Bear Mitts

Bear Mitts by Susan Lowman

What is Being Made

Bear Mitts are charming crocheted mittens designed to fit teens and adults, measuring approximately 8 1/4 inches long with an 8-inch circumference. These playful mittens feature bear-themed embellishments including safety eyes and animal noses to create an adorable character face on each mitt.

Craft and Primary Technique

Bear Mitts are created using the crochet technique. This project is classified as intermediate difficulty, making it suitable for crocheters with foundational skills who are ready to tackle more complex construction and embellishment methods. The design incorporates multiple yarn colors and requires careful assembly of decorative elements.

Stitches and Construction Methods

The pattern utilizes fundamental crochet stitches to construct the mittens:

• Single crochet (sc) - the primary stitch for building fabric density and structure
• Slip stitch (sl st) - used for joining rounds and creating seamless transitions
• Half double crochet (hdc) - provides medium height and texture variation
• Double crochet (dc) - adds height and creates lighter fabric sections
• Treble crochet (tr) - the tallest stitch used for specific design elements
• Chain stitch (ch) - foundational stitch for creating foundation chains and spacing
• Reverse single crochet (rev sc) - creates decorative edging with a distinctive braided appearance
• Decrease (dec) - reduces stitch count for shaping the mitt structure

The mittens are worked in rounds (rnds), creating a seamless tubular construction. The pattern includes stitch markers to track the beginning of each round and uses standard crochet abbreviations throughout.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

Bear Mitts require worsted weight yarn in multiple colors to achieve the bear design. The yarn quantities needed are:

• 1 skein brown (primary color for the mitt body)
• 25 yards yellow
• 5 yards tan
• 3 yards pink
• 5 yards black

The original photographed mitts were created using Caron Simply Soft yarn in the following colorways: #9750 Chocolate (brown), #9606 Lemonade (yellow), #9703 Bone (tan), #9719 Soft Pink (pink), and #9727 Black (black).

Tools and Notions

To complete this project, you will need:

• Size H (5 mm) crochet hook - or the size required to achieve proper gauge
• 4 black safety eyes measuring 12mm
• 2 black safety animal noses measuring 20mm
• Polyester fiberfill - for stuffing the bear features
• Stitch marker - for tracking round beginnings
• Tapestry needle - for weaving in yarn ends and attaching embellishments

Gauge and Sizing

The pattern specifies a gauge of 16 single crochet stitches and 20 rows or rounds equals 4 inches. Achieving proper gauge is essential for ensuring the mittens fit correctly at the intended teen to adult size. The finished mittens measure approximately 8 1/4 inches in length and 8 inches in circumference.

Design Details

The bear character design is achieved through strategic color placement and the addition of safety eyes and animal noses. The multi-color construction creates distinct facial features, while the polyester fiberfill provides dimension and structure to the bear face elements. This intermediate-level project combines basic crochet techniques with creative embellishment to produce a finished item that is both functional and whimsical.