North American Bears Hat

Only eight bear species remain in the world, including three in North America – the BLACK BEAR, BROWN BEAR and POLAR BEAR. This hat pattern includes charts for all three species, plus a fourth for the very rare SPIRIT BEAR of British Columbia. These bears encircle the hats in a parade. BABY through TODDLER size hats have three bears, CHILD through ADULT sizes have four bears. Your hat can feature just one species, for instance a Polar Bear Hat, or include several species.

The hat is a one or two-color single brim watch cap knit in the round on a 16' circular needle (plus double pointed needles for the decreases) or Magic Loop. The yarn is worsted weight with a gauge of 17 stitches = 4"/10cm. I used Red Heart Super Saver for the samples, though any similar weight yarn will work.

The bears are embroidered in duplicate stitch (also called Swiss darning or knit embroidery), and this pattern assumes a knowledge of that technique. Complete charts are included.

Gift tags to print are included.