My love and attraction towards panda grew after the release of Kung-Fu Panda. The journey of a slacker panda Po to become a Kung-Fu skilled Dragon Warrior and fight against the treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung to save China. How he learns under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu, and support of the legendary Furious Five — Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Monkey.

So when the customer asked me to make a cute hat for his nephew, Panda or I should say Kung-Fu Panda became my top choice. I loved the idea of making a panda hat for a toddler.

Process:

I was planning to make a white bear ear flap beanie but I ended up making a panda.  The hat contains 2 parts: base of the hat and parts to make a panda i.e. ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

Base of the Hat:-

The base could be series of Double Crochet Stitch (DC) to create a basic beanie or series of Half Double Crochet (HDC). I opted for HDC as they provide more thickness since my yarn was fine quality.

After creating a basic beanie its time to create face parts of the panda.

Parts of the Panda Face:-

I followed the pattern from Sarah’s – Repeat Crafter Me Blog for getting the initial shape information.

Ears:

Sarah has used HDC starting from 8 HDC to 24 HDC.  But I tried to give a 5/8 pie look. 

Instead of going round and round for all rows, in the 3rd row, I skipped the last 2 HDC stitches. Turned and created one more row of HDC with an increment of 8 evenly. I made 2 of these. Since I used a smaller hook for the ears. I didn’t make 4 and join to provide sturdiness.

Eyes:

I followed the same steps as defined in the pattern but instead of 7 chains, I went for 9 ch to give bigger eyes.

Nose:

I followed the same steps as defined in the pattern.

Mouth:

I sewed black yarn differently to as other panda images.

Caution Section:-

1. The selection of the yarns is important. The thickness and elasticity of the yarn and the chosen crochet hook determines the design.
2. Also, your technique impacts the smoothness or finished look. Everyone has different technique ranging from tight stitching style to medium to loose stitching styles.
3. Since the number of rows alters due to different yarn sizes and crochet hooks, it is best to total up the number of rows required to make 1″. Based on this calculation, you can make the beanie with correct measurements for your target audience.
4. The positioning of the extras (ear, eyes, nose) and edging size along with the knowledge of the gauge will reduce the rework. For e.g., while working on ears and eyes, make one ear or one eye in a smaller size (i.e. reduce the number of initial counts or number of rows). Lay the beanie flat and place one ear and one eye and mark the positions using stitch markers. Mark the other eye position too by calculating the difference between each eye and the sides.

Product Specifications:

Defining Dimensions:-

• Height: 8.5″
• Circumference: 16″-18″

The sizes can be altered based on the count of the stitches for the rows.

Optional Alterations:-

• You can add pom-pom matching the colour with the edging or the base colour. Link to make the pompom.
• You can attach flowers, beads or a bow made of crochet, plastic, suede leather etc to give a more feminine touch.

But I do not think any other additionals are required more. You can give white button eyes on the eye patches to give open eyes panda.

Remember: do not over accessorise it. This hides the beauty of the pattern itself. Believe in elegance simplicity!!

In case, you have stuck anywhere or have any queries, kindly contact me.

Toddler’s Panda Hat

Style Aisle:

• Go for complete panda look. Panda hat and white and black outfit.
• White sweater or black sweater with panda hat.

Materials:

1. Yarn: Vardhama Wool – Black, White
   • Note: you can play around with different branded yarns as far as they give the synchronous flow of the pattern using a constant crochet hook.
   • You can either go for the yarns with the same recommended crochet hook OR decide the yarn and change the crochet hooks along with the tightness on the crochet stitches as you proceed with the pattern.
   • You can change the pattern to get the continuous flow.
2. Crochet Hook: 5mm
3. Needle
4. Scissors
5. Measuring Tape
6. Stitch Markers: My stitch markers are the mini safety pins we get from clothing tags. You can buy from Michaels- Stitch Marker, Amazon – Stitch Marker, Jo-Ann – Stitch Marker. Use offers for better deals.

Happy Crocheting!!!