How to Make a Santa Bear Lovy- Knitting Machine Tutorial

Learn how to make an adorable knit Santa Bear lovey. This is a free hybrid pattern using a knitting machine and crochet elements.

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 Santa Addi Bear! An adorable knit Christmas Bear lovey that looks like a teddy bear has dressed up like Santa Claus.

This is a knit lovey made mostly on the Addi Express Kingsize knitting machine, with a few crochet pieces thrown in.

This little guy was inspired by the original knit Addi Bear pattern I released back in October 2021 and the Pumpkin Addi Bear I just released a couple of weeks ago.

If you are able, I would highly suggest watching the Youtube video for the original Addi Bear 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.

Since the steps are so similar to the original pattern, 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 changes 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.

Lastly, I created a video for this tutorial showing how to do all the parts that aren’t in the original video.

Here’s what you will need to make your own knit Santa Bear lovey.

Materials

– Worsted weight yarn. I’m using I love this Yarn from Hobby Lobby in the colors Toasted Almond, Red, Black, White and Yellow.
– Scrap yarn for the snout, nose, and eyes.
– Addi Express Kingsize knitting machine
– H Crochet Hook
– G Crochet Hook
– Polyfil
– Sewing Pins
– 2 Stitch Markers
– Tapestry Needle
– Scissors
– Logo Tag (optional)
– 22mm Noise Maker Insert (optional)
– Small Pom Pom Maker (optional)

Knit Santa Bear Lovey Pattern

Inner Head

We’re going to start by making the inner head portion of your knit Santa Bear lovey.

No waste yarn for this part.

Cast on your body color 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 original addi bear 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 Santa Bear Lovey Body

Ok, now we are going to make the body of our Santa Bear.

Before starting, cut off a very long piece of your body color yarn. Like 3ft long. This is going to be used for something I’m calling “pull yarn”

Cast on again with your same body color 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 to red yarn, leaving the tails of your “pull yarn” to dangle in the center of your machine.

Crank out 20 rows using red.

Switch to your black yarn following the same method as the “pull yarn” . Don’t cut your red yarn because we will be using that one more time.

Crank 6 rows of black. Switch back to red. You can cut your black yarn now. Leave tails for securing and sewing in.

Crank 13 more rows of red and switch to white. You can cut your red yarn now. Leave tails for securing and sewing in.

Crank 5 rows of white.

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!

Learn how to make the adorable knit Pumpkin Bear lovey, a knit bear lovely using 2 knitting machines and a crochet hook!

Seeming up the bottom of your bear body

Remember to check out the original Addi Bear video if you would like to see how to seem the bottom instead of reading it here.

Place a stitch marker in the very last loop made before you switched to your waste yarn.

Go ahead and make sure your white 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 Santa 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.

Santa Bear Buckle

Before we create the neck of our knit Santa Bear lovey, we need to stitch on the belt buckle. To do this grab some scrap yellow yarn and your H crochet hook.

I showed this step by step in the video that goes with this pattern.

Put your yarn inside of your bear’s body, poke your hook into the inside where you want the bottom right corner of your belt to be, grab your yellow yarn and pull up a loop.

We will be using the surface slip stitch method to make our belt buckle. If you’ve ever made a Bitty Kitty Bag we used this stitch for that pattern too.

Insert your hook back into the lovey, right above where you just pulled up a loop, grab your yarn, and pull through making sure to go through the work and the loop on your hook.

Continue doing this for 6 stitches. Then we need to turn our work so we can make the top side of our belt buckle.

Surface slip stitch for 6 more stitches then turn your work to go back down the other side of your belt buckle.

6 surface slip stitches down that side, turn your work and place 6 surface slip stitches across the bottom of your belt buckle.

Tie off once your square is closed and hide your tails inside the body of your lovey.

Now it’s time to create the neck of your knit Santa 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 G 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 3-4: SC in each stitch around (12) Switching to white on your last SC.

Sew in your first tail, securing your magic circle.

Using your white yarn

Rounds 5-6: SC in each stitch around (12) Switch to red on your last SC.

Using your Red yarn

Rounds 7-15: 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.

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 Santa 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.

The good news is there’s only one ear and the Santa hat 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 Santa Bear lovey.

Crochet Santa Hat

Now let’s make our little Santa Bear Lovey Santa hat. This will be made in the round. Please refer to the video that goes with this pattern if you need extra help.

Using your H crochet hook and red yarn

Round 1: SC 6 into magic circle (6)

Round 2: INC, SC 2, INC, SC 2 (8)

Round 3: SC 2, INC, SC 3, INC, SC (10)

Round 4: INC, SC 4, INC, SC 4 (12)

Round 5: SC 3, INC, SC 5, INC, SC 2 (14)

Round 6: SC 6, INC, SC 6, INC (16)

Round 7: SC 3, INC, SC 6, INC, SC 5 (18)

Round 8: SC 6, INC, SC 8, INC, SC 2 (20)

Round 9: INC, SC 9, INC, SC 9 (22)

Round 10: SC 3, INC, SC 12, INC, SC 5 (24)

Switch to white yarn

Round 11: SC 24 (24)

Round 12: SC 24. SLST in next stitch. CH 1 Turn. (24)

Now we’re going to start joining and chaining up after each row.

Row 13: SC 24 BLO. Join into the first SC. CH 1. (24)

Row 14: SC 24. Join into the first SC. CH 1. Tie off leaving a very long tail for attaching your Santa hat to your Santa Bear Lovey.

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 Santa 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 popping his little head out of a Crafty Boho Stocking on Christmas morning?!

I hope you guys loved this pattern! If you end up making a knit Santa Bear lovey I’d love to see it! You can tag me at @acraftyconcept if you’d like to share.