Little Crochet Bear Ears

Happy 2019! I’m attempting to resurrect my little blog after a few years, in the which I 1) gave birth to two (more) babies, 2) moved countless times to 4 separate countries, and 3) finally have access to my entire yarn collection for the first time since 2015. I’ve been meaning to blog throughout most of 2018, but hey, January 2019 is a good time to start new resolutions, yes?

I’d had many plans for what I wanted to post. Then, in December 2018, my long-time dear friend (and my very first yarning buddy) passed away of cancer. She was an avid crocheter of beautiful baby hats that she would donate to hospitals, hundreds of them over the years in boxes, with gorgeous colors and creative patterns. In her memory I am starting off the new year with a little donation box of my own, and with one of my most enduring go-tos, the good old teddy bear hat.

I’ve been making this hat from my very first hat crocheting days over ten years ago. This oft-requested ear pattern started out as a simple circle for frog ears, and evolved to my standby today. I like making my bear hats out of Lion Brand Jiffy Yarn – it’s soft and fluffy, but 100% acrylic so you can machine wash and dry it (and it comes out even softer!) without any wool allergies for sensitive babies. I have an entire bin of various shades of brown dedicated solely to bears. On the rare occasion I visit the U.S. and hit up a craft store, I’m always surprised to see Jiffy comes in a huge variety of colors. 🙂

PATTERN

You can use whatever size yarn and hook for this.

*Note: my dc are 2 chains high. If yours are 3, start with 4 chains

Ch 3, 10 dc into first ch.

If you want to switch colors, do so here. I use a light color for the brims of my bear hats as well as the insides of the ears.

Turn and ch1. 1 hdc into first st, 2 hdc into next st, repeat to the end of the row. Ch1, turn.

For the final row, you will be crocheting into the front two stitches of the hdc from the previous row. (Technically it’s the back two stitches, but when you turn/flip your work, they are now the front two stitches.) This will make the edge of the ear curl forward. Ch 1 hdc into each st. Leave a long tail for sewing the ear(s) to the hat, and fasten off. Weave in ends (except for the long tail) and your cute bear ear is complete!

You can also easily convert these to frog ears – start with white in the middle and green for the edges. Sew little black buttons to the inside white part for eyes. 

Happy crocheting and 2019! Here’s to goals, good deeds, and creative times for the new year!

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