A Lovey to Knit For Baby
Last Updated on December 4, 2018 by lydiaf1963
What do you call the soothing toys you give to an infant? In our family we call them loveys. Others call them woobies or cuddle buddies. No matter what you call them, it’s a good bet that if the baby is fussing, she’s dropped her lovey and wants it back. Today I’m going to share a lovey to knit for baby.
Need a stash busting charity knitting project? This may be it!
This pattern is perfect for infants. It’s called Kitty Baby Blanket Buddy by Hattie Tavares and is available for free on Ravelry. It features a simple face and a flat body that will be easy for tiny hands to grasp and explore. The texture of the moss stitch used to make the body will add some interest, too. And when teeth start poking through, the lovey will be safe to chew on.
This is an ideal stash busting and/or charity knitting project. I’ll bet you have the perfect yarn already. It just needs to be soft and washable. My knitted baby toy is made with a cotton acrylic blend. I like how it shows off the stitches.
Another thing I like about the pattern is that it’s small! It’s only 35 stitches wide, so I used DPNs but I could totally see loading up a set of circular needles with multiples of the project (similar to Two at A Time Socks). I was able to knit a lovey in just over an hour and I’m not a fast knitter.
Embroidering the face was another matter. The pattern includes two charts for duplicate stitch but for whatever reason I struggled with the process. I removed the stitching and started over at one point. To add insult to injury after selecting my images for this post, I noticed another lovey boo boo. Too late to fix now…the package is at the post office!
Materials and Equipment Needed to Knit A Lovey
- Sport, Sock or Fingering Weight Yarn (50 gram/1.75 ounce balls of sock yarn would be perfect)
- 4mm and 3.75mm OR 3.5mm needles (US Sizes 6 plus Size 5 or 4)
- Contrasting yarn for the face
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
- Fiberfill or similar to stuff the head
- Pattern from Ravelry
Skills Needed to Knit this Project
- Cast on and bind off
- Knit
- Purl
- Knit and Purl in the same stitch (similar to Knit Front and Back)
- Duplicate Stitch embroidery (video)
- Mattress stitch for seaming (video)
There are lots of different styles for knitting baby toys like this. Most of them have a flat body for easy grasping, a head of some sort and sometimes knotted corners to represent hands and feet. I have a feeling there will be a few more loveys to come off my needles in the coming weeks.
More baby knits:
