Roly-Poly Santa Gnome

Hey!  It’s still July and that means Christmas in July isn’t over just yet!   ‘Tis the season for crocheting, and I thought this was as great a time as any to introduce you to the Roly-Poly Santa Gnome!  This little cutie is perfect for adding a touch of festive cheer to your home.  

He’s worked entirely in the round, and uses poly-pellets on his bottom to help keep him sitting straight.  I have also included a photo guide after the pattern to help you in assembling your Roly-Poly Santa Gnome!  I hope you love your gnome as much as I loved making him!  

Materials

• Worsted weight yarn in red, white, black, and skin tone color. 
• Size E (3.5mm) crochet hook
• Poly-fil
• Poly-pellets
• Yarn needle
• Pom-pom maker – I used the 3/4 inch(20mm) extra small pom-pom maker by Clover
• Stitch marker
• Scissors 
• Slicker brush

Abbreviations Used

sc (single crochet)

hdc (half double crochet)

dc (double crochet)

inc (increase): Make 2 single crochet stitches into the same stitch.

dec (decrease): Insert hook under front loop only of next two stitches, yarn over, draw through through first two loops on hook, yarn over, draw through remaining two loops to finish.

st (stitch)

BLO: back loop only

Notes

Gauge is not terribly important here as long as you are producing a nice, tight fabric so that the polyfill won’t pop through your stitches.

This pattern is written using US terminology.

Pieces are made in continuous (spiral) rounds.

Completed gnome measures approximately 7″ tall and approximately 12′ around his chubby belly.

Please note that I crochet left-handed and my photo guides may reflect this. If you crochet right-handed (with your hook in your right hand), all the stitches are the same and will look the same, you will simply be working in the opposite direction as I am.

Please do not copy or sell my pattern in any way. You are most welcome to sell finished objects made using my pattern.  I only ask for you to please credit me and link back when applicable/possible so that other makers can find my patterns as well.  Thanks!

Pattern

Head/Body

Rnd 1:  Starting with red, make 6 sc into magic circle.

Rnd 2: Inc in each st (12)

Rnd 3: [Sc 1, inc in next st] 6 times. (18)

Rnd 4: Sc 1, inc, *Sc 2, Inc, repeat from * to last remaining stitch, sc 1. (24)

Rnd 5: [Sc 3, inc in next st] 6 times. (30)

Rnd 6: Sc 2, inc, *sc 4, Inc, repeat from * to last 2 remaining stitches, sc 2. (36)

Rnd 7: [Sc 5, inc in next st] 6 times. (42)

Rnd 8: Sc 3, inc, *sc 6, Inc, repeat from * to last 3 remaining stitches, sc 3. (48)

Rnd 9: [Sc 7, inc in next st] 6 times. (54)

Rnd 10: In BLO, sc all. (54)

Rnds 11-12:  Working in both loops again, sc all. (54)

Rnd 13: (Sc 7, Dec) 6 times. (48)

Rnds 14-15: Switch to black yarn. Sc all. (48)

Rnd 16:  Switch to red yarn.  Sc 3, dec, *sc 6, dec, repeat from * to last 3 remaining stitches, sc 3. (42)

Rnds 17-18: Sc all. (42)

Rnd 19: (Sc 5, dec) 6 times. (36)

Rnd 20: Sc all. (36)

Rnd 21: Sc 2, dec, *sc 4, dec, repeat from * to last 2 remaining stitches, sc 2. (30)

Rnd 22: Sc all. (30)

Rnd 23: (Sc 3, dec) 6 times. (24)

**At this point, stop and pour poly beads into the gnome’s body. Pour enough so there are about 1/2″ of beads at the bottom. Now stuff the rest of the body with polyfill.

Rnd 24: Sc all. (24)

Rnd 25: Sc 1, dec * sc 2, dec, repeat from * to last remaining stitch, sc 1. (18)

Rnd 26: (Sc 1, dec) 6 times. (12)

Rnd 27: Dec all. (6)

Cut 6-inch yarn tail, thread yarn needle and pass through remaining stitches, pull tight to close.

Hat

Rnd 1: Using red yarn, make 4 sc into magic circle. (4)

Rnd 2: [Sc 1, inc] 2 times. (6)

Rnd 3: [Sc 2, inc] 2 times. (8)

Rnd 4: [Sc 3, inc] 2 times. (10)

Rnd 5: [Sc 4, inc] 2 times. (12)

Rnd 6: [Sc 5, inc] 2 times. (14)

Rnd 7: [Sc 6, inc] 2 times. (16)

Rnd 8: [Sc 7, inc] 2 times. (18)

Rnd 9: [Sc 8, inc] 2 times. (20)

Rnd 10: [Sc 9, inc] 2 times. (22)

Rnd 11: [Sc 10, inc] 2 times. (24)

Rnd 12: [Sc 11, inc] 2 times. (26)

Rnd 13: [Sc 12, inc] 2 times. (28)

Rnd 14: [Sc 13, inc] 2 times. (30)

Rnd 15: [Sc 14, inc] 2 times. (32)

Rnd 16: [Sc 15, inc] 2 times. (34)

Rnd 17: [Sc 16, inc] 2 times. (36)

Rnd 18: [Sc 17, inc] 2 times. (38)

Rnd 19: [Sc 18, inc] 2 times. (40)

Rnd 20: [Sc 17, hdc, dc, hdc] two times.(40)

Rnd 21: Sc all. (40)

Finish off, leaving a long enough tail to sew the hat to the body.  Make a pompom using white yarn, and attach it to the top of the hat.  

**Note that the hat will have two “dips” on the side. These “dips” of the hat are meant to be placed so they are on each side of his face – think of it as placing them where his ears would be.

Glove/Arm Combo – Make 2

Rnd 1: Using black yarn, make 6 sc into a magic circle.

Rnd 2: Inc in each st. (12)

Rnds 3-4: Sc all. (12)

Rnd 5:  Switch to white yarn.  (Sc 2, dec) 3 times. (9)

Rnds 6-8: Switch to red yarn. Sc all. (9)

Finish off, leaving a long enough tail to sew to body.

Thumbs – Make 2

Rnd 1: Using black yarn, make sc 4 into a magic circle.

Rnds 2-3: Sc 4.

Finish off, leaving a long enough tail to sew to glove.

Nose

Rnd 1: Using your chosen skin tone color, make sc 6 into a magic circle.

Rnd 2: Inc in each st. (12)

Rnds 3-4: Sc all. (12)

Finish off, leaving a long enough tail to sew to body.

Feet – Make 2

Rnd 1: Using black yarn, make 6 sc into a magic circle.

Rnd 2: Inc in each st around. (12)

Rnd 3: (Sc 1, inc) 6 times. (18)

Rnds 4-5: Sc all. (18)

Rnd 6: (Sc 1, dec) 6 times. (12)

Finish off, leaving a long enough tail to sew to body.

Photo Guide – Assembly

Put the hat on the gnome, making sure the two “dips” on each side (where you placed the hdc, dc, hdc in that second-to-last row of the hat) are on opposite sides of the face, think of placing them where his ears would go.  Place nose so that the top lines up to the brim of the hat and the bottom lines up in approximately row 16, right above the belt.  Pin in place, and begin to sew on. Once you are halfway finished sewing the nose on, stuff lightly with polyfill and finish sewing to the doll.

Take your gnome’s thumb and sew it right on the border of the color change between the glove and arm (left).   Add an extra stitch towards the middle of the thumb and attach it to the glove to help it lie a little more flat (right).

Stuff glove very lightly (left), then, making sure the thumb is facing either the front or back, press the ends of the arm together, and sew shut (center). Sew arm to the body so that it lies right under the brim of the hat (right). 

For the feet, lightly stuff and then press together, sewing the end flat, just as you did for the arms (left). Attach to body on row 9, just above the ridge created by your BLO row, approximately 8-9 stitches apart. You want them wide enough apart for the beard to rest in between, so that the shoes are still visible (right).

Attaching the Beard 

Now for the beard! First things first, cut about 40 or so strands of white yarn for the beard, roughly about 8 inches in length (left).  Throw that Santa hat back on your gnome again.  This will be used as a guide of sorts, so you know how far to go up with the beard strands (right). 

Insert your hook 3 or 4 stitches away from the nose, and in the row just below the brim of the hat. Fold one of the beard strands in half and place on hook (left).  Pull a loop through (center).  Now, wrap the two ends around your hook (right). 

Pull through the loop on your hook so the two yarn tails come through all the way.  Once this is done, hold both tails and pull on them to tighten the stitch.   

For the Santa gnome, I like to make the beard come out about 3-4 stitches out from the nose.  I continue down the sides of the nose making three or four stitches in each side until I get below the nose.  At this point, make a whole row of the beard strands (right).

Now straighten out your Santa Gnome’s beard and take a look at that beard coverage.  Do you see any bare spots?  Is the Santa outfit poking through by the nose or anywhere else? If you notice any areas not covered well, add a strand or two to those areas. My gnome desperately needed more coverage around the nose, and also I could see some red poking through underneath(left).  I added strands closer to the nose and then added another complete row of white underneath.  You can see in the right picture how much better the beard covers everything now.

Lastly, to make sure that the beard fully covers well, wiggle that hat up and add one extra row of 3-4 stitches on either side of the nose.  See how the hat now lies totally flush with the beard in the picture on the right?  That’s what you’re aiming for.

Next, take your slicker brush and lightly begin brushing out the beard hair (left).  It’s going to look a little crazy for a while (center), but trust the process!  You will likely need to turn your gnome upside down to get all the strands brushed out.  In the end, you’ll have a full luxurious Santa beard (right).

Also, save that fluff that you get on your slicker brush from this process!  It’s great to re-use as stuffing in another project.  

Lastly, shape up your Santa Gnome’s beard with your scissors, and sew his hat on! 

And now you have your own Roly-Poly Santa Gnome!