Crochet Gnome – Uncle Bob the Gift Giver (Free Pattern)

Say hello to Uncle Bob, the Gift Giver! He’s the warm-hearted uncle who never shows up without a perfectly wrapped present and a twinkle in his eye. This free crochet gnome pattern brings cheerful Christmas vibes to your home! Whether you hang him on the tree, add him to your holiday decor, or gift him to someone special. With simple stitches and cozy festive colors, Uncle Bob is the kind of project that reminds us what handmade giving is all about.

The Uncle Gnomes’ Holiday Crew

Uncle Bob’s design is part of my Uncle Gnomes’ Holiday Crew, a trio of cheerful Christmas gnomes bringing handmade joy to the season! Each one has its own personality and holiday charm: Uncle Benny, the candy-loving buyer, and Uncle Walter, the calm tree trimmer. Together, they make a heartwarming set of crochet Christmas ornaments that perfectly capture the cozy spirit of the holidays.

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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!

Crochet Gnome Pattern

Materials

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

Finish size

The finished Uncle Bob 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.

Bobble stitch (BO): Yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch and pull up a loop. Yarn over and pull through two loops (like starting a double crochet). Repeat this process four times in the same stitch, so you will have 5 loops on your hook. Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops. Gently tug the stitch to pop the bobble outward.

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

• Stop here to add stuffing material before continuing,

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 red 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 white 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 red. Don’t cut the white 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

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

Bobble Stitches (4dc)

• For the next round, you’ll be working with both colors.
• Work the bobble stitches in white, using the front loop only.

11 rnd                   (3sc [red], 1bo [white]) repeat 3 times

• Continue working with red only. Do not cut the white yarn.
• When crocheting on top of a bobble stitch, work only into the back loop.

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

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

• For the next round, you’ll be working with both colors.
• Work the bobble stitches in white, using the front loop only.

16 rnd                   2sc [red], 1bo [white], (3sc [red], 1bo [white]) repeat 5 times, 1sc [red]

• Continue working with red only. Do not cut the white yarn.
• When crocheting on top of a bobble stitch, work only into the back loop.

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

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

• For the next round, you’ll be working with both colors.
• Work the bobble stitches in white, using the front loop only.

21 rnd                   1sc [red], 1bo [white], (3sc [red], 1bo [white]) repeat 8 times, 2sc [red]

• Continue working with red only. Do not cut the white yarn.
• When crocheting on top of a bobble stitch, work only into the back loop.

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

23 rnd                   39sc

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

Brim

• Change to white yarn. Cut and fasten off the red.
• For the next three rounds, work using hdc stitches.

25 rnd                   (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, leaving a tail for sewing.

Gift box

With light pink yarn (or any color of your choice) start,

1 rnd                      6sc in a magic ring

2 rnd                      6inc Total 12sts

3 rnd                      1sc, (1inc) repeat 3 times, 3sc, (1inc) repeat 3 times, 2sc Total 18sts

4 rnd                      18blsc

5 rnd                      18sc

• Change to yellow, don’t cut the pink.

6 rnd                      18sl

• Change back to pink. Cut and fasten off the yellow yarn.
• For the next round, crochet into the back loops of round 5. This will make round 6 stand out from the gift box.

7 rnd                      18blsc

8-9 rnd                  18sc

• Add a small amount of stuffing before continuing.

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

• Cut the yarn and fasten off.
• Weave the remaining yarn tail through the front loop only of the 12 stitches from round 10, and pull tight to close the stitches.
• Leave a tail for sewing later.

Bow

First, with yellow yarn, chain 60. Then, cut the yarn and make a small knot at the end of the chain.
Next, wrap the chain around the gift and tie a bow on top. Finally, to keep it in place, use an extra piece of yellow yarn to secure the chain so it doesn’t move or slide out of position.

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 gift box in the center of the body, right under the nose.
5. Next, use pins to hold the arms in place as if they’re holding the gift. Using the yarn tail left from the arm, sew it in place, removing the pins as you go.
6. Place the hat on top of the gnome’s head, positioning it so it covers about half of the nose. Next, 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 Bob Crochet Gnome ornament is ready!

I hope you enjoy this pattern! If you have any questions or comments, leave them in the comment box below.

If this crochet Christmas ornament pattern was clear and useful to you, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. I plan to add a new free pattern and a stitch tutorial every week to help you learn more about this crochet toy world!

See you next time!

Love,

Ana

FAQ – Crochet Christmas Ornament Pattern