How sweet and bobbly can a baby lovey be? I guess not more than this Tunisian crochet beehive lovey!
Whenever you need to crochet a cute gift for a gender-neutral or bee-themed baby shower, this bee lovey is just perfect! Especially if you’re a bit last minute and don’t have the time to crochet a full-size blanket.
For the lovey, I went for a very textured honeycomb pattern that combines two simple Afghan stitches: the Tunisian simple stitch and the Tunisian bobble stitch.
The Tunisian bobble stitch is comparable to a regular crochet bobble but even softer. As a result, the texture of the lovey is as squishy as a cloud! For a nice finishing touch, I also lined the back of the lovey with some mustard muslin, which also helps the lovey keep its shape.
For the first prototype of the beehive lovey, I attached an Amigurumi bee to the center of the lovey. However, I thought that a smaller bee would look cuter. So, in this pattern, I decided to include the pattern of the mini bee Amigurumi.
But of course, feel free to make the version of the lovey that you like better!
Find more bee-inspired projects for your baby!
Add this pattern to your Ravelry queue HERE and favorite it (– thank you!). Or save it for later by pinning it to your favorite crochet board on Pinterest using this pin!
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PRINTABLE CROCHET PATTERN
The printable pattern of the beehive baby lovey is available in all my online shops. The PDF pattern comes with complete instructions for making the Tunisian crochet lovey (+ a chart!) and the Amigurumi bee. Get your copy on Ravelry HERE, Lovecrafts HERE, or Etsy HERE.
Materials
- DK (3, Light) Yarn
- 3.0 mm (11 UK) Crochet Hook
- 7.0 mm (2 UK) Tunisian Crochet Hook
- 6.0 mm (J/10 USA, 4 UK) Crochet Hook
- Tapestry Needle
- Stuffing
- Black Embroidery Floss (or Safety Eyes)
- Optional: Cotton Fabric for Lining
Yarn & Yardage
I used Paintbox Yarns Baby DK (50 g, 182 yds / 167 m) in the following colors and amounts:
- Vanilla – Vanilla Cream (706) – 164 yds / 150 m
- Yellow – Daffodil Yellow (722) – 44 yds / 40 m
- Grey – Slate Grey (705) – 36.5 yds / 33.4 m
- Teal – Washed Teal (732) – 22 yds / 20 m
Crochet Abbreviations (US Terms)
- Ch – Chain
- Hdc – Half Double Crochet
- Inc – Increase
- Inv Dec – Invisible Decrease
- MC – Magic Circle
- Mini-Popcorn – Mini Popcorn Stitch
- Return – Standard Tunisian Return
- Sc – Single Crochet
- Sl St – Slip Stitch
- St – Stitch
- Tbo – Tunisian Bobble Stitch
- Tss – Tunisian Simple Stitch
- Yo – Yarn Over
Special Stitches
Increase (Inc)
One increase consists of 2 sts worked in the same indicated st.
Invisible Decrease (Inv Dec) See the tutorial HERE.
Magic Circle (MC) See the tutorial HERE.
Mini Popcorn Stitch (Mini-Popcorn)
The mini-popcorn is the same as a regular popcorn but it is done with hdc instead of dc. Find a tutorial on how to crochet a classic popcorn HERE.
Tunisian Bobble Stitch (Tbo)
You can find a step-by-step tutorial on how to crochet the Tbo in this blog post.
Tunisian Simple Stitch (Tss)
See how to crochet the Tunisian simple stitch in this free tutorial.
Standard Tunisian Return (Return)
Yo, pull through 1, (yo, pull through 2) until you only have 1 loop on your hook.
Size
- Lovey – 10.2″ (26 cm)
- Bee – 4” (10 cm) by 3.75” (9.5 cm) at the largest point
Gauge
With your 3.0 mm hook, 6.5 rounds in sc in 2″ (5 cm).
Pattern Notes
- If the pattern says “sc 2”, you need to sc 1 in each of the next 2 sts.
- (…) – Repeat the instructions within parenthesis for the indicated number of times.
- *… – Repeat the instructions from * for the indicated number of times.
- […] – Crochet the instructions within brackets all in the same indicated stitch.
BEEHIVE Baby LOVEY – Free Tunisian Crochet Pattern
- The first stitch is included in the stitch count and instructions.
- The last stitch is worked under both loops of the final ch from the previous row.
- The return pass is not indicated in the instructions but it is always worked as a standard Tunisian return.
- See the PDF pattern for a chart of the pattern.
With the 7.00-mm Tunisian crochet hook, start a Tunisian foundation row with 38 sts.
Row 1. Tss 38.
Row 2. Tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 3. (Tss 8, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 5) twice, tss 2.
Row 4. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 12, (tss 1, tbo 1) 3 times, tss 13, tbo 1, tss 2.
Row 5. (Tss 7, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 4) twice, tss 2.
Row 6. Tss 38.
Row 7. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 2, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, (tss 3, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1) twice, (tss 1, tbo 1, tss 2) twice.
Row 8. Tss 38.
Row 9. (Tss 2, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1) twice, (tbo 1, tss 3, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1) twice, tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 10. Tss 38.
Row 11. Tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 12. (Tss 8, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 5) twice, tss 2.
Row 13. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 12, (tss 1, tbo 1) 3 times, tss 13, tbo 1, tss 2.
Row 14. (Tss 7, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 4) twice, tss 2.
Row 15. Tss 38.
Row 16. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 2, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, (tss 3, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1) twice, (tss 1, tbo 1, tss 2) twice.
Row 17. Tss 38.
Row 18. (Tss 2, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1) twice, (tbo 1, tss 3, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1) twice, tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 19. Tss 38.
Row 20. Tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 21. (Tss 8, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 5) twice, tss 2.
Row 22. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 12, (tss 1, tbo 1) 3 times, tss 13, tbo 1, tss 2.
Row 23. (Tss 7, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 4) twice, tss 2.
Row 24. Tss 38.
Row 25. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 2, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, (tss 3, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1) twice, (tss 1, tbo 1, tss 2) twice.
Row 26. Tss 38.
Row 27. (Tss 2, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1) twice, (tbo 1, tss 3, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1) twice, tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 28. Tss 38.
Row 29. Tss 1, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) 4 times, tss 10, (tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 1.
Row 30. (Tss 8, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 5) twice, tss 2.
Row 31. (Tss 1, tbo 1) twice, tss 12, (tss 1, tbo 1) 3 times, tss 13, tbo 1, tss 2.
Row 32. (Tss 7, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 1, tbo 1, tss 4) twice, tss 2.
Close your work by sl st in the front bars of each st.
Border
With the 6.0-mm crochet hook, make a simple sc border all around. At the corners, ch 2 at each corner.
Fasten off and weave in all your ends.
Optional: Lining
Line your lovey by sewing some cotton fabric to the back (WS) of your work.
Bee Amigurumi
With your 3.0 mm hook, crochet one mini bee Amigurumi. Find the free pattern HERE.
Or if you prefer the larger bee, crochet this cute Bee Amigurumi HERE!
Finishing
Sew the bee Amigurumi to one corner of the lovey.
Your Tunisian Crochet Beehive Lovey is ready and squishy!
I hope you enjoyed this free crochet pattern, and I’d love to see your bee loveys! Please, share a pic of your work on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #raffamusadesigns!
Get more cute baby patterns here on the blog…
Hey! Could you mention the stitch count for the lovely…as I need to make a bigger one. Thx
Hi, if you want to make a bigger project you can simply add multiples of 9.
I am also working on making a chart of the pattern, which would be easier to customize. However, for now, I still don’t have it ready. Please, let me know if you manage to enlarge the lovey with the multiples of 9 rule!
Looking forward to seeing your big lovey 🙂
you have a start of 38 sts that is not a multiples of 9 just a little confused
Hi Debbie,
you’re right. So, I explained it wrong…
What I meant is that you need to add or subtract a multiple of 9 because one hexagon takes 9 sts: it is (1 tss, 1 tbo) 4 times and one more tss.
In the lovey I made, I had (9*3) = 27 sts for the central hexagons, 6 sts at the beginning, and 5 sts at the end, for a total of 38.
I hope it makes a little more sense like this. I’ll try to update the post soon and maybe venture into drawing a chart (?!)…let’s see. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail if this is not clear.
Best,
Raffaella
On row 7 after the tss (tbo, tss) four times ( these bobbles are worked in the vertical bars of the bobbles from row 5 ) could you explain where that stitch is?
Hi Margina, so, when you are at row 5, if you look at your bobbles after the return pass, you’ll see that there is a vertical bar that is just on top of the bobble. That vertical bar is where you work your Tss in the next row and it is also where you want to work your bobbles of row 7.
Please, let me know if this helped. In case it is not clear, give me a couple of days and I’ll make a picture of what I mean. 🙂
Hi, this is a lovely pattern. I have never tried Tunisian crochet before. Is there a video to show how to make it?
Thanks
Pauline
Hi Pauline,
Unfortunately, I don’t have any videos for the bee+lovey. I am just not starting to make more videos for my patterns but I am not sure when I’ll be able to make one for this one.
However, if you want to get started, I recommend CrochetKim. She’s got lots of clear videos for tunisian crochet beginners, both right and left-handed. Here’s the link to her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTFlxyBi1PWmlK5fjsdTYgg
For the bobble st, you can check out this photo tutorial https://raffamusadesigns.com/how-to-crochet-the-tunisian-bobble-stitch/
I am sure that once you know the basic of Tunisian crochet, you’ll also be able to learn from photos.
I hope this helps a little bit 🙂
Best,
Raffaella