Spike the Crochet Sloth: Free Pattern

Spike the Crochet Sloth is soft, plush, adorable and perfectly sized for a young child’s hugging buddy. I seriously smile every time I see this little sloth with his big blue eyes.

More importantly, he makes my son smile. This little sloth crochet pattern works up very quickly and only takes one skein worth of yarn. I will show you how I do it!

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I decided to make a sloth after my son informed me the sloth on TV was named Spike. I knew I wanted to use Bernat Blanket yarn so it would be unbelievably soft and work up nice and quick, so I set out to find all the colors I needed.

For my original crochet sloth I used Bernat’s Baby Blanket Stripes in the color way Sandbox. I was able to complete the entire sloth with one skein of yarn. Actually you can create two sloths with one skein of yarn, BUT you may not have enough to make the body all one color. 

The second time I made this pattern, I wanted to make Valentine’s Day Sloths and used Bernat’s Ombre Yarn in the Burgundy Ombre. Each Skein of Ombre actually has 6 colors in it and I picked the two darkest colors and used them for the body, arms and legs. I treated these two colors like they were one color. 

In my video tutorial (coming soon), from the SAME skein I used the two dusty rose pink colors for the body, legs and arms. To make it easier for you to know if you have enough for the main part of the sloth I have left weight and yardage for each body part in the material list below.

First you will need to take the skein of Bernat Stripes or Bernat Ombre and reroll it into balls like the picture below. Use a food scale to weigh each ball to be able to know how much you have of each color. This will help you decide which color to use for the Body, arms and legs.

You will want your body color of the sloth to be whichever color you have the most of. In my case I could have used the medium or light gray.

Please be aware that every skein is different and you may need to get creative with your colors to complete the project with one skein.

New to Winding Road Crochet? Check out my other patterns.

Baby Plaid Cape / My First Shawl / The Woven Cowl

Spike the Crochet Sloth: Free Crochet Pattern

Materials

1 Skein of Bernat Blanket Stripes (or another Blanket Yarn)

You will Need

For Body – 50 yds or 2.38 oz

For Arms – 10 yds or 0.48 oz

For Legs – 4 yds or 0.19 oz

For Face – 4 yds or 0.18 oz

Eye Patches – 2.5 yds or 0.11 oz

For Claws – 7.25 yards or 0.34 oz

(Please note that I calculated the yardage from weighing my yarn before and after I made a certain part)

Size L – 8 mm Crochet Hook

Size J – 6 mm Crochet Hook

1 Pair of 16 mm Safety Eyes

Large Yarn Needle

Polyfil

Scissors

Pliers (for installing the safety eyes)

Crochet Sloth Pattern

Body

Note: The base of your sloth is an oval.

In row 14 you will be using both the Main color (MC) and the Accent color (AC) to create the sloth face. I cut my yarn each time I changed colors and did not crochet over the second color.

R14: Ch 1, turn. work a Sc in the next 4 stitches with MC, work a Sc in the next 6 stitches with AC, work a Sc in the next 18 stitches with MC. Slst to first Sc. (28)

R15: Ch 1, turn. work a Sc in the next 17 stitches with MC, work a Sc in the next 8 stitches with AC, work a Sc in the next 3 stitches with MC, Slst to first Sc. (28)

R16: Ch 1, turn. work a Sc in the next 3 stitches with MC, work a Sc in the next 8 stitches with AC, work a Sc in the next 17 stitches with MC. Slst to first Sc. (28)

R17: Ch 1, turn. work a Sc in the next 17 stitches with MC, work a Sc in the next 8 stitches with AC, work a Sc in the next 3 stitches with MC, Slst to first Sc. (28)

R18: Ch 1, turn. work a Sc in the next 4 stitches with MC, work a Sc in the next 6 stitches with AC, work a Sc in the next 18 stitches with MC, Slst to first Sc. (28)

R19: Ch 1, turn, work a Sc in each stitch around, Slst to first Sc. (28)

R20: Ch 1, turn, work a Sc in the next stitch, Sc2Tog, work a Sc in the next stitch, Sc2Tog, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, *work a Sc in the next stitch, Sc2Tog*, repeat 4 times, work a Sc in the next 3 stitches, Sc2Tog, work a Sc in the next stitch, Sc2Tog, Slst to first Sc. (20)

R21: Ch 1, turn. Sc2Tog, Sc2Tog, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, *Sc2Tog*, repeat from *to* for a total of 4 times, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, Sc2Tog, Sc2Tog, Slst to first Sc. (12)

R22: Ch 1, turn. Sc2Tog, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, Sc2Tog, Sc2Tog, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, Sc2Tog, Slst to first Sc.  Fasten off leaving a 8 inch tail to sew up the opening. (8)

Wait before stuffing your sloth. You will want to attach the eye spots and safety eyes before stuffing.

Crochet Sloth Body Video Tutorial

Sloth Eyes, Arms, Legs, Toes Tutorial

Crochet Sloth Eye Patches (Make 2)

I made my eye patches using the darkest color of the skein.

Using Size L Crochet Hook

R1: Ch 5, Hdc in the 2nd Ch from the hook, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, Slst to the last Ch. Fasten off leaving a tail to sew the eye patch onto the face. (4)

Use a 16mm Safety eye to attach the eye patch and use the tail to sew the rest of the eye patch to the face. I did have to resort to using a pair of pliers to get the safety eyes in, because the two layers were so thick. Using the same color as your eye patches, sew on a mouth and triangle nose. Once the face is done, you can stuff your body and sew it up.

Fingers/Toes (Make 12)

I made the fingers and toes using the Accent color I used for the face.

Using a Size J hook.

R1: Ch 4, Slst in the 2nd Ch from the hook, work a Sc in the next 2 stitches. Fasten off leaving a small tail to sew to the Sloth arms and legs. (3)

Crochet Sloth Arms (Make 2)

Note: In row 7 you only work half a row, this is so the arms wrap around to the front of the body instead of sticking out at the sides. When sewing the arms to the body, sew this half row to the back of the shoulder area.

Using Size L Crochet Hook

R1: Ch 4, Sc in the 2nd Ch from the hook. work a Sc in the next stitch, work 2 Sc in the last in the Ch, turn and work down the other side of the chain. work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, Slst to first Sc. (6)

R2-6: Ch 1, turn. Sc in each stitch around, Slst to first Sc.

Note: After working Row 2, I attached the fingers. I found this much easier than waiting until the entire arm was completed. 

R7: Ch 1, turn. work a Sc in the next 3 stitches. Fasten Off leaving a long tail to sew to the body.

Crochet Sloth Legs (Make 2)

Using Size L Crochet Hook

R1: Ch 4, Sc in the 2nd Ch from the hook. work a Sc in the next stitch, work 2 Sc in the last Ch, turn and work down the other side of the Ch. Work a Sc in the next 2 stitches, Slst to first Sc.

R2-3: Ch 1, turn. Sc in each stitch around, Slst to first Sc. Fasten Off.

Finishing Up

Do not stuff your arms and legs, the thick yarn gives them enough thickness. Sew three fingers to each arm and three toes to each leg. Sew your legs and arms to your sloth. Give your sloth a big hug and a name and you are all done!

How do you like your crochet sloth? Let me know in the comments below. If you have any questions leave a comment and I will try and help the best I can. If you decide to make a Sloth of your own, I would LOVE to see a photo! If you share it on social media be sure to tag me @windingroadcrochet or #windingroadcrochet.

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Want more? Check out some of my other patterns!

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