Learn how to make the adorable knit Pumpkin Bear lovey, a knit bear lovely using 2 knitting machines and a crochet hook!
Welcome back to the A Crafty Concept blog! I have a fun new design for you guys today. Allow me to introduce to you the Pumpkin Addi Bear! An adorable knit Pumpkin Bear lovey that looks like a teddy bear is popping out of a pumpkin.
This is a knit lovey made mostly on the Addi Express Kingsize knitting machine, with a few crochet pieces thrown in.
His little pumpkin topper is made using the Addi Express (22 needle) with a crocheted stem. It’s very much a knit/crochet hybrid situation.
These cuties were inspired by the original knit Addi Bear pattern I released back in October 2021. So just about a year ago!
The only difference between this knit Pumpkin Bear lovey and the original Addi Bear pattern is a color change and adding a pumpkin topper.
If you are able, I would highly suggest watching the Youtube video for the original pattern. I’m much better at teaching through video than I am in the written word, but I’m going to do my best here on the blog as well.
Just remember to change colors while working the body.
I do a lot of chatting in the video, explaining a little of “why” we are doing some of the things we do throughout this pattern, and letting you see a little bit of my thought process as we go.
This post may contain affiliate links meaning I may receive a small commission from purchases made at no extra cost to you.
But for those of you who aren’t here for the chitchat and are all business (I love you btw), I have time-stamped the video for you with all the important parts so you can skip around accordingly.
Video Time Stamp
00:00 | Welcome
01:56 | Materials
05:00 | Inner Head
10:31 | Starting Body
11:56 | Pull Yarn
13:21 | Finish Body
14:51 | Waste Yarn
15:37 | Casting Off
16:34 | Seeming Bottom
20:22 | Clinching Neck
21:40 | Stuffing and inserting Inner Head
32:23 | Arms
36:50| Ears
40:00 | Attaching Arms
47:30 | Snout
51:33 | Attaching Snout
55:09 | Embroider Nose Face
1:05:00 | Attaching Ears
1:08:00 | Attaching Tag and Fur Yarn Tips
Since the steps are exactly the same as the original pattern (with 1 added color change), I didn’t re-photograph the whole tutorial.
I added a few pictures to show you what your work should look like with the color change for you to reference.
If you would like to support my shop by punching the Ad-free pdf version of this pattern you can find it here for $3.00. Purchase includes a fully photographed version and a printer-friendly version.
If you have never used your Addi before and this is your very first time, I would suggest watching a video by my friend Taylor first. She does a really good job at explaining all the steps for using a knitting machine for the first time.
Here’s what you will need to make your own knit Pumpkin Bear lovey.
Materials
– Worsted weight yarn. I’m using I love this Yarn from Hobby Lobby in the colors Toasted Almond and Burnt Pumpkin.
– Scrap yarn for the snout, nose, and eyes. And a small bit of brown for your pumpkin stem.
– Addi Express Kingsize knitting machine
– Addi Express knitting machine
– H Crochet Hook
– G Crochet Hook
– Polyfil
– 2 Stitch Markers
– Tapestry Needle
– Scissors
– Logo Tag (optional)
– 22mm Noise Maker Insert (optional)
– Pumpkin Leaf Tag (optional)
Knit Pumpkin Bear Lovey Pattern
Inner Head
We’re going to start by making the inner head portion of your knit pumpkin bear lovey.
No waste yarn for this part.
Cast on your yarn, crank out 16 rows, then cast off by using a tapestry needle and picking up each stitch at a time to take it off the machine.
I show you how to cast off in the video if you need further instruction.
Pull closed your first tail then use your tapestry needle to completely close and secure it.
Start to gently pull your second tail, slowly closing the top hole.
Stuff with polyfill and your noisemaker and continue closing the rest of the way. Use a tapestry needle again to fully close and secure the second hole.
Tie off and hide your tails inside of your head.
Set this aside, we will use it again after making the body of the bear.
Knit Pumpkin Bear Lovey Body
Ok, now we are going to make the body of our pumpkin bear.
Before starting, cut off a very long piece of your body color yarn. Like 2-3ft long. This is going to be used for something I’m calling “pull yarn”
Cast on again with your same yarn and crank 16 rows. Do not cut your yarn.
This will be the outer head portion of your Addi Bear.
This next part is tricky, there’s a good chance I completely made this technique up lol, so if it’s confusing please refer to the video.
Once you get to the end of row 16 and your black Addi needle is sticking up, take your working yarn and put it to the center of your machine.
Grab your “pull yarn” and do one full row using the “pull yarn” instead of your working yarn. Kinda like making a stripe with your “pull yarn”.
Switch back to your main working yarn, leaving the tails of your “pull yarn” do dangle in the center of your work.
Crank out 10 more rows of the body of your bear.
Switch to your orange yarn following the same method as the “pull yarn” but this time you can cut your bear body color yarn. Leaving a tail long enough to sew in.
Crank 33 more rows of orange.
End by cranking a few rows of waste yarn in a contrasting color then cast off.
Pro Tip: I have seen some people, like my friend Karen from Little Bear Crochet Co, clinching the bottom of their lovies instead of squaring it off at the end. It’s super adorable and much faster!
Seeming up the bottom of your bear body
Place a stitch marker in the very last loop made before you switched to your waste yarn.
Go ahead and make sure your pumpkin color tail isn’t tucked into your work and is hanging on the outside. You will need this here in a bit.
Starting from your first loop before your waste yarn row, count over 23 stitches. Place another stitch marker there.
This will be the front half of our pumpkin bear body.
Insert your crochet hook into the loop with the 2nd stitch marker, grab the loop directly next to it, and pull through.
Insert your hook into the next stitch beside the stitch marker (this is on the front side of your bear lovey now) and pull through.
Continue pulling through loops, alternating between the back half and front half, until you are all the way across the bottom of your lovey.
The place where you put your first stitch marker will be your very last stitch.
Secure your work by pulling your tail through the last loop on your hook.
You can remove your waste yarn.
Now it’s time to create the neck of your knit pumpkin bear lovey.
Grab your “pull yarn” tails and gently pull them tight.
Insert your “inner head” then clinch the second head hole by gently pulling the tail.
Close the hole with your tapestry needle, tie off and hide your tail inside the head.
Hid the tail at the bottom of your Addi bear into the body between the front and back panels.
Arms– Make 2
Using your H crochet hook and your body color yarn.
Create a magic circle and CH 1.
Round 1: SC 6 into the center of your magic circle. Pull the circle closed.
Pro Tip: Use a stitch marker here if you need to
Round 2: SC INC in each stitch around (12)
Rounds 3: SC in each stitch around (12)
Sew in your first tail, securing your magic circle.
Rounds 4-15: SC in each stitch around (12)
Cut yarn leaving a long tail for attaching your arm to your Addi Bear.
You can add a little stuffing in your arms if you want them to be a little poofed. I left it out for this bear.
Ear- Make 1
Using your H crochet hook and your body color yarn.
Create a magic circle and CH 1.
Round 1: SC 7 into the center of your magic circle. Pull the circle closed.
Round 2: SC INC in each stitch around (14)
Rounds 3-4: SC in each stitch around (14)
Sew in your tail and secure your magic circle.
Round 5: SC DEC over the first 2 stitches. SC in the next 3 stitches. SC DEC over the next two stitches. SC in the next 3 stitches. SC DEC over the next two stitches. SC in the last 2 stitches (11)
Cut yarn leaving a long tail for attaching your ear to your Addi Bear.
Snout
Using your H Hook and Snout color yarn
Create a magic circle and CH 1.
Row 1: SC 8 into your magic circle. Join into the top of your first SC. CH 1.
Row 2: SC INC in each stitch around (16) Join into the top of your first SC. CH 1.
Row 3: *SC in the first stitch, SC INC in the next * Repeat that around for a total of 7 times. (24) Join into the top of your first SC.
Tie off leaving a long tail for sewing your snout onto your pumpkin Addi Bear. Sew in your first tail.
Knit Pumpkin Bear Lovey Assembly
I go over this in detail in the original Addi Bear Pattern Video.
I like to start with my arms. Line your arms up on each side of your Addi Bear and sew them on using a tapestry needle.
After the arms, we attach the snout.
Using sewing pins, line your snout up on your bear face where you want it to go. Remove the pins as you go.
Using the whip stitch and your tapestry needle so on your snout.
Tie off and hid your tail inside the head of your body.
Now let’s embroider the nose.
Grabbing your scrap nose color yarn and a tapestry needle.
Insert your needle in the head of your bear and pop it out where you want the bottom tip of your nose to go.
Insert your needle into the top right corner of your Addi Bear nose and pop out where you want the top left corner to be.
Continue going into the tip of your bear nose and popping out where you want the next strand to lay until your entire nose is created. Again, I show this in detail in the video that goes with the original Addi Bear pattern.
Tie off and hide your tail inside your bear head.
Eyes and mouth
Embroider the eyes and the mouth using the same method as the nose.
Tie off and hide your tails inside your bear head.
Ear
Using your pins again, begin placing your ear onto your bear head where you think it should go.
Imagine where the second ear would go if you had one. This might help you get a more desirable/symmetrical look.
Good news is there’s only one ear and the pumpkin topper goes on the other side. This gives you room for error that will go unnoticed ;).
Make any necessary adjustments until you are happy with the placement of your ear, then sew it on with your tapestry needle.
Tie off and hide your tails into the head of your knit pumpkin bear lovey.
Pumpkin Topper
Here is a video showing you how to make the pumpkin topper. Just leave off the clip.
Start by knitting 16 rows, with your orange yarn, on your Addie Express.
Cast off by picking up each stitch one at a time and pulling your tail through. (I show this step in the video if you need more help)
Pull the opening closed on both ends of your little tube.
Squish the two openings together so they are now touching.
Using one of the tails and a tapestry needle, sew the two ends together in the center where they are touching.
Just a few stitches around the clinches will be fine.
Do not sew in your orange tails yet.
Pumpkin Topper Stem
The stem is made in the round. This means we will not be joining and chaining up one after each round. You can use a stitch marker for this part if you need to .
Using your G crochet hook
Round 1: Start by placing 6 sc into a magic circle. (6)
Round 2: SC INC in each stitch around (12)
Sew in your first tail from round 1.
Rounds 3- 7: SC in each stitch all the way around (12)
Slip stitch into the next space and tie off leaving a long tail for attaching your pumpkin stem to your crochet pumpkin topper.
Sew in your first tail.
Stuff your pumpkin stem with a little polyfill (cotton balls will work if you don’t have any polyfill).
Thread your tail onto a tapestry needle.
Place your stem in the top center of your pumpkin topper and begin whip-stitching it in place with a tapestry needle.
Tie off and sew your tail on the bottom of the pumpkin body, leaving one orange tail for attaching your pumpkin topper to your bear head.
Place your pumpkin topper on the bear head and line it up so it looks good with the other ear.
Sew it on using the last orange tail and your tapestry needle.
Tag- Optional
Last but not least, sew on your logo tag if you would like. Mine is 1.25″ and I get them from Angie and Britt.
Now you have an adorable, squishy knit pumpkin bear lovey that is ready to be listed in your Etsy shop! Or gifted! I think these would make beautiful fall baby shower gifts or one-year-old birthday presents!
Oh gosh, how perfect would this bear be gifted with a matching pumpkin hat?! Check out the free crochet pumpkin hat pattern here.
I hope you guys loved this pattern! If you end up making a knit pumpkin bear lovey I’d love to see it! You can tag me at @acraftyconcept if you’d like to share.
Happy Crocheting
❤️ Ashley