I am pleased to introduce the Brave Lion Lovey – a free crochet pattern for you to enjoy! This project was inspired by my favorite book series – Harry Potter. Do you know a Harry Potter fan who is expecting a baby soon? Look no further for the perfect baby shower gift! Every baby Griffindor needs a lion lovey in the traditional house colors of maroon and gold!
Can we talk about the yarn for a second? I’m pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but Lion Brand Feels Like Butta is seriously my all-time favorite yarn! It’s super duper soft but without all the problems chenille yarn has. I also love the chain structure of the yarn. My hook never splits the yarn and it is very easy to frog too.
Of course you are always welcome to use whatever yarn you have on hand. Gauge isn’t super important for this project, so don’t sweat it. Pretty much anything that is weight 3, 4 or 5 will work. Just choose the hook that feels the most comfortable for the blanket part and go down a size for the lion head. It might not be the exact same size as mine, but that’s ok!
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Get your copy today on Etsy, Ravelry, or Lovecrafts! Also, make sure to save this pattern to your Pinterest or bookmark this page so you don’t lose it.
Let’s get started!
Materials
Worsted, size 4, medium weight yarn. Sample is shown in Lion Brand Feels Like Butta.
-Red: 45 g (90 yards)
-Yellow: 35 g (70 yards)
-Orange: 15 g (30 yards)
4 mm hook & 5 mm hook
Polyfil Stuffing
Stitch Marker
Embroidery Needle
Skill Level
Adventurous Beginner
Finished Measurements
12 x 12 in (30 x 30 cm)
Abbreviations
US Terminology
ch = chain
st = stitch
sl st = slip stitch
Sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
inc = increase
dec = decrease
Special Stitches
Loop Stitch: Wrap the working yarn from front to back over the pointer finger of the hand you hold your yarn with. Insert your hook into the next stitch, grab the yarn from behind your index finger and pull up a loop through the stitch. You now have two loops on your hook. Pull up another loop from the working yarn (not the loop) and pull it through the two loops.
Notes
With the exception of the ears, you will not be joining or turning when you make your lion. Work in a continuous spiral, using a stitch marker to keep track of the first stitch of the round.
Color Changes: When you have 2 loops on your hook from the last stitch of the current color, draw up a loop from the new color to pull through the final 2 loops and finish the stitch.
Ears (Make 2)
With Yellow:
Magic Circle
Row 1: ch 1, sc 6 in ring, pull tight, turn. (6)
Row 2: ch 1, inc 6. (12)
Leave a long tail for sewing and cut your yarn.
Muzzle
With Yellow:
Magic Circle
Round 1: ch 1, sc 6. (6)
Round 2: inc 6 (12)
Round 3: [inc, sc 1] x 6 (18)
Round 4: sc 18.
Round 5: [dec, sc 1] x 6 (12)
Leave a long tail for sewing and cut your yarn.
Face
You’ll be making the two halves of the lion’s head separately and then attaching them together.
With Yellow:
Magic Circle
Round 1: ch 1, sc 6 (6)
Round 2: inc 6 (12)
Round 3: (sc, inc) x6 (18)
Round 4: (sc 2, inc) x 6 (24)
Round 5: (sc 3, inc) x 6 (30)
Round 6: (sc 4, inc) x 6 (36)
Round 7: (sc 5, inc) x 6 (42)
Round 8: (sc 6, inc) x 6 (48)
Cut yarn and weave in ends.
Attach the ears on the 2nd to last round, 10 stitches apart from each other.
Stuff the muzzle and attach it between the 1st and 6th rounds.
Embroider the nose on the center of the muzzle.
Embroider the eyes between the 3rd and 6th rows, 3 stitches apart from each other.
Back of Head
With Orange:
Magic Circle
Round 1: ch 1, loop stitch 6 (6)
Round 2: loop stitch inc 6 (12)
Round 3: [loop stitch inc, loop stitch 1] x6 (18)
Round 4: (loop stitch inc, loop stitch 2) x 6 (24)
Round 5: (loop stitch inc, loop stitch 3) x 6 (30)
Round 6: (loop stitch inc, loop stitch 4) x 6 (36)
Round 7: (loop stitch inc, loop stitch 5) x 6 (42)
Round 8: (loop stitch inc, loop stitch 6) x 6 (48)
*Don’t cut yarn*
Holding the face and the back of the head together (with the wrong sides facing each other) begin to loop stitch around the circle, working through the last round of both pieces. When you only have a small opening left, stuff with polyfil and then stitch the rest up. Cut yarn and leave a long tail for attaching the head to the lovey.
Lovey
With Red:
Magic Circle
Round 1: ch 3 (counts as a dc), dc 2, ch 2, [dc 3, ch 2] x3, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Round 2: ch 3, dc 2, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 3 (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Round 3: ch 3, dc 4, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 7, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 2, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Switch to Yellow
Round 4: ch 3, dc 6, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 11, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 4, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Round 5: ch 3, dc 8, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 15, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 6, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Round 6: ch 3, dc 10, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 19, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 8, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Switch to Red
Round 7: ch 3, dc 12, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 23, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 10, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Round 8: ch 3, dc 14, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 27, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 12, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Round 9: ch 3, dc 16, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 31, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 14, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Switch to Yellow
Round 10: ch 3, dc 18, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 35, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 16, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3.
Switch to Red
Round 11: ch 3, dc 20, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space, [dc 39, (dc 2, ch 2, dc 2) in the ch space] x3, dc 18, sl st to join to the top of the ch 3. Fasten off and weave in ends.
Sew the lion head onto the lovey in a few different places between the 1st and 2nd rounds so that the head doesn’t wobble too much.
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