This sweet baby lovey is perfect for anyone that loves elephants and is a great option for a beautiful handmade gift for an old (or new!) friend.

Backstory

Have you heard the song that goes “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other’s gold”?

I learned it what seems like forever ago in Girl Scouts, where I did make new friends that have now become old friends that I’m lucky enough to still call my friends.

When I found out one of these friends was expecting her first bio child (she’s already got some bonus kids from her hubby!), I knew I had to make her something special.

This Old and New Friends Baby Lovey builds on the base from the Baby Gamer Lovey. I really love that star base and knew I wanted to use it again- it’s been a big hit with B who co-opted the original Baby Gamer Lovey before it made it to its intended recipient.

And what better to represent a long, strong female friendship than an elephant- not only a strong matriarch, but elephants also have great memories. And, okay, elephants are also one of my favorite animals. Ya got me!

Since this is a baby lovey, the elephant couldn’t have safety eyes, so I went with a closed embroidered eye.

If you’re familiar with both regular crochet and Tunisian crochet, this pattern will be a pretty quick make for you!

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Old and New Friends Baby Lovey Pattern

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Skill Level

Intermediate

Materials

For this pattern, I wanted to use a softer yarn that wouldn’t be irritating to sensitive skin. Unfortunately, the really nice fibers aren’t in the budget (plus I have a huge stash I’m trying to work through!), so I went with Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn in Sungold for the elephant and in Light Gray for the star.

I Love This Yarn, 100% acrylic, weight 4, 252 yards/230 meters, 5 ounces/142 grams

A) 90 yards/82 meters of Sungold

B) 116 yards/106 meters of Light Gray

You could use any weight 4 yarn that you like, but definitely make sure it’s a nice soft yarn (like a baby yarn or I recently discovered Paintbox yarns and I love them! If I did it again, it would be with Paintbox Simply Aran in Stormy Grey and Soft Fudge!)

I used my 4.5 mm Clover Soft Touch crochet hook for the elephant pieces and a 8.0 mm cabled Tunisian crochet hook for the star portion. (Want some other hook suggestions? Check out my Gift Guide for Crocheters)

You’ll also need:

• Stitch Marker– this is so important so that you don’t lose your place!
• Tapestry Needle– to weave in ends and to assemble everything together.
• Fiber fill or other stuffing for the elephant pieces.
• Eye option- NOT a safety eye, as this is meant for children under 3. Need more eye options? Check out my Amigurumi Eye post for more great options!

Gauge/Finished Dimensions

Lovey is 19” tall by 20” wide. Gauge is 7 sts and 6 rows is 2” x 2” for the pentagon portion and 7 sts and 5 rows is 2” x 2” for the triangles.

Elephant head is about 3” tall.

Abbreviations

Sc- single crochet

Ch- chain

Inc- increase

Dec- decrease

tss- Tunisian simple stitch

Sl st- slip stitch

St- stitch

Yo- yarn over

RetP- return pass

Scblo- single crochet in the back loop only

Tss2tog- Tunisian simple stitch 2 together

Tss3tog- Tunisian simple stitch 3 together

Notes

[ ] denote a group of stitches that are worked as many times as specified.

The star and elephant are worked separately and then sewed together and are each made of more than one piece.

The star is worked in Tunisian simple stitch on a Tunisian crochet hook. Need a hook? Click that link!

The return pass is the standard return pass of yo, pull through one (once), yo, pull through two (to the end).

If your star is curling too much, you may need to go up a hook size, although I don’t have too much trouble with curling with an 8.0 mm hook and worsted weight yarn.

The elephant is worked in regular crochet, in the spiral round, so a stitch marker is important.

Any decreases noted in the elephant portions can be worked as regular decreases or as invisible decreases.

If stitches are written as stitch, then number (ex. Sc 3), work the prescribed stitch over the amount of stitches directed.

If stitches are written as number, then stitch (ex. 3 sc), work the number of stitches directed into the next stitch (or stitch directed if not in the next stitch).

This also applies to increases and decreases (ex. Inc 2 would be 1 increase in each of the next 2 stitches, 2 inc would be 2 increases, or 4 stitches, in the next stitch).

How to Make the Old and New Friends Baby Lovey

Feel free to start with whichever piece you prefer- I started with the star so I could block it while I worked on the elephant and then assemble it all together.

Star

Triangle

(make 5)

This piece is worked in Tunisian crochet using a standard reverse pass of ch 1, yo pull through 2 until the end. Be sure to work under both loops for the last stitch of the row. Also remember that the first loop on the hook counts as a stitch for the end of row stitch counts. Need a refresher? Check out my Tunisian Simple Stitch tutorial for help.

Using B and a 8.0 mm Tunisian hook, ch 1

Row 1: inc, tss, RetP (3)

Row 2: [inc, tss], repeat [], RetP (5)

Row 3: tss 4, RetP (5)

Row 4: inc, tss 3, inc, tss, RetP (7)

Row 5: tss 6, RetP (7)

Row 6: inc, tss 5, inc, tss, RetP (9)

Row 7: tss 8, RetP (9)

Row 8: inc, tss 7, inc, tss, RetP (11)

Rows 9 & 10: tss 10, RetP (11)

Row 11: inc, tss 9, inc, tss, RetP (13)

Rows 12-14: tss 12, RetP (13)

Row 15: inc, tss 11, inc, tss, RetP (15)

Rows 16-18: tss 14, RetP (15)

Row 19: sl st into each st to bind off (15)

Fasten off and leave an 8-10 inch tail to sew triangles onto pentagon.

Pentagon

(make one)

This piece is worked in Tunisian crochet using a standard reverse pass of ch 1, yo pull through 2 until the end. Also remember that the first loop on the hook counts as a stitch for the end of row stitch counts, even though it isn’t a stitch that you work.

Using B and a 8.0 mm Tunisian hook, ch 15

Row 1: tss 14, RetP (15)

Row 2: tss 14, RetP (15)

Row 3: inc, tss 13, inc, tss, RetP (17)

Row 4: tss 16, RetP (17)

Row 5: inc, tss 15, inc, tss, RetP (19)

Row 6: tss 18, RetP (19)

Row 7: inc, tss 17, inc, tss, RetP (21)

Row 8: tss 20, RetP (21)

Row 9: inc, tss 19, inc, tss, RetP (23)

Row 10: tss 22, RetP (23)

Row 11: inc, tss 21, inc, tss, RetP (25)

Row 12: tss 24, RetP (25)

Row 13: inc, tss 23, inc, tss, RetP (27)

Row 14: tss 26, RetP (27)

Row 15: tss3tog, tss 19, tss3tog, tss, RetP (23)

Row 16: tss3tog, tss 15, tss3tog, tss, RetP (19)

Row 17: tss3tog, tss 11, tss3tog, tss, RetP (15)

Row 18: tss3tog, tss 7, tss3tog, tss, RetP (11)

Row 19: tss3tog, tss 3, tss3tog, tss, RetP (7)

Row 20: [tss2tog, tss], repeat [], RetP (5)

Row 21: tss3tog, tss, RetP (3)

Row 22: tss2tog, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook

Leave a 6-8 inch tail and weave in.

Don’t forget, you can buy the ad-free PDF on Ravelry!

Elephant

All elephant pieces are worked using regular crochet stitches in a spiral round. It’s best to use a stitch marker to mark the first stitch in each round to be sure you don’t get off count.

Head

Using A and a 4.5 mm crochet hook

Round 1- Create a magic ring, ch 1 and sc 6 into the ring. (6)

Round 2- inc in each st. (12)

Round 3- [sc, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (18)

Round 4- [sc 2, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (24)

Round 5- [sc 3, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (30)

Round 6- [sc 4, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (36)

Round 7- [sc 5, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (42)

Rounds 8-12- sc 42.

Round 13- [sc 5, dec]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (36)

Rounds 14-16- sc 36.

Round 17- [sc 4, dec]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (30)

Round 18- sc 40.

Round 19- [sc 3, dec]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (24)

Round 20- sc 24.

Round 21- [sc 2, dec]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (18)

Round 22- [sc, dec]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (12)

Round 23- dec 6. (6)

Fasten off, leaving a 6-8 inch tail to sew onto the completed star.

Ears (Make 2)

Using A and a 4.5 mm crochet hook

Round 1- Create a magic ring, ch 1 and sc 8 into the ring. (8)

Round 2- inc 8. (16)

Round 3- [sc, inc]. Repeat [ ] seven more times. (24)

Round 4- [sc, inc]. Repeat [ ] eleven more times. (36)

Rounds 5-6- sc 36.

Round 7- [sc, dec]. Repeat [ ] eleven more times. (24)

Rounds 8-9- sc 24.

Round 10- [sc, dec]. Repeat [ ] seven more times. (16)

Round 11- sc 16. 

Round 12- dec 8. (8)

Fasten off, weave through front loop of last 8 stitches, pull tight, weave in ends.

Trunk

Using A and a 4.5 mm crochet hook

Round 1- Create a magic ring, ch 1 and sc 6 into the ring. (6)

Round 2- scblo 6.

Round 3- inc 3, sc 3. (9)

Round 4- sc, inc 4, sc 4. (13)

Round 5- dec, sc 7, dec 2. (10)

Round 6- dec, sc 6, dec. (8)

Rounds 7-8- sc 8.

Round 9- inc 2, sc 5, inc. (11)

Round 10-inc 3, sc 7, inc. (15)

Round 11- sc 6, dec 4, sc. (11)

Round 12- [sc, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times, sc. (16)

Fasten off, leaving a 6-8 inch tail to sew onto the head.

Arms (Make 2)

Using A and a 4.5 mm crochet hook

Round 1- Create a magic ring, ch 1 and sc 6 into the ring. (6)

Round 2- inc 6. (12)

Round 3- [sc, inc]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (18)

Rounds 4-6- sc 18.

Round 7- [sc, dec]. Repeat [ ] five more times. (12)

Rounds 8-15- sc 12.

Fasten off, leaving a 6-8 inch tail to sew onto lovey.

Assembly

Star

Sew the large end of a triangle onto one side of the pentagon, trying to match stitches as much as possible. Weave ends into both pieces to help secure them together. Repeat for remaining triangles.

Block your star if you choose, especially if the curling is bad. I just wet the star and set it on top of a towel and pulled the pieces where they needed to go, as my star wasn’t curling very badly. If the curling is too pronounced, you may want to try going up a hook size, as I noted above.

Elephant

Sew the trunk onto the face, then the ears onto the sides of the head, making sure the trunk is centered between them. 

Embroider eyes above the trunk. Or check out this post for other eye options, but remember- no safety eyes for those under 3!

Once the star is ready, sew the elephant head into the center of the star. (You can choose to sew the arms immediately under the head, in which case you should sew the arms to the head or to the star first.)

Sew the arms in front of the head, at an equal distance and approximately equal angle from the head.

Make sure all ends are woven in securely and trimmed, then let the sweet little one enjoy!

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