I’m so happy to share another cute animal from the Safari Collection! This time, it’s a chubby little Crochet Hippo! Just like the other patterns in this series, this one was created with lots of love for my baby girl, and with your help, too. When I asked which collection to make, the safari animals were the top choice, and it’s been such a joy designing them one by one.
This hippo is soft, squishy, and super fun to make. I hope you have some fun crocheting these animals!
Meet the Other Friends from the Safari Animals Collection
This crochet hippo is part of a growing collection of twelve safari animals. You can already find the Zebra, Giraffe, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, and Elephant already available. Each pattern was designed to be beginner-friendly, quick to make, and full of personality!
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Crochet Hippo Free Pattern Release
Crochet Hippo Free Amigurumi Pattern
Materials:
- 2mm crochet hook
- Schachenmayr Catania Sports Yarn weight colors. Or, any sports weight yarn colors light purple and gray.
- Black thread for embroidering the eyes.
- Stuffing material
- Scissors
- Sewing needle.
- Or, you can use safety eyes! The position is at the end of this post.
Prefer a PDF Version Of this Pattern?
The ad-free PDF version is print-friendly and includes detailed instructions with helpful photos.
Finish size
The finished Crochet Hippo amigurumi measures approximately 7″ (about 18 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).
Useful Crochet Tutorials
Before we start, I leave a link to all the stitches tutorials I used to complete this pattern. If you are a complete beginner or not familiar with some techniques, there is a blog post with step-by-step images with descriptions, and video tutorials.
Terms and abbreviations (US terms):
Single crochet (sc): insert the hook into the stitch, 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.
Back Loop Single crochet (blsc): insert the hook into the back loop of the stitch, 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.
Increase (inc): make two single crochet inside the same stitch.
Decrease (dec): Insert hook into front loop only of next two stitches, yarn under, pull through, you will have two loops on the hook. Yarn under and pull through both loops on the hook.
Back loop Slip stitch (blsl): Insert hook into the back loop only of the stitch, yarn under, pull through both stitch and loop on hook.
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Crochet Hippo Pattern Instructions
Head
With purple 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 (2sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 24sts
5 rnd (3sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 30sts
6 rnd (4sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 36sts
7 rnd (5sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 42sts
8 rnd (6sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 48sts
9 to 17 rnd 48sc
18 rnd (6sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 42sts
19 rnd (5sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 36sts
20 rnd (4sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 30sts
21 rnd (3sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 24sts
- Add stuffing material.
- Cut the yarn and fasten it off. Leave a long tail for sewing it.
Body
With purple 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 (2sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 24sts
5 rnd (3sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 30sts
6 rnd (4sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 36sts
7 rnd (5sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 42sts
8 rnd (6sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 48sts
9 to 23 rnd 48sc
23 rnd (6sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 42sts
24 rnd (5sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 36sts
25 rnd (4sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 30sts
26 rnd (3sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 24sts
27 to 30 rnd 24sc
- Add stuffing material.
- Cut the yarn and fasten it off.
Nose
With purple yarn chain 7. Skip the first chain and start,
1 rnd (5sc, 4sc in the last chain, 4sc, 3sc in the last chain) Total 16sc
2 rnd (1inc, 5sc, 1inc, 1sc) repeat 2 times Total 20sts
3 rnd (1inc, 6sc, 1inc, 2sc) repeat 2 times Total 24sts
4 rnd 1sc, 1inc, 7sc, 1inc, 3sc, 1inc, 7sc, 1inc, 2sc Total 28sts
5 rnd 1sc, 1inc, 9sc, 1inc, 3sc, 1inc, 9sc, 1inc, 2sc Total 32sts
6 to 8 rnd 32sc
9 rnd 1sc, 1dec, 9sc, 1dec, 3sc, 1dec, 9sc, 1dec, 2sc Total 28sts
- Cut the yarn, fasten it off, and leave a tail for sewing it.
Ears
Start with light gray,
1 rnd 6sc in a magic ring
2 rnd 6inc Total 12sts
- Change to purple
3 rnd (1sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 18sts
- Cut the yarn, fasten it off, and leave a tail for sewing it.
- Make another one following the same instructions.
Paws
With a light gray start,
1 rnd 6sc in a magic ring
2 rnd 6inc Total 12sts
3 rnd (1sc, 1inc) repeat 6 times Total 18sts
4 and 5 rnd 18sc
6 rnd (1sc, 1dec) repeat 6 times Total 12sts
- Change to purple,
7 to 15 rnd 12sc
16 rnd 6sc crocheting the sides together, closing the paw.
- Cut the yarn and fasten it off.
- Make another four in total following the same instructions.
- Leave a small tail for sewing it.
Tail
With purple chain 8. Skip the first two chains and start,
1 row 2dc, 2hdc, 2sc
- Cut the yarn and fasten it off.
- Add a couple of purple strings on the end of the sc, making a little puff at the end of the tail.
Assembly
- Introduce two rounds of the body inside the head. Sew the head taking the second round (counting from top to bottom) of the body.
- Sew the top paws in the first round of the body, just right on the edge under the neck, leaving 6 stitches between one to another.
- Sew the down paws in round 10 of the body, leaving 15 stitches between one to another.
- Sew the tail in the central part of the back in round 11.
- Sew the snout between rounds 10 to 20, or, two rounds above the neck.
- Sew the ears between rounds 6 to 8.
- With an embroidering needle, embroider the eyes in round 9 (or one round above the snout) of the face leaving 5 stitches between them.
- With the same thread, embroider the eyebrows on two rounds above the eye, taking the length of 2 stitches.
- OPTIONAL: with pink yarn, make two little lines on its cheeks, two rounds under the eye, and 1 stitch away from the snout.
Congratulations!!!
Your Hippo crochet animal is ready!
I hope you enjoyed this pattern, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave them in the comments below.
If this Hippopotamus crochet pattern was clear and helpful, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel for more free patterns and crochet tips.
You can also visit my Ravelry shop to find more advanced crochet patterns, including low-cost printable versions of the free patterns you’ve seen here.
See you next time!
Love,
Ana
FAQ – Crochet Safari Hippopotamus Pattern
Yes, absolutely! You are welcome to sell finished items made from this pattern. I would ask if possible to credit Little Crochet Farm as the designer. A link back is always appreciated if you sell online.
Definitely! I used sports yarn for mine, but you can absolutely use velvet yarn or acrylic yarn if you’d like a different texture. Just keep in mind that the look and feel will change depending on the yarn you choose. And remember to adjust the needle to the yarn weight.
Yes, you can! Using a larger hook (and matching yarn weight) will make your finished Hippopotamus bigger and softer. Just make sure your stitches are tight enough so the stuffing doesn’t show through.
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