.
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 a quarter of it (~20 g)Worsted acrylic, weight 4
about 5 gWorsted acrylic, weight 4
scrapsWorsted acrylic, weight 4
a short lengthWorsted acrylic, or six-strand embroidery floss for the face
Tools
5 you probably own, 2 to buyYou likely have
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch markers
Pins
Measuring tape
You need to buy
Polyester stuffing (~30 g)
Charcoal embroidery floss for the nose and the closed eyes
Optional
A stitch marker in a contrast colour for the round start
A chopstick or similar for pushing stuffing into the muzzle
Powder blush and a soft brush for the cheeks
Gauge and finished size
the last check before you cast onTension
Not critical. Work tight enough that the stuffing does not show between stitches. A looser hand gives you a longer fox and nothing worse.
Finished size
~20 cm nose to tail tip, about 5 cm across the body, lying down
A 4 mm hook with the same worsted gives a longer fox off the same 50 rounds. The oval is what does the work here, so keep the round 2 and 3 increases grouped at the two ends whichever hook you use.
How to make the sleepy fox, piece by piece
Switching rewrites every round:US16 sc around a foundation of 8, both sidesUK16 dc around a foundation of 8, both sidesWork a US sc as a UK single crochet and the fabric comes out looser and taller.
1
01The body and head
One piece from nose end to tail end. An oval that widens to…22 RNDS
starts in rustOrange· picked up· Piece 1 of 5
First six rounds[16] [22] [28] [28] [28] [28]
The oval base
RND 1–31[16]
2[22]
3[28]
Straight sides — the lying body
RND 4–114[28]
5[28]
6[28]
7[28]
8[28]
9[28]
10[28]
11[28]
Down into the neck
RND 12–1412[22]
13[16]
14[12]
The head, opening out
RND 15–1915[18]
16[24]
17[24]
18[24]
19[24]
Closing in — stuff as you go
RND 20–2220[18]
21[12]
22[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneStuff as you go, firmly, and shape the neck with your fingers as you close the last rounds. Stand back and check the head sits up rather than falling forward before you fasten off.
2
02The muzzle
A short cream cone. Two increases a round out to twelve stitches…6 RNDS
starts in cream· magic ring· Piece 2 of 5
First six rounds[6] [8] [10] [12] [12] [12]
1[6]
2[8]
3[10]
4[12]
5[12]
6[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is donePush a pinch of stuffing in, sew it to the front of the head, then embroider a small charcoal nose at its tip and two short lines running down from the nose.
3
03The ears
Two the same, three rounds each. Six charcoal stitches for the tip…3 RNDS
starts in charcoal· magic ring· Piece 3 of 5
First three rounds[6] [12] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
3[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is donePinch each one flat with the charcoal tip at the point, and sew the open edge to the top of the head about six stitches apart.
4
04Right ear
— the same 3 rounds again, worked from piece 033 RNDS
starts in charcoal· magic ring· Piece 4 of 5· mirrors the ears
First three rounds[6] [12] [12]
1[6]
2[12]
3[12]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
5
05The tail
Sixteen rounds in three colours: rust orange out to eighteen stitches…16 RNDS
starts in rustOrange· magic ring· Piece 5 of 5
First six rounds[6] [6] [12] [12] [18] [18]
Out to eighteen
RND 1–51[6]
2[6]
3[12]
4[12]
5[18]
The rust plume
RND 6–96[18]
7[18]
8[18]
9[18]
The chestnut band
RND 10–1210[18]
11[18]
12[18]
The cream tip
RND 13–1613[15]
14[12]
15[9]
16[6]
US termsmrmagic ringscsingle crochetincincreasedecdecreasest(s)stitch, or stitchesreprepeat
When this piece is doneStuff it lightly, no more than enough to fill the outline, and press it flat between your palms.
You are here
Five pieces from four lists. One list — the ears — is written once and worked twice, identical round for round; the grey bars are piece length, all drawn to the same scale.50 ROUNDS IN ALL
Seven notes on the sleepy fox
Read themClose
01An original Crochet Genie design.
02Every piece is worked in a continuous spiral of single crochet. Nothing is joined and nothing is turned, so keep a marker in the first stitch of each round.
03The fabric is plain single crochet the whole way through — smooth and even, with no ribbing, no texture stitches and no gaps anywhere in it. The fox reads soft because of its shape and its stuffing, not because of the stitch.
04The body starts on a foundation of 8 worked around both sides, which gives 16 stitches in a long oval rather than a circle. Rounds 2 and 3 put three of their six increases at each rounded end, so the oval grows longer than it grows wide. That oval is why the fox lies down.
05A real fox's tail is a long plume. Here it is a stuffed teardrop from a magic ring, stuffed lightly, pressed flat between your palms and curled around the body — the plume comes from how it is stuffed and pinned rather than from the stitches.
06The eyes are two short curved lines embroidered in charcoal, which is the whole of what makes the fox look asleep. There are no safety eyes in this pattern, so it is safe to hand to a small child.
07Stuff the body and head firmly, the muzzle and the tail lightly, and leave the ears flat and empty.
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 sleepy fox?
How much yarn will the sleepy fox take?
What hook will the sleepy fox need, and what is the finished size?
How long will the sleepy fox 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.
Put the laptop down mid-round
The iPhone app keeps your place — piece of 5, round of — and hands it back where you left it.
