Sometimes my designs come from a set of requirements, or inspiration in things I see and other times I see the wool first and just think this would be perfect for. . . . . and that’s what happened when I saw this SIRDAR snuggly speckled DK baby wool.
It is so soft it is just lovely to knit with and when I saw the beige speckled colour the first thing it reminded me of was teddy bears! And although not one of the most original ideas I have had I just had to knit a teddy themed baby hat!
My Design – Toby the Teddy Bear Hat;
I wanted to keep it simple, rather than a rib edging I decided to do purl stitch and then the ears with the purl stitch for the inner ear. Doing this purl stitch on both ears I think would tie it in nicely with the edging.
It was now time to bring Toby to life!
Once I started knitting with the wool I was really pleased with colour effect, it was just how I thought it would be. The wool also offers a nice stretch to it which was perfect considering I did not do a rib edging.
Once knitted a sewed the seam up using mattress stitch – for me the finishing is just as important if not more than the knitting – there is no point spending hours knitting and the rushing the making up!
Mattress stitch means two pieces of knitting can be sewn up and on the outside the join becomes invisible – it’s just a matter of picking up the bars between the knit stitch at the edge;
Pick up the bars between the edge knit stitches
And Ta-dah the seam is perfect!
When it came to the ears I was expecting it to take a few attempts to get the perfect size but I got it on the first attempt!
Once both ears were done a fastened them in place with a needle to check the positioning – I actually used two of the decrease lines to position them and counted the same number of stitched from the top for both so they are symmetrical!
And Ta-dah the hat is done!
Perfect for a baby boy but for a baby girl I felt there was something missing . . . . a bow!!
Introducing Tina the Teddy Bear Hat . . .
It’s such a simple but effective pattern and I really think this wool adds that extra special touch and a perfect gift for a new born. If you are unsure of the sex you can make it in advance and then just add a bow if it’s a girl!
If you want to have a go at making this the pattern is available on both Etsy and Craftsy - the pattern has instructions for new born, 3-6 months and 6-12 months.
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