DIY: Knit Teddy Bear Sweater and Free Pattern by Marta Porcel

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I knit the Teddy Bear Sweater for my own baby! This is the first project where knitting with boucle yarn appealed to me. Normally I think projects made from boucle yarn look like cat barf. However, in this sweater, the nubbly texture of the yarn and finished fabric look like fur. Which in this case, is totally the goal!

I chose to knit this in Woolfolk Flette, which is a boucle yarn made from the same 17.5 micron Ultimate Merino unique to Woolfolk. I’m glad I chose to tackle this project once I got proficient in knitting. Reading these stitches is no mean feat!

I knit the Teddy Bear Sweater in colour 22, a pale fawn brown. I didn’t want anything that would be too dark to see the embroidered bear face. However, I also didn’t want white! A white baby sweater is just asking for trouble!

Instead of the recommended 5.0 mm needles, I used 4.0 mm ones because of my loose gauge. However, I’m not even sure what gauge I got, because it’s so hard to see the stitches in this boucle yarn! Since the sweater is so small, I managed to finish it in just three days. Thankfully the pattern doesn’t include any fancy stitches, just cast-ons and cast-offs to achieve the shape.

The pattern is easy to follow and straight forward. You start by casting on a garter stitch hem and knit for a few rows, then switching to stockinette for the body and sleeves. You knit the teddy bear sweater in one piece, so the only seaming is at the sides and underarms. The teddy bear sweater has a small placket at the back so that it is easier to fit over an infant’s head. Instead of sewing on three buttons, I just sewed on one from my stash. Since there is no body shaping, this sweater is also reversible.

I was worried I would run out of yarn, since my skein of Flette is only 120 m. Other projects listed in Ravelry used up to 160 m of yarn, so I felt pretty stressed during this whole project. Thankfully, I won this game of yarn chicken! I cast off with just 2 m of yarn to spare, which I then used to seam the sides. I then used some leftover black Istex Kambgarn (from the Baa-ble Hat) to embroider the face. Ryan immediately pointed out that one eye is slightly higher than the other, but I’m sure that won’t be noticeable once the sweater is on a baby.

Get the free pattern for the Teddy Bear Sweater from Creativa Atelier here.

Marta Porcel also has instructions for knitting larger sizes. You can also get the pattern in Spanish.

Check out the other items that I knit for my baby here:

• Remi Cardigan
• A Simple Baby Pullover
• Doe Cap
• Binic Pullover