Do you need a new Lovey idea for some new little ones that will be arriving this fall/winter? I have the perfect pattern for you..."The Green Wise Guy Lovey!" With Covid19 having impacted our nation and world many are predicting a bit of a baby boom this winter so I bet a lot more baby blankets are going to be made this year than last!
Which in all honesty Covid19 is also why I have not been able to post any new patterns in a while! It has kept me busy as my other "once" side work as a grocery delivery contractor suddenly became essential work and had to become priority full time work for a while but I would rather not talk about that right now ha ha! Lets get back to the pattern!
This pattern is fun and easy to work up and I believe is beginner friendly! If you have any questions about any of the stitches I always recommend doing a search on Youtube which is basically how I learned to crochet in March of 2019 ha ha!
I love the texture of this blanket and its all thanks to the wonderful Primrose stitch (which there is a diagram for later in this article) which has quickly become one of my favorite stitches! The lovey in the picture worked up to about 18 x 18 and the character section is approximately 10 inches from ear to ear and about 3 inches tall from the chin to the top of the head.
The lovey gauge is not SUPER critical in my opinion but if you really want to play with the sizes or try to get it as close to 18 x 18 here is the gauge info:
Lovey Gauge:
multiples of 3 + 2 for the foundation row
8 rows = 4 inches
7 stitches = 2 inches or 14/15 stitches on the shell rows = 4 inches
The testers for this pattern finished their projects quite quickly and all had their final photos submitted in less than a week! My original draft was completed on a weekend so if you are needing a last minute project and have all the supplies handy this is definitely a great weekend project!
Testers lovey sizes averaged between 16 x 16 and 18 x 18 so if you just want to go for it without all the extra work to test and figure out your gauge you can! For supplies here is what you will need:
Materials:
Yarn: Worsted Weight 4 (Brown & Green)
Hook - H 5 mm
Darning Needle
Scissors
Poly fil or choice of filling
Large Safety eyes or size of choice (or buttons/felt, etc)
Hot Glue / Fabric Glue *Optional
Curved Needle *Optional - I use and recommend a curved needle like in photo below
Now that you have your supplies together here is the key with a list of stitches you will need for this pattern:
Stitches:
Sc - single crochet
Ch - chain
Sl st - slip stitch
Hdc - half double crochet
Dc - double crochet
Hdc2tog - half double crochet two (2) stitches together. *or you can do an invisible decrease
Sk - skip a stitch
Ch - chain
#st - do number of stitches in same space
St # - do stitch in the next number of stitches
* * - repeat *to* around
Shell - 3dc
And finally here is how you crochet the Green Wise Guy Lovey!
Pattern Instructions:
*beginning chains do not count as st
*begin each st in the same space as the beginning chain on rounds
Head: - Green
Begin: MR, ch 1
Round 1: 10 Hdc in MR, pull tight to close, sl st to join, ch 1. (10st) (This is the top of the head)
Round 2: 2Hdc in each st around, sl st to join, ch 1. (20st)
Round 3: *Hdc, 2Hdc* around, sl st to join, ch 1. (30st)
Round 4: *Hdc 2, 2Hdc* around, sl st to join, ch 1. (40st)
Round 5 - 7: Hdc 40, ch 1. (40st)
Round 8: *Hdc 2, hdc2tog* around, sl st to join, ch 1. (30st)
Round 9: *Hdc, hdc2tog* around, sl st to join, ch 1. (20st)
Round 10: *Hdc2tog* around, sl st to join, ch 1. (10st)
Pause: Attach safety eyes (or felt eyes). (You can also embroider the eyes on or crochet a set with a 3mm hook by doing a MR, ch 1, 4 sc, sl st to join, fasten off). Another tip is to add hot glue to the back of your safety eyes for added security. I attached the eyes between rows 5 and 6 approximately 1 inch apart (approximately 4 to 5 stitches between the two eyes). You can also go ahead and make the ears and attach them now if you do not want to do it after you have stuffed. I attached my ears at the end after it was stuffed using a curved needle so I could make sure my ears were exactly where I wanted them. Stuff to desired firmness with poly-fil and then proceed to Round 11 to finish.
Round 11: *Hdc2tog* around, sl st to join, fasten off leaving a long tail. With the long tail and your darning needle weave the tail through the front loop of the 5 stitches and pull the hole closed and weave in the tail a few times. You can use the rest of the tail to sew the head onto your blanket. (5st)
Note: You may need to massage the head slightly to get a more defined oblong shape.
Ears: - Green - make 2
Note: if you want the ears to be thicker you can make 4 and sew 2 together on each side.
Begin: Ch 4
Row 1: Hdc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc next 2, ch 1. (3st)
Row 2: Turn, 2hdc, hdc, 2hdc, ch 1. (5st)
Row 3: Turn, 2hdc, hdc 3, 2hdc, ch 1. (7st)
Row 4: Turn, hdc 7, ch 1. (7st)
Row 5: Turn, 2hdc, hdc 5, 2hdc, ch 1. (9st)
Row 6: Turn, hdc 9, ch 1. (9st)
Row 7: Turn, hdc2tog, hdc 5, hdc2tog, ch 1. (7st)
Row 8 - 9: Turn, hdc 7, ch 1. (7st)
Row 10: Turn, hdc2tog, hdc 3, hdc2tog, fasten off. (5st)
Blanket Section: - Brown
Note: Refer to diagram A for assistance with the Foundation row through row 2.
Begin: Ch 68. (Multiple of 3 + 2 stitches, see gauge section to alter the size of lovey)
Foundation Row: (Sc, ch 2, sc) in 2nd ch from hook, sk 2, *(sc, ch 2, sc), sk 2*, repeat *to* to end, hdc in the last st. (you will have 22 sets of (sc,ch2,sc) and 1hdc)
Row 1: Turn, ch 3, *3dc (shell) in the next ch 2 sp* repeat across, 1 dc in top of the beginning ch. (22 shells and 1dc)
Row 2: Turn, ch 2, (sc, ch 2, sc), into 2nd stitch of shell, sk 2, *(sc, ch 2, sc), sk 2*, repeat across, hdc in last st. (you will have 22 sets of (sc,ch2,sc) and 1hdc)
Row 3 - 32: Repeat rows 1 & 2.
Row 33: Repeat row 1, fasten off after the last st. (22 shells and 1dc)
Assembly
Note: I assemble most of my appliques/projects with hot glue, which is a fast and safe method. The glue adheres the fibers quite well and the applique is very secure. The hot glue packaging that I use says non-toxic so it is safe in my opinion as well. In addition, you can machine wash on cold, and lay flat to dry or tumble dry/lowest heat setting. You may also use other fabric safe glue or use the traditional method of sewing your pieces together.
How to assemble the Green Wise Guy Lovey:
If you have completely assembled the head you will simply need to sew your head piece onto the center of the lovey blanket section.
If you have not finished assembling your head you will need to make sure you have finished attaching the eyes and ears and filling the head with poly fil before sewing it to the blanket. Reference the instructions in the head section after row 10 for more info.
(You can use a little pink blush inside the ears to “stain” the yarn to give it a pink look in the inner ears if desired)
Congratulations!!! You have completed the "Green Wise Guy Lovey!" I hope you enjoyed this pattern as much as myself, my testers and VIP Facebook Group Members! If you would like to join us to show off your work you can find our group by clicking here.
Before you go here are a couple photos from my testers! I love how the variegated yarn looks with this pattern! This work was done by Tanya Person.
And I just couldn't resist sharing this next photo ha ha! This photo that was submitted by tester Vannessa Sturm! She took her lovey on a super fun photo shoot in her backyard and she said her neighbors thought she was crazy although it didn't stop her from having a whole lot of fun with this ha ha! My testers crack me up!
If you find yourself loving this pattern so much that you would like to purchase a copy of the printable PDF you can find it in my Etsy and Ravelry Shop! Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to sharing another pattern with you very soon! Have a wonderful day and blessings to each of you!
Karen E.