Christmas Gnome Crochet Pattern – Uncle Walter the Tree Trimmer (Free Pattern)

Here’s Uncle Walter, the calm and cozy heart of the Uncle Gnomes’ Holiday Crew. You’ll find him humming Christmas carols as he decorates the tree, making sure every ornament finds its perfect spot. This free Christmas gnome crochet pattern captures all the warmth of a handmade holiday — soft textures, festive colors, and that magical Christmas glow. If you make him as a gift or as part of your holiday decor, Uncle Walter will bring peace and cheer to your home this season.

The Uncle Gnomes’ Holiday Crew

This cozy Uncle Walter design is part of my Uncle Gnomes’ Holiday Crew, a trio of handmade Christmas gnomes full of warmth and charm! You’ll also meet Uncle Bob, the happy gift giver who loves spreading joy, and Uncle Benny, the candy buyer with a sweet tooth and a big smile. Together, they make a delightful crochet ornament set that celebrates the heart of the holiday season.

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More Christmas Ornaments to try

If you love festive crochet, there’s plenty more to explore on the site! From the cute Chubby Polar Bear to Mr. Santa and Mrs. Santa Claus, the Nutcracker, and a cheerful Gingerbread Man, you’ll find adorable free patterns to fill your tree and home with handmade holiday magic.

And if you’re looking for a video tutorial, this one doesn’t have one yet. But who knows? Maybe next year I’ll bring him to life on the YouTube channel. Until then, the written pattern has all the spooky charm you’ll need!

Christmas Gnome Crochet Ornament

Materials

• 2mm crochet hook 
• Red, green, white, beige, brown, black and dark green sports-weight yarn (50g).
• Stuffing material
• Scissors
• Sewing needle.

Finish size

The finished Uncle Walter Crochet Gnome measures approximately 5.2″ (13.5 cm) tall. However, the final size may vary depending on your stitch tension and the materials used.

Gauge

Gauge is not crucial for this pattern, so feel free to use a hook size that matches your chosen yarn. I always recommend using a slightly smaller hook to keep the stitches tight and prevent the stuffing from showing through. If needed, adjust your hook size for a neater finish.

However, if you’d like to know the gauge for my chosen yarn and materials, here it is:
With sport-weight yarn and a 2mm crochet hook, the gauge for 5 rounds (increasing to 30 stitches) measures approximately 1.6″ (4.5 cm).

Terms and abbreviations (US terms):

Slip stitch (sl): insert the hook into the stitch and pull up a loop, now, pull it through the loop on your needle.

Single crochet (sc): insert the hook into the stitch, and pull up a loop yarn over the needle, you will have two loops on the hook, yarn over the needle, and pull it through the two loops.

Half double crochet (hdc): yarn over the needle, insert the hook into the stitch, and pull up a loop. You will have three loops on the hook. Yarn over the needle, and pull it through all the loops.

Increase (inc): make two single crochet inside the same stitch.

Decrease (dec): Insert the hook into the front loop only of the next two stitches, yarn under, and pull through, you will have two loops on the hook. Yarn under and pull through both loops on the hook.

Pattern Instructions

Body

With green yarn start,

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      6inc Total 12sts

3 rnd                      (1sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 18sts

4 rnd                      (1sc, 1inc) repeat 9 times Total 27sts

5 rnd                      (2sc, 1inc) repeat 9 times Total 36sts

6 rnd                      36blsc

7 rnd                      (5sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 42sts

8-17 rnd               42sc

18 rnd                   (5sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 36sts

19-21 rnd             36sc

• For next round, you will work on the back loop of the stitch.

22 rnd                   BL(4sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 30sts

23 rnd                   (3sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 24sts

24 rnd                   (2sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 18sts

• Before continuing, stop here to add stuffing material.

25 rnd                   (1sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 12sts

• Cut the yarn and fasten off.
• Weave the remaining yarn tail through the front loop only of the 12 stitches from round 25. Pull tight to close the stitches.
• Tuck the yarn tail inside the toy and trim any excess.
• Attach the green yarn to the remaining front loops from round 21 and crochet 36 sc around.
• Cut the yarn and fasten off. Tuck the yarn tail inside the toy.

Beard

With white yarn start

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      6sc

3 rnd                      6inc Total 12sts

4 rnd                      12sc

5 rnd                      (1sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 18sts

6 rnd                      (1sc, 1inc) repeat 9 times Total 27sts

7-10 rnd               27sc

11 rnd                   (8sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 30sts

12 rnd                   30sc

• Fold the beard in half. You should now have 15 sc on each side.

13 rnd                   15sc crocheting the sides together, closing the beard

• Cut the yarn and fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing.

Nose

With beige yarn start,

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      6inc Total 12sts

3-6 rnd                  12sc

• Add a small amount of stuffing.
• Cut the yarn and fasten off.
• Weave the remaining yarn tail through the front loop only of the 12 stitches from round 6, and pull tight to close the stitches.
• Leave a tail for sewing later.

Arms

With red yarn start,

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      (2sc, 1inc) repeat 2 times Total 8sts

3 rnd                      (3sc, 1inc) repeat 2 times Total 10sts

4 rnd                      10sc

• Change to green. Cut and fasten off the red

5 rnd                      10sc

6 rnd                      (3sc, 1dec) repeat 2 times Total 8sts

7-14 rnd               8sc

• Fold the arms in half. You should now have 4 sc on each side.
• Crochet the sides together.
• No stuffing is needed for the arms.

15 rnd                   4sc crocheting the sides together, closing the arm

• Cut the yarn and fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing.
• Make two.

Feet

With black yarn start,

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      6inc Total 12sts

3 rnd                      12sc

• Fold the feet in half. You should now have 6 sc on each side.
• Crochet the sides together.

4 rnd                      6sc crocheting the sides together, closing the arm

• Cut the yarn and fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing.
• Make two.

Hat

With red color start,

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      6inc Total 12sts

3-5 rnd                  12sc

• Stop here to add a small amount of stuffing before continuing.

6 rnd                      6dec Total 6sts

• Change to green. Don’t cut the red yarn, as we will be working with both colors

7 rnd                      6flsc

8 rnd                      (2sc, 1inc) repeat 2 times Total 8sts

9 rnd                      (3sc, 1inc) repeat 2 times Total 10sts

• Change to red

10 rnd                   10sc

• Change back to green
• For round 11, work in the back loop only.

11 rnd                   BL(4sc, 1inc) repeat 2 times Total 12sts

12 rnd                   (3sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 15sts

13 rnd                   (4sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 18sts

14 rnd                   (5sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 21sts

• Change to red

15 rnd                   21sc

• Change back to green
• For round 16, work in the back loop only.

16 rnd                   BL(6sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 24sts

17 rnd                   (7sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 27sts

18 rnd                   (8sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 30sts

19 rnd                   (9sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 33sts

• Change to red

20 rnd                   33sc

• Change back to green
• For round 21, work in the back loop only.

21 rnd                   BL(10sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 36sts

22 rnd                   (11sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 39sts

23 rnd                   39sc

24 rnd                   (12sc, 1inc) repeat 3 times Total 42sts

• Change to red. Cut and fasten off the green.
• For the next two rounds, work with Hdc
• For round 25, work on the back loop only.

25 rnd                   BL(6hdc, 1inc hdc) repeat 6 times Total 48sts

26 rnd                   (7hdc, 1inc hdc) repeat 6 times Total 54sts

27 rnd                   54hdc

• Cut the yarn and fasten off, and leave a tail for sewing later
• Using a bit of white embroidery thread, embroider a few X shapes around the green part of the hat. Cut the thread and secure the ends.

Christmas Tree

With brown yarn start,

1 rnd      6sc in a magic ring

2-4 rnd  6sc

• Change to green yarn. Cut and fasten off the brown.
• For round 5, you will work on the front loop only

5 rnd      FL6inc Total 12sts

6 rnd      (1sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 18sts

7 rnd      (1sc, 1inc) repeat 9 times Total 27sts

8 rnd      27blsc

9 rnd      (7sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 24sts

10 rnd   (6sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 21sts

11 rnd   21blsc

12 rnd   (5sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 18sts

13 rnd   (4sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 15sts

14 rnd   15blsc

• Stop here to add stuffing material before continuing

15 rnd   (3sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 12sts

16 rnd   (2sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 9sts

17 rnd   9blsc

18 rnd   (1sc, 1dec) repeat 3 times Total 6sts

• Cut the yarn and fasten off. Weave the remaining yarn tail through the front loops of the stitches and pull tight to close the top of the tree.
• Attach the green yarn to the remaining front loops from round 8 and make 3 sc in each stitch around. Join with a slip stitch.
• Repeat the same process in the remaining front loops from rounds 11, 14, and 17.

Final Details

1. Start by sewing the beard between rounds 17 and 18.
2. Next, sew the feet on round 21. Use the center of the beard as a guide to position and center the feet, leaving about 3 stitches between them.
3. Sew the nose on top of the beard, around round 12 of the beard.
4. Sew the Christmas tree slightly to the side of the body.
5. First, use pins to hold the arms in place as if they’re holding the tree. Using the yarn tail left from the arm, sew it in place, removing the pins as you go.
6. Last, place the hat on top of the gnome’s head, positioning it so it covers about half of the nose. Then, sew around the hat. You don’t need to stitch every single round, just a few stitches around the edge to keep it secure.

Congratulations!!!

Your Uncle Walter Crochet Gnome is ready!

I hope you enjoy this pattern! In case you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment box below.

Also, if this crochet Christmas ornament pattern was clear and useful to you, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. There, I share a new free pattern and a stitch tutorial every week, so that you can keep learning and exploring the wonderful world of crochet toys!

See you next time!

Love,

Ana

FAQ – Crochet Christmas Ornament Pattern