Gather around for a trunk-load of cuteness with our adorable small crochet elephant pattern! If you’re like me and find joy in crocheting little amigurumi patterns (what is it about small patterns that is just so stinkin’ cute??), this small amigurumi elephant pattern is about to become your new favourite. This little guy was the first animal in our Kozu Palm Pets series of small animals and, I’m sure you will agree, he is a keeper!
Imagine crafting a small elephant buddy that fits right into the palm of your hand. With just a bit of yarn and a hook, you’ll bring this adorable pachyderm to life. Prefer larger amigurumi patterns? No problem! Just use thicker yarn and a larger crochet hook and you can crochet a large elephant in just a couple of hours! How’s that for awesome?
We initially released this pattern as a crochet along on our blog (be sure to sign up for our newsletter to find out about our next crochet alongs!) and seeing all the variations of the pattern (from different yarns to different colours!) was so much fun. It was such a great introduction to our new animal series.
So, dig into your yarn stash, and let’s crochet an elephant together. Are you as excited as I am to hook it up?
About this Small Crochet Elephant Pattern
This elephant crochet pattern works up to be approximately 4 inches tall with DK yarn and a 2.75mm hook. As you can see below, we also crocheted this cutie using velvet yarn (with a 3.25 mm hook) and it came to 6 inches tall. And if you really want to enlarge this cutie, I used blanket yarn and a 7mm hook for a 11.5 inch adorable elephant (that now sits on my bed and I just love the little guy!).
This elephant is a low sew amigurumi pattern. The arms and trunk are all crocheted into the piece (hurray!) and so you just need to sew in the ears and tail.
This pattern is entirely made up of single crochet stitches, which makes it easy for a beginner. The only challenge may be joining the legs if you are a beginner, but we have a tutorial on how to join legs for amigurumi using chain stitches which should help!
If you want to make the trunk poseable, you can add wire or a pipe cleaner into it (but be careful who it is then going to, as wire is not safe for young children).
Want to save this for later? Save this pin to your pinterest crochet board.
Small Crochet Elephant Free Pattern
Tools and Supplies You Will Need
- Yarn: You need yarn in grey and scrap yarn in light pink. You can use any yarn that you like, but just ensure that you use the relevant hook. We used DK yarn with a 2.75mm hook for the elephant on our cover photo.
- Crochet hook: The size will vary based on the yarn you use.
- Tapestry needle
- Stitch markers
- Polyfill stuffing
- Two safety eyes: The size will vary based on the yarn used. We used 7mm eyes for the DK yarn elephant, 9mm for the velvet yarn elephant, and 16 mm for the blanket yarn elephant.
Stitches Used and Abbreviations
Sl st: slip stitch
SC: single crochet
INV DEC: invisible decrease
INC: two SC in the same stitch
BLO: back loops only
Finished Size
This elephant is approximately 4 inches tall using DK yarn and a 2.75mm crochet hook. It is approximately 6 inches tall with velvet yarn and a 3.25 mm crochet hook. And it is approximately 11.5 inches tall with super bulky yarn and a 7 mm crochet hook.
How to Crochet a Small Elephant
Arms (make 2)
Do not stuff
Using gray
Round 1: 6 SC into a magic circle (6)
Round 2-6 (5 rounds): SC around (6)
Now pinch the two ends of the arm together, chain one, and 3 SC through both sides to close the arm. If this is your first time doing this, see our tutorial on how to close the arms. Fasten off.
Trunk
Do not stuff
Using gray
Round 1: 6 SC into a magic circle (6)
Round 2: SC around in BLO (6)
Round 3: SC around (6)
Round 4:5 SC, INC (7)
Round 5-6 (2 rounds): SC around (7)
Round 7: 6 SC, INC (8)
Round 8-9 (2 rounds): SC around (8)
Round 10: 7 SC, INC (9)
Round 11: 8 SC, INC (10)
Now pinch the two ends of the trunk together, chain one, and 5 SC through both sides to close the trunk. Fasten off.
Legs
Using gray
Stuff the legs lightly as you go.
Round 1: 4 SC into a magic circle (4)
Round 2: INC in each stitch (8)
Round 3: SC around in BLO (8)
Round 4: SC around (8)
Fasten off. Make sure that you’ve pulled the magic circle tight so that stuffing doesn’t escape from it.
Repeat rounds 1-4 for the second leg but don’t fasten off.
Body
Stuff as you go. Now we will begin joining the legs
Round 5: Chain 2 and SC in the next unworked stitch of the first leg. Place a stitch marker in this stitch to mark the start of your round. SC in the remaining 7 stitches of the first leg until you reach the chain, SC in each of the 2 chains, SC in the 8 stitches of the next leg, and SC on the other side of each of the two chains until you reach your stitch marker. (20) (See our tutorial on how to join legs for amigurumi.)
Round 6-10 (5 rounds): SC around (20)
Round 11: (8 SC, INV DEC) twice (18)
Round 12: SC around (18)
During the next round (Round 13), you will crochet the arms into your elephant on either side of the body by crocheting through both the body and the arm. See our tutorial on how to crochet in arms and other body parts.
Round 13: SC around (18) (crochet in the arms)
Round 14: (SC, INV DEC) six times (12)
Do not fasten off.
Head
Round 15: (SC, INC) six times (18)
Round 16: (2 SC, INC) six times (24)
Round 17: (3 SC, INC) six times (30)
Round 18-19 (2 rounds): SC around (30)
Round 20*: SC around (30)
*Note: Crochet the trunk in during Round 20, centred in the front of your elephant’s head. You will crochet the trunk in the same way you crocheted in the arms earlier, by crocheting through both the trunk and the head of your elephant.
Round 21-24 (4 rounds): SC around (30)
If you’re using safety eyes, insert them between Rounds 19 and 20, seven stitches apart. Ensure that you have stuffed the body well, especially the neck.
Round 25: (3 SC, INV DEC) six times (24)
Round 26: (2 SC, INV DEC) six times (18)
Round 27: (SC, INV DEC) six times (12)
Ensure that you have stuffed the head well.
Round 28: INV DEC six times (6)
Fasten off and leave a tail. Insert the needle in front loop of each stitch and pull tight to close.
Ears (make 2)
Begin with light pink
Round 1: 6 SC into a magic circle (6)
Round 2: INC in each stitch (12)
Round 3: (SC, INC) six times (18)
Change to gray
Round 4: (2 SC, INC) six times (24)
Round 5: (3 SC, INC) six times (30)
Round 6: SC around in BLO (30)
Round 7: (3 SC, INV DEC) six times (24)
Round 8: (2 SC, INV DEC) six times (18)
Round 9: (SC, INV DEC) six times (12)
Round 10: INV DEC six times (6)
Fasten off and leave a tail. Insert the needle in front loop of each stitch and pull tight to close. Bring the yarn tail through the ear and out onto the side of the ear.
Fold the ear as in the photograph below and sew it closed.
Sew the ears onto the head of your elephant between Rounds 23 and 24.
Tail
Using gray
Chain 5. Starting from the second chain on your hook, 4 sl st. Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing. Cut two strands of gray, approximately 3 inches long. Latch them onto the end of the tail (see the tutorial below on how to latch hair onto tails). Cut them down to the size that you want them. Sew the tail onto your crochet elephant between Rounds 6 and 7.
How to Latch Hair on a Tail
Your adorable tiny crochet elephant is now complete! Be sure to check out more animals from our Kozu Palm Pets series of small animals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this crochet elephant easy for beginners?
Yes, this crochet elephant pattern is very easy and should be suited for beginners. If you are a beginner, you can also try our easy crochet elephant Elzo from our Juna Series of easy amigurumi animals. That elephant is a larger crochet pattern.
What yarn should I use to crochet an amigurumi elephant?
You can use any yarn that you like! We have tried this pattern in DK yarn, a velvet yarn, and blanket yarn and we just loved how each one turned out! The DK yarn one (with a 2.5 mm hook) is just about 4 inches tall and is just so cute (there’s something so cute about it’s compactness!)! The velvet yarn one (with a 3.25 mm hook) turned out to be 6 inches of soft cuddliness. And the blanket yarn elephant (with a 7mm hook) is a whopping 11.5 inches and is the perfect huggable companion!
Just be sure that you adjust the hook size to go with the yarn that you use (in amigurumi, you typically go down a couple hook sizes from the hook size recommended on the yarn label to allow for tighter stitches so that your stuffing doesn’t show). Also, velvet yarn is difficult to work with (it’s hard to see the stitches) so I wouldn’t recommend that for a beginner.
What stitches do you need to crochet an elephant?
To crochet this elephant, you will primarily need single crochet stitches. However, you need to be familiar with chain stitches and crocheting in the back loops only.
How to do you crochet a large elephant?
If you would like to crochet a large elephant, you will need to use thicker yarn and a larger hook. For example, we crocheted an elephant using blanket yarn with a 7mm hook and it turned out to be 11.5 inches tall. You could also use worsted weight or DK yarn and use double the strands for a larger crochet elephant. You could also try our easy amigurumi elephant Elzo, which is larger (approximately 8 inches with DK yarn) so will be double the size of this little elephant, in whatever yarn and hook combo you decide.
How long does it take to crochet a small elephant?
This elephant takes just a couple of hours to crochet (our pattern testers estimated that it took them between 90 minutes and 3 hours, depending on their personal speed) so it’s a really quick one to make for your next craft fair!
How do you make the trunk of your elephant amigurumi poseable?
Sometimes, especially in our Instagram world, we want to be able to pose the trunks of our elephants for our photographs, don’t we? One way we you can do that is by adding wire or a pipe cleaner into your elephant’s trunk. The only thing to note is that wire is not safe for young children so be mindful of who this little guy is going to be gifted or sold to.
