Valais Blacknose Sheep Crochet Pattern

Hello and welcome to the free version of my Valais Blacknose Sheep crochet pattern!

Bibi the Blacknose Sheep will make a great addition to your farm animal amigurumi collection. I hope you’ll enjoy crocheting her as much as I did.

This pattern includes a free video tutorial for visual guidance. I also offer a PDF version of the sheep pattern on Etsy and Ravelry and an interactive pattern on Ribblr that you can purchase for a small fee.

Thank you for supporting the channel and allowing me to create more free crochet patterns!

Terminology

This pattern is written in American terminology.

Size

The sheep will be approximately 7 cm (2.8 inches) tall and 8 cm (3.2 inches) long if you use the specified hook and yarn. If you would like it to be larger or smaller, you can use a different yarn weight and adjust the hook size accordingly.

Construction

The legs are crocheted on the body. The ears, horns, head and tail are sewn on. 

Techniques

For this pattern, you will need techniques such as the magic ring, invisible sc decreases, changing colors and closing rounds. You can find photo tutorials for these techniques in the ‘Amigurumi Lessons’ PDF, which comes with this pattern. 

Tipps and Tricks

1. You crochet in seamless spirals. 

2. Crochet as tightly as you comfortably can. This will ensure your amigurumi has the right scale and no filling shows through any gaps. If you crochet quite loosely, try using a smaller-sized hook.

3. Small amigurumi, such as this, are not suitable toys for a small child under 3. If this amigurumi will be played with, please don’t use safety eyes. You can instead embroider the eyes with yarn or embroidery thread. Although they are called “safety eyes”, young children can remove and swallow them.

4. Have fun! In my opinion, crocheting shouldn’t be just about the result but mainly about enjoying the process. 

Materials and Tools

• 4 Ply/Fingering yarn and Boucle Aran/worsted weight yarn in natural white.

These two yarns are held together to crochet the legs, body, neck and part of the head. [I used Drops Alpaca and Drops Alpaca Boucle in off-white held together]

Alternatively, you could use faux fur DK/light worsted or Aran/worsted yarn.

• DK / light worsted OR 4 Ply / Fingering weight yarn in black for the hooves, knees, face and ears, and beige for the horns. [I used Scheepjes Catona in Vanilla Cream and Soft Fudge] 

• 2.5mm crochet hook / Size B-1 or C-2 depending on how tightly you crochet

• 5 mm safety eyes

• Black or pink embroidery floss (optional)

• Fiberfill

• Stitch marker

• Yarn needle

• Large-eyed sewing needle (optional)

• Sewing pins

• Scissors

Instructions

If you need more guidance for any part of the pattern, you can watch the accompanying video tutorial here.

The legs and head are crocheted with black and white yarn. 

Change colors in the stitch before the first stitch in the new color. 

Stitches to crochet in black are marked with a B and stitches to crochet in white with a W. 

B = black (4 Ply/Fingering or DK/light worsted cotton yarn)

W = white (Alpaca 4 Ply/Fingering and Alpaca Boucle yarn held together or faux fur DK/light worsted or Aran/worsted yarn)

Crochet the Forelegs (make 2)

The legs don’t need to be filled with fiberfill.

Rnd 1: B: 8 sc in magic ring (8)

Rnd 2: In BLO: B: 8 sc (8)

Rnd 3: B: [2 sc, dec]*2 (6)

Rnd 4: W: 6 sc (6)

Rnd 5: W: 2 sc, B: inc, 2 sc, W: inc (8)

Rnd 6: W: 2 sc, B: dec, 2 sc, W: dec (6)

Rnd 7 and 8 (2 rnds): W: 6 sc (6)

Sl st in next st and fasten off.

Crochet the Hind Legs (make 2)

The legs don’t need to be filled with fiberfill.

Rnd 1: B: 8 sc in magic ring (8)

Rnd 2: In BLO: B: 8 sc (8)

Rnd 3: B: [2 sc, dec]*2 (6)

Rnd 4: W: 6 sc (6)

Rnd 5: W: 2 sc, inc, 2 sc, B: inc (8)

Rnd 6: B: 2 sc, W: dec, 2 sc, B: dec (6)

Rnd 7: B: 2 sc, W: 4 sc (6)

Rnd 8: W: [2 sc, inc]*2 (8)

Sl st in next st and fasten off.

Crochet the Body

Ch 6 in white (Alpaca 4 Ply/Fingering and Alpaca Boucle yarn held together)

Rnd 1: 4 sc (starting in 2nd ch), 4 sc in last ch, 3 sc in other side of chain stitches, 3 sc in last ch (14)

Rnd 2 (see detailed instructions below): 8 sc around hind leg, 5 sc, 6 sc around foreleg, 2 sc, 6 sc around foreleg, 5 sc, 8 sc around hind leg, 2 sc (42)

In rnd 2, you will crochet the legs on the belly. I guide you through the steps of this round with the help of the images below.

The beginning of the round marks the back of the body. The black knee patches on the forelegs face forward, and the black knee patches on the hind legs backwards. They should point in the respective directions when they are crocheted on.

Join one of the hind legs at the center of the inner leg.

This will ensure that the black patch faces backwards. Sc in all 8 sts of the hind leg.

Sc in the next 5 sts of the belly.

Join the first foreleg in the st at the back of the leg, which is slightly inward-facing. Sc in all 6 sts of the foreleg.

Sc in the next 2 sts of the belly.

Join the second foreleg in the st at the back that is slightly inward-facing.

Sc in all 6 sts of the foreleg.

Sc in the next 5 sts of the belly.

Join the second hind leg at the center of the inner leg.

Sc in all 8 sts of the hindleg.

Sc in the remaining 2 sts of the round.

This is how the sheep looks from below once the round is complete.

Rnd 3 to 6 (4 rnds): 42 sc (42)

In the next round, you will crochet the neck opening. The opening should be centered at the front of the body. Therefore, it is important to skip the 6 sts centered in the front of the body. You may need to change the number of sc you make before and after the neck opening by +-3. 

This is because we all have slightly different tension when we crochet, and if you are using a different yarn type or brand, it might produce a slightly different result.

Rnd 7: (+/-1) 17 sc, 6 ch, sk 6, (+/-1) 19 sc (42)

If you adjusted round 7, you will need to adjust round 8 accordingly.

Rnd 8: (+/-1) 3 sc, dec, [4 sc, dec]*2, 6 sc (in blo of ch stitches), [dec, 4 sc]*3, (+/-1) sc (36)

Rnd 9: 2 sc, dec, [4 sc, dec]*5, 2 sc (30)

Firmly fill the body with fiberfill and continue filling as you go.

Rnd 10: [3 sc, dec]*6 (24)

Rnd 11: Sc, dec, [2 sc, dec]*5, sc (18)

Rnd 12: [sc, dec]*6 (12)

Rnd 13: 6 dec (6)

Fasten off and close the round.

Crochet the Neck

The neck is crocheted in white (Alpaca 4 Ply and Alpaca Boucle yarn held together). 

Join the white yarn at the side of the neck opening, in the stitch right next to the first skipped stitch (that is already crocheted in).

Rnd 1: 6 sc, sc in the stitch left next to the last skipped stitch (that is already crocheted in), 6 sc in the chain stitches, sc in the stitch in which you first joined the yarn (14)

Rnd 2: 2 sc, dec, 5 sc, dec, 3 sc (12)

Rnd 3-4 (2 rnds): 12 sc (12)

Fasten off, leaving a long yarn end for sewing.

Crochet the Head

The head is crocheted in black (4 Ply/Fingering or DK/light worsted yarn) and white (Alpaca 4 Ply/Fingering and Alpaca Boucle yarn held together or faux fur DK/light worsted or Aran/worsted yarn). 

Change colors in the stitch before the first stitch in the new color. 

Stitches to crochet in black are marked with a B and color changes to white with a W. 

Rnd 1: B: 6 sc in magic ring (6)

Rnd 2: B: [inc, sc]*3 (9)

Rnd 3: B: 9 sc (9)

Rnd 4: B: Sc, [inc, 2 sc]*2, inc, sc (12)

Rnd 5: B: [3 sc, inc]*3 (15)

Rnd 6: B: 2 sc, [inc, 4 sc]*2, inc, 2 sc (18)

Rnd 7: W: 4 sc, B: 2 sc, W: 6 sc, B: 2 sc, W: 4 sc (18)

Rnd 8: W: 18 sc (18)

Fasten the black yarn off. Secure the last stitch before inserting the safety eyes.

Insert the Safety Eyes and Embroider the Eyelids

Insert the safety eyes in between rounds 6 and 7 at the black patches of round 7. Don’t secure them yet. First, embroider the eyelids.

Cut a 12 inches (30 cm) long piece of black yarn and thread it onto a yarn needle. Insert it at the outer corner of the eye, from the inside out.

Then stitch through the inner corner of the eye to the inner corner of the other eye.

Stitch through the outer corner of the other eye, bringing the needle to the inside of the head.

Tie the yarn ends together inside the head and secure the safety eyes.

Firmly fill the head with the yarn ends and fiberfill. Continue filling as you go.

Continue crocheting as follows:

Rnd 9: 18 sc (18)

Rnd 10: [dec, sc]*6 (12)

Rnd 11: 6 dec (6)

Fasten off and close the round.

Embroider the Nose and Mouth (optional)

This part of the pattern is optional since the black nose and mouth will be barely visible. You can see the steps below, shown on a white sheep. Please note, in the images the embroidery was made before closing the head, whereas, for this sheep, we embroider on the finished head. 

Another option is using contrast-colored embroidery thread, in light pink, for example.

Cut an approximately 12-inch (30 cm) long piece of black or contrast-colored embroidery floss and thread it onto a large-eyed sewing needle.

When embroidering, stitch through the fibers, not in between stitches.

This way, you have more control over the position of the stitch because the thread does not have room to move around.

Insert the needle near the center of the magic ring, from the inside out.

Embroider a V-shape on round 1 of the head.

Make a small vertical downward stitch to connect the nose and mouth.

Make a 2-round long stitch on each side to embroider the mouth.

Bring the thread ends to the same spot between stitches on the bottom side of the head, tie them together and cut them short. They will be hidden by the neck when you attach the head to it.

Crochet the Ears (make 2)

The ears are  crocheted in black (4 Ply/Fingering or DK/light worsted yarn) 

Ch 4

R 1: Hdc in 2nd chain from hook, 2 dc (3)

Fasten off, leaving a long yarn end for sewing.

Pinch the ears together at the base to give them the right shape.

Crochet the Tail

The tail is crocheted in white (Alpaca 4 Ply/Fingering and Alpaca Boucle yarn held together). 

You can crochet a long or a cropped tail for the sheep.

Long Tail (optional)

Ch 8

R 1: 7 hdc (starting in 2nd ch from hook) (7)

Fasten off, leaving a long yarn end for sewing.

Short Tail (optional)

Ch 5

R 1: 4 hdc (starting in 2nd ch from hook) (4)

Fasten off, leaving a long yarn end for sewing.

Crochet the Horns (make 2)

The horns are crocheted in beige (4 Ply/Fingering or DK/light worsted yarn).

Ch 8

R 1: Sl st in 2nd ch from hook, sc, hdc, 4 dc (7) 

Fasten off, leaving a long yarn end for sewing. 

Fold one of the horns lengthwise with the wrong side facing inward. 

Use the long yarn end to sew both sides of the horn together by whip-stitching the base and the top of each stitch together.

Bring the yarn end through the horn back to the base of it.

Pull the yarn end and twist the horn to shorten it and give it a spiral shape.

Fold the second horn, this time with the right side facing inward and sew both sides together, as you did with the first horn.  

Bring the yarn end through the horn back to the base, pulling it and twisting the horn in the opposite direction to make them look symmetrical.

Assembly

Pin the horns on round 10 of the head with about 3 stitches’ space in between. The base of the horns should be in alignment with the eyes.

Sew the base of the horns to the head. Bring the yarn ends to the bottom side of the head. Tie them together and cut them short. The yarn ends will be hidden inside the neck.

Pin the ears slightly below and in front of the horns.

Attach them with the bases pinched together. Weave the yarn ends in.

Sew the head on the neck using the long yarn end of the neck. The back of the head should align with the neck.

Sew the tail centered to the rear of the body. Weave the yarn ends in.

Congratulations! Bibi the Blacknose Sheep is now complete! 

Congratulations! Your snake is now complete! 

Thank you for using my pattern!

If you have any questions please email me anytime at stellasyarnuniverse@outlook.com. 

Share your creation on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @stellasyarnuniverse to win a pattern from my shop.

Happy crocheting!

Stella xx