Edward’s Menagerie contains a myriad of adorable crochet animal patterns within its pages.

Although all the animals in Edward’s Menagerie are crocheted out of TOFT alpaca yarn as this is my first attempt at making one of these little cuties I thought I would see how a cheaper alternative (double-knit acrylic yarn) would work.

Bridget the Elephant is one of the Level 1 patterns suitable for  beginners.

All the animals are based on a standard pattern of spiral crochet. The size of your finished animal depends on the thickness of yarn you use.  I can see a whole family of elephants taking shape!

To help keep track of each round I would definitely recommend using stitch markers or a piece of yarn (in a different colour) to mark the beginning of the round. Working with a hook a size smaller than you would normally use helps to keep the crochet tight so the stuffing doesn’t show through. The size option guide in the book was really useful and suggested I used a 3mm hook for my double knitting yarn.

Here’s Bridget in her deconstructed form (minus her tail!)

I really like how crocheting a different nose, ear or tail creates changes your animal completely.

When it comes to stuffing, I originally popped way too much into my elephant’s head. After chatting to Kerry Lord at Unravel and seeing some of her finished animals I swiftly returned home and removed half of the stuffing to give the head a much softer shape. For the feet and arms you only need to push stuffing into the paws.

Here’s my finished Bridget from the back…

and from the front……

I’m really pleased with the results. I’m sure TOFT yarn is great to work with, but for those of us on a budget I would say check out your yarn stash to see what you can find. My Bridget just took 50g of double-knit yarn to make.