Meet my giraffe! I've been wanting to design a cutesy, baby shower style giraffe for what feels like forever. I had the idea of exactly what he would look like in my head for so long, I just had to find the perfect yarn and colour selection to bring him to life - and I did! This guy is made in Paintbox Simply Aran, one of my new favourite yarn brands. This yarn was amazing to work with, it's so soft and works up beautifully. Thank you so much to Paintbox & Love Crochet for letting me bring my vision to life with their yarn!

There are many similar designs floating around the online world, however my pattern is the only one out there with a rainbow yarn mane and realistic hooves (I think)! I was so happy to put my own Heart & Sew twist on a concept that's been done by, what feels like, every other designer out there. This is a big ami at nearly 16 inches tall (sitting!) but he works up quickly using aran/worsted weight yarn.

As always, I am offering this pattern absolutely free. If you would like to thank/support me I'd be grateful if you could follow my blog in some way. Please post your own giraffe pictures on my Facebook page or the Heart & Sew Facebook group - I adore seeing you bring my patterns to life!

Do not join rounds, work in a continuous spiral unless stated otherwise. It is a good idea to use a stitch marker to mark the end of each round (You can use a bent paper clip or hair grip!) My notes, tips and further instructions are in purple italics.

Head:

Starting in yellow:

Round 1) Magic Circle with 6sc (6)

Round 2) 2sc in each st (12)

Round 3) 1sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (18)

Round 4) 2sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (24)

Round 5) 3sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (30)

Round 6) 4sc, 2sc in next st , repeat until end of round (36)

Round 7) 5sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (42)

Round 8-14) 1sc in each st, for 8 rounds total (42)

Change to blue:

Round 15-17)  1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (42)

Change to pink:

Round 18-20) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (42)

Change to green:

Round 21-22) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (42)

Round 23) 5sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (36)

Attach 10mm safety eyes between rounds 18 and 19. Mine are spaced roughly 7 stitches apart for your reference. If your giraffe is for a baby or toddler I do not advise using safety eyes, as they are not always safe - despite the name! It's much safer to embroider eyes with black embroidery thread (How about a sleepy eyed giraffe?)

Top tip: Keep the "jog" from the colour changes to the underside of the head when attaching/embroidering eyes. When the head is sewed to the body the colour changes will be hidden underneath for seemingly perfect stripes!

Change to peach:

Round 24) 1sc in each st (36)

Round 25) 4sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (30)

Round 26) 3sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (24)

Change to purple:

Round 27) 2sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (18)

Round 28) 1sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (12)

Round 29) 2tog all the way around (6)

In purple:

Round 1) Magic circle with 6sc (6)

Round 2) 2sc in each st (12)

Round 3) 1sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (18)

Round 4-9) 1sc in each st, for 6 rounds total (18)

Round 10) 1sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (12)

Round 11-12) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (12)

In yellow yarn:

Round 1) Magic circle with 8sc (8)

Round 2) 2sc in each st (16)

Round 3-7) 1sc in each st, for 5 rounds total (16)

Round 8) 1sc then 2tog, repeat 4 times then 2tog twice (10)

Round 9-12) 1sc in each st, for 4 rounds total (10)

Starting in yellow:

Round 1) Magic circle with 6sc (6)

Round 2) 2sc in each st (12)

Round 3) 1sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (18)

Round 4) 2sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (24)

Round 5) 3sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (30)

Round 6) 4sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (36)

Round 7) 5sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (42)

Round 8) 6sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (48)

Round 9) 7sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (54)

Round 10-12) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (54)

Round 13-15) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (54)

Round 16-18) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (54)

Round 19-21) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (54)

Round 22-24) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (54)

Round 25) 7sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (48)

Round 26-27) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (48)

Round 28) 1sc in each st (48)

Round 29) 6sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (42)

Round 30) 1sc in each st (42)

Round 31-32) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (42)

Round 33) 5sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (36)

Start stuffing the body, adding a little more stuffing after every few rows as you crochet.

Round 34) 1sc in each st (36)

Round 35) 4sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (30)

Round 36) 1sc in each st (30)

Round 37) 3sc then 2tog (then change to yellow!) repeat until end of round (24)

Round 38-39) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (24)

Round 40-42) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (24)

Round 43-45) 1sc in each st, for 3 rounds total (24)

Change to green:

Row 1) 1sc in each of the next 18 sts, ch 1, turn 

Row 2) skip first st, then 1sc in each of the next 16 sts, ch 1, turn

Row 3) skip first st, then 1sc in each of the next 14 sts, ch 1, turn

Row 4) skip first st, then 1sc in each of the next 12 sts, ch 1, turn

Row 5) skip first st, then 1sc in each of the next 10 sts

Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing. Stuff the body & neck. 

When you sew the head to the neck: You may have trouble stuffing the very top of the neck fully. To combat this start sewing the head in place leaving the very top of the neck free of stuffing. Before you sew all the way around to secure the neck, stop sewing and stuff the rest of the neck through the remaining hole until you are happy! Continue sewing to close the hole.

Arms (Make 2):

Starting in yellow:

Round 1) Magic circle with 7sc (7)
Round 2) 2sc in each st (14)
Round 3) 1sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (21)
Round 4) Back loop only: 1sc in each st (21)
Round 5-6) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (21)
Round 7) 1sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (14)

From now on we will change colours every 3 rounds. Starting in blue, then pink, green, peach, purple, yellow, and finally blue.

Change to blue:

Round 8-28) 1sc in each st, for 21 rounds total (14)

Slip stitch into the next st and fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing. Stuff arms. The bottom of the yellow hoof should be completely flat so don't over stuff his hoof!

Legs (Make 2):

Starting in yellow:

Round 1) Magic circle with 6sc (6)
Round 2) 2sc in each st (12)
Round 3) 1sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (18)
Round 4) 2sc, 2sc in next st, repeat until end of round (24)
Round 5) Back loop only: 1sc in each st (24)
Round 6-7) 1sc in each st, for 2 rounds total (24)
Round 8) 2sc then 2tog, repeat until end of round (18)

From now on we will change colours every 3 rows. Starting in blue, then pink, green, peach, purple, yellow, blue, pink and finally green.

Change to blue:

Round 9-35) 1sc in each st, for 27 rounds total (18)

Slip stitch into the next st and fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing. Stuff legs. The bottom of the yellow hoof should be completely flat so don't over stuff his hoof!

Shaping The Hooves

1. Take a long length of yellow yarn on your yarn needle. Insert needle through the middle of the magic circle on the bottom of the foot and bring yarn out again in the middle of the second last yellow row of the hoof. Important: Leave a decent length of the end of your yarn sticking out the bottom of the magic circle!

2. Take that same length of yarn through the foot again the exact same way at the exact same holes/places as step one.

3. You should have 2 yarn tails sticking out of the hoof now. One coming from the magic circle and one at the top of the hoof. Take these 2 yarn tails and pull them as tight as you can to shape the hoof!

4. Once you have the hoof the shape you desire tie the two yarn tails together in a knot to secure the shape. Hide the left over yarn tails inside your giraffe using the yarn needle.

Attaching the mane is simple although a little time consuming! We are going to attach 3 rows of yarn in each sections matching colour.

1. To create yarn pieces of all the same length, hold your hand as if you were going to shake someones hand. Wrap desired colour of yarn around the 4 fingers of your hand (excluding the thumb) roughly 20 times. More yarn can be made later if you don't make enough, try not to waste precious yarn!

2. Slip the whole loop of yarn off your hand and cut once at the top of the loop through every strand. You should now have several strands of yarn all roughly the same size.

3. Insert hook into stitch in the neck you would like to attach yarn to. Your hook should be pointing down towards the bottom of your giraffe with the handle pointing to the top of his head as pictured. It is a good idea to start from the top of the giraffes head, between his horns, and work downwards.

4. Folding the strand in half,  pull the strand through the stitch at the centre point to create a loop. Try to keep both ends of the strand the same length as you do this.

5. Pull both ends of the strand through the loop created and pull as tight at you can to secure strand to the neck.

6. Repeat step 5 in the stitch directly next to your existing hair strand. Your giraffe will look better if you keep the strands in neat rows, with the same number of hair strands in every row.

7. Keep attaching hair all the way down to the bottom of the neck changing colours as the neck does.

8. Once all hair is attached, trim to the desired length. Cut all strands the exact same length  and remember - giraffe's have short manes!