Olive the crochet pig

I ended up inadvertently designing this pig, whom I call Olive (but who could also be Ollie). I had one idea in mind when I started out, and then, as I continued work on it, I realized that I live my best life in my pajamas, and I thought this pig should as well, so Olive/Ollie was born:

Olive the pig in striped pajamas
Olive the pig in striped pajamas

And should you need a crochet pig of your own, here are the notes I took to give to life — in the form of a pattern with video links where needed to clarify a technique or process — to a crochet pig who lives his or her best life every day.

Olive (or Ollie) the crochet pig is composed of  8 crochet pieces:

One head/body
One snout
Two ears
Two arms
Two legs

The finishing details are embroidered with worsted weight yarn that has been split in half. This makes the toy very toddler friendly.

Materials
Worsted weight yarn in three colors of your choosing (A, B, and C) with a yard or so of a black worsted weight yarn for the features.
(I used Red Heart Super Saver Petal Pink (A), Grenadine (B), Pretty N Pink (C))
4.5 mm crochet hook
Yarn needle, stitch markers, fiberfill

GAUGE: First four rounds = 2 3/8” or 6 cm
Finished pig measures 11.5” (29 cm) from top of head to bottom of feet (does not include height of ears)

Skills
Invisible decrease (Inv dec)
Jogless join
Clockwise (cwt) vs. a counter clockwise turn (ccwt)
Starting to work in the round from a “ch 2”
How to close the end of an amigurumi piece

Once you have your materials assembled, you are ready to get started.

Head & Body
With A, ch 2
Round 1: Work 7 sc into 2nd chain from hook; do not join, work in continuous rounds (spiral)—7 sc.
Round 2: Work 2 sc in each st around—14 sc.
Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 7 times—21 sc.
Round 4: [sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st] 7 times—28 sc.
Round 5: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 sts] 4 times — 32 sc.
Rounds 6 — 15: Sc in each st around, changing to color B in last st of last round — 32 sc.
Rounds 16-17: Sc in each st around, changing to color C in last st of last round — 32 sc.
Rounds 18-19: Sc in each st around, changing to color B in last st of last round — 32 sc.
Rounds 20-21: Sc in each st around, changing to color C in last st of last round — 32 sc.
Rounds 22-23: Sc in each st around, changing to color B in last st of last round — 32 sc.
Rounds 24-25: Sc in each st around, changing to color C in last st of last round — 32 sc.
Round 26: Sc in each st around — 32 sc.
Round 27: [Inv dec, sc in next 6 sts] 4 times, changing to color B in last st of last round — 28 sc.
Round 28 [Sc in next 7 sts, inv dec] 3 times, sc in next st —25 sc.
Round 29: [Sc in next 3 sts, inv dec, sc in next st] 4 times, sc in next st, change to color C —- 21.
Round 30: [Sc, inv dec, sc in next 4 sts] three times — 18 sc.
Round 31: [Inv dec] 9 times — 9 sts. Fasten off and leave a tail sufficient to close and secure the bottom (10-12”)

Snout
Snout (make 1)
With A, ch 2
Row 1: 2 sc in first chain, do NOT make a chain, cwt — 2 sc
Row 2: 2 sc in each st, cwt — 4 sc
Row 3: 2 sc in first st, sc in next 3 sts, cwt — 5 sc
Row 4: 2 sc in first st, sc in next 4 sts, cwt — 6 sc

Round 1: Begin working around ch 1 (counts as a st, 3 sc evenly spaced along edge, 4 sc evenly spaces along other edge bringing you back to the start of row 5 — 14 sts.
Round 2: working in BLO, sc in each st around — 14 sc.
Working through both loops from here to the end:
Round 3 sc in each st around, slip st in last st of last round —- 14 sc. Fasten off leaving a long tail (14”)

You may find that you prefer a shorter snout, in which case, work only as far as Round 2. If you want a visual aid, I made this video about how I crochet the pig’s snout.

Ears (make 2)
With A, ch 2
Round 1: Work 3 sc into 2nd chain from hook; do not join, work in continuous rounds (spiral) — 3 sc.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around —6 sc.
Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 3 times—9 sc.
Round 4: [sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st] 3 times—12 sc.
Round 5: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts] 3 times — 15 sc.
Rounds 6 — 15: Sc in each sc around. (15 sc), slip st to first sc of round 15, fasten off and leave an end long enough to “pinch” the bottom of the ear, and then secure to the head.

Arms (make 2)
With A, ch 2
Round 1: Work 4 sc into 2nd chain from hook; do not join, work in continuous rounds (spiral) —4 sc.
Round 2: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 2 times — 6 sc.
Round 3: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times — 9 sc.
Round 4: Sc in each st around, change to B in last st — 9 sc.
Rounds 5 -6: Sc in each st around, change to C in last st of last round — 9 sc.
Rounds 7-8: Sc in each st around, change to B in last st of last round — 9 sc.
Rounds 9-10: Sc in each st around, change to C in last st of last round — 9 sc.
Rounds 11-12: Sc in each st around, change to B in last st of last round — 9 sc.
Rounds 13-14: Sc in each st around, change to C in last st of last round — 9 sc.
Rounds: 15-16: Sc in each st around, changing to B in last st of last round — 9 sc.
Round 17: Sc in each sc around — 9 sc.
Round 18: Slip st in next 2 sts, sc in next 5 sts, slip st in next 2 sts , join with slip to to first st and fasten off — 9 sts.

Legs (make 2)
With A, ch 2
Round 1: Work 6 sc into 2nd chain from hook; do not join, work in continuous rounds (spiral)—6 sc.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around — 12 sc.
Round 3: [sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st] 3 times —15 sc.
Round 4: Sc in each st around — 15 sc.
Round 5: Inv dec, sc in next 5 sts, inv dec, sc in next 6 sts — 13 sc.
Round 6: [sc in next 4 sts, inv dec] 2 times, sc in next st, change to B in last st — 11 sc.
Rounds 7-8: Sc in each st around, change to C in last st of last round — 11 sc.
Rounds 9-10: Sc in each st around, change to B in last st of last round — 11 sc.
Rounds 11-12: Sc in each st around, change to C in last st of last round — 11 sc.
Rounds 13-14: Sc in each st around, change to B in last st of last round — 11 sc.
Rounds: 15-16: Sc in each st around, change to C in last st of last round — 11 sc.
Round 17: Sc, inv dec, sc next 3 sts, inv dec, sc in next 3 sts — 9 sc.
Round 18: Sc in each st around, leave at least a 16” tail and fasten off — 9 sc

Once you have made all of your pieces, you can begin the process of assembly. I found that embroidering the eyes, mouth, and nostrils before stuffing worked out okay, but that it was best to wait until the body was stuffed to begin attaching the pieces.

I hope that anyone making this pig enjoys making theirs as much as I have enjoyed making mine.