Here’s a free, quick and easy mini snowman crochet pattern. 4 inches tall, they look super cute hanging on your tree or sitting on a shelf.
You only need small amounts of yarn, so this is a perfect project for using up scraps of leftover wool or cotton.
Table of Contents
What you Need
- 3mm (size D or 3 US) hook if using sport weight yarn
OR 2.5mm (size C or 2 US) hook with DK yarn e.g. Ricorumi DK cotton - 12g / 36m approx of white sport or DK weight yarn for the snowman & hanging loop
- A scrap of orange 4ply, sport or DK yarn for the carrot nose
- Black 4ply yarn or embroidery floss for the face and coal buttons.
- 3g / 13m approx of coloured sport or DK yarn for a scarf and hat
- Polyester toy stuffing or you could stuff with wool etc if you prefer.
- Tapestry needle for embroidering the face and buttons, attaching the nose & weaving in ends.
- A few pins for marking where you want the eyes and buttons (optional)
I used Drops Baby Merino in off white (shade 2) (red hat snowman & step by step photos below) and white acrylic (green hat) & used Ricorumi DK cotton for the hats, scarves & black bits.
Crochet a Snowman with Any Yarn
The finished snowman size with sport yarn (3mm hook) or DK cotton (2.5mm hook) is 4 inches (10 cm) tall approx.
Note that the hook size you use has a big impact on the finished size. I crocheted both snowman below with the same yarn (Ricorumi DK cotton), but I made the one on the left with a 3mm hook and the one on the right with a 2.5mm hook. I couldn’t believe the difference!
So if your snowman is working up a bit bigger than you want, try again going down 1-2 hook sizes instead.
If you don’t have the right yarn in your stash, you can use any weight yarn here. Your snowman will just be bigger if you use thicker yarn and smaller with finer yarn. I suggest using a hook 1-2 sizes smaller than the size recommended on the ball band for a nice neat finish.
- For a bigger chunkier snowman: try worsted or aran yarn with size 4mm crochet hook.
- For a smaller more delicate snowman: try 4 ply / fingering / sock yarn with a size 2.5 crochet hook.
You could even crochet a whole snow family, by using the same yarn with different hook sizes or a mix of different yarn weights.
Abbreviations
NB this pattern uses US crochet terms. The equivalent UK crochet stitches are listed in the abbreviation list to help you convert the pattern.
- R – round
- yoh – yarn over/around hook
- st – stitch(es)
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet stitch (UK: double crochet)
- sc2tog – single crochet 2 stitches together to decrease by 1 stitch (UK: double crochet 2 together)
I use this invisible decrease method: put your hook into the front loop of the next 2 stitches, yoh and pull through both loops, yoh and pull through the 2 loops on your hook - hdc – half double crochet stitch (UK: half treble crochet)
yoh, hook into stitch, yoh and pull through, yoh and pull through all 3 loops on your hook
Note: crochet this pattern in the round using the spiral amigurumi technique. So just crochet around continuously without any chains at the start or slip stitch to join at the end of each round – simple!
Mini Snowman Crochet Pattern
Crochet a snowman ornament (free standing or hanging)
Step 1: Crochet a Circle
With white yarn, crochet a circle for the bottom of the snowman:
R1: Starting with a magic ring (video tutorial), make 6 sc into it and pull the yarn tail to close the ring.
R2: 2 sc in each st [12 st]
R3: (2 sc in st, 1 sc in next st) X 6 [18 st]
R4: (1 sc in st, 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next st) x 6 [24 st]
R5: (2 sc in st, 1 sc in next 3 st) x 6 [30 st]
R6: (Sc in next 2 st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 st) x 6 [36 st]
Step 2: Make the Snowman Body
R7-14: Sc 8 rounds even (36 sc in each round)
Now decrease to round the top of the snowman body until the neck:
R15: (Sc2tog, sc in next 4 st) x 6 [30 st]
R16: (Sc2tog, sc in next 3 st) x 6 [24 st]
R17: (Sc2tog, sc in next 2 st) x 6 [18 st]
Stuff the body well to give a nice full, round shape.
R18: (Sc2tog, sc in next st) x 6 [12 st]
Add a small bit more stuffing at the top and check you’re fully happy with the body shape.
Step 3: Make the Snowman Head
Increase up from the neck:
R19: (2 sc in st, 1 sc in next st) X 6 [18 st]
R20: (1 sc in st, 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next st) x 6 [24 st]
R21-24: Sc 4 rounds even (24 sc in each round)
Decrease to the top of the head:
R25: (Sc2tog, sc in next 2 st) x 6 [18 st]
Stuff the head well to give a nice round shape.
R26: (Sc2tog, sc in next st) x 6 [12 st]
Stuff the head a little more
R27: Sc2tog x 6 [ 6 st]
Fasten off leaving a long tail. Thread a needle & bring it through the front loop of the 6 stitches to gather them and close the top of the head.
Step 4: Embroider the Buttons
When embroidering the buttons take your needle through from either the back or the bottom of the snowman each time, so your buttons are secure and you don’t see black thread running under the white.
Use pins to mark the top button 4 rounds down from the neck. Then mark a 2nd button 3 rounds below and the last button another 3 rounds down.
Once you’re happy with the placement, thread your needle and push it up through the bottom of the snowman coming out at the bottom button spot, leaving a long tail. Make a french knot by wrapping the thread tightly around the needle three times and putting your needle back down through the same spot, coming out again at the bottom or out the back, wherever suits.
If your french knot looks a bit loose or lumpy, that just makes it look more realistic like a lump of coal! But you can pull it out a bit and tighten the knot up for a neater look if you like. Carefully tug both thread ends to flatten the button on the snowman but leave both thread ends for now in case you need to make more adjustments.
Using a new length of thread of thread for each, make the 2 other buttons exactly the same way, coming through from the back of the snowman.
Once you’re happy with how the 3 buttons look, closely trim all the ends and then squish the snowman’s body a bit to hide them inside.
Step 5: Embroider the Face
When embroidering the face take your needle through from either the back of the head or somewhere around the neck each time, so your stitches stay secure and you don’t see black thread running under the snowman’s face.
Position the eyes 4-5 rounds down from the very top of the head, 3 stitches apart. Try out placement by using a pin for each eye until you’re happy.
Take your needle through leaving a long tail, coming out at the 1st eye point. Make a french knot for the eye, by wrapping the thread tightly around the needle twice and putting your needle back down through the same spot, coming out down at the neck or at the back.
You can also watch 2 mins of my friendly ghost pattern video tutorial from this 15:52 timestamp to see how to make french knot eyes and also a smile.
Be careful to push your needle through gently or the french knot may go through with it! If that happens you can poke under it again with your needle to get it back out or just pull it out with the yarn end & start again.
You may also need to pull out the french knot a bit to tighten the knot up so it makes a neat eye.
Then gently tug the 2 thread ends so the eye sits nicely on the face. Leave both long thread ends for now.
Thread your needle again and make the 2nd french knot eye 3 stitches away in exactly the same way.
To make the smile, thread your needle again and bring your needle up 2 rounds below left eye and put it down 1 round below this in the middle. Bring your needle back up 2 rounds below the right eye (in line with the left corner of the smile) & finally put it back down through the middle again to complete the smile.
Take a good look at the face and make sure you’re happy with it. You can gently tug the eye thread ends to make any final adjustments, or it’s best to just redo an eye or the smile if you’re not fully happy. Once all looks good, trim all thread ends close and then squish the snowman’s head to hide them inside.
Step 6: Add the Carrot Nose
Leaving a long tail, Ch 2 with orange yarn.
Skip the 1st ch and sc in the other ch. Fasten off, leaving a long tail.
Holding the 2 tails together, pinch the other end to make a point and you should have a carrot shape -sort of! 🙂
Use the 2 tails to stitch the nose to the middle of the face, about a round below the eyes. pinch the end to make it look pointy. The nose stays flexible, so you can get different looks by pointing it straight out, or tilting it down or a bit to the side.
Step 7: Crochet a Scarf (optional)
Ch 40, skip the 1st 2 ch and hdc in the rest. Fasten off and weave in both ends.
This gives a scarf long enough to tie at the front and hang about half way down. If you want a longer scarf, just add more chains.
Tip: I hdc into just the top loops of the chains as it’s much easier & looks fine. 😊
Snowman Hat Crochet Pattern
The snowman looks cute with just a scarf, but if you have a little more time & yarn, you can add a hat.
Start by crocheting a little circle using the spiral method (no joining rounds with a slip stitch):
R1: Starting with a magic ring (video tutorial), make 6 sc into it.
If you’re going to add a hanging loop to your snowman, leave a hole in the middle for the hanging loop to go through by gently pulling the yarn tail just a bit. Leave yarn tail free to adjust at end if needed.
Otherwise, pull the yarn tail tight as usual to close the ring and make a hat with no hole.
R2: 2 sc in each st [12 st]
R3: (2 sc in st, 1 sc in next st) X 6. Sl st to next sc at end of round. [18 st]
Now work the rest of the hat in joined rounds of half double crochet:
R4: Ch 2 (does not count as a hdc), hdc in 1st 3 st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 9 st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in final 4 st. Sl st into 1st hdc to join round. [20 st]
R5-6: Ch 2 (does not count as a hdc), hdc in every st, sl st into 1st hdc to join round. [20 st]
Fasten off. If you’ve made a hat with a hole, don’t weave in the magic ring tail until you’ve checked the hat can fit over the hanging loop on the snowman ok, so you can still adjust the hole size if needed.
Add a Hanging Loop (Optional)
Here’s how to crochet a loop so you can hang your snowman on the tree:
- Chain 30, or double the length you want your hanging loop to be, leaving a long tail.
- Slip stitch into each chain, working into both loops of each chain if you have the time.
- Slip stitch into the 1st slip stitch to close the hanging loop and fasten off leaving a long tail.
To attach your hanging loop to the snowman:
- Position the loop slightly behind the top of the head, 1-2 rounds down.
- Thread a tapestry needle with a yarn end and just attach the loop with 1-2 stitches initially.
- Check the loop looks in a good spot and if you made a hat, put it on over the hanging loop to check how your finished snowman will look with a hat on.
- Once you’re happy securely attach the hanging loop with more stitches and weave in both yarn ends.
TIP: If you’re not sure whether your snowman will hang on the tree or sit on a shelf, I suggest adding a loop anyway because it’s easy to hide it at the back of the snowman under the scarf and/or hat.
I hope you enjoy making some cute crochet snow people with this free pattern. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions on the pattern.
This free pattern is for personal, non-commercial use only. It may not be copied, sold, translated or distributed in any way, nor any finished items made using it sold, without permission.
