Project introduction
This is a pattern overview, not a full tutorial, of a sweet newborn photo prop set from Sweet Potato 3. The Love Bug set pairs a bug-inspired hat, with playful antennae, a stitched smile, googly eyes, and felt heart details, with a striped cocoon whose gentle ridges add texture and charm.
This page summarizes the design; the complete row-by-row instructions live on the designer’s website. The full pattern is published as a free web version there, so follow the Original designer’s pattern and instructions for every round and assembly step. The source does not describe printable or PDF formats.
Why You’ll Love This Love Bug Pattern Overview
This love bug set is a charming way to mark a baby’s arrival, whether you are announcing the news, booking a professional newborn session, or capturing cozy at-home pictures. The playful design shines for Valentine’s Day, spring portraits, or any love-themed moment, and stays sweet year round when you swap colors to suit the season.
It is a fast, satisfying make with simple construction and repeating rounds, lovely for last minute sessions, baby shower gifts, and hospital announcement photos, and it needs only a small amount of yarn. Plan on an intermediate level that confident beginners can enjoy, using working in the round, color changes, and simple surface details. It fits a newborn of about 7-10 lbs and is a photography prop only, never for sleep or unsupervised use.
Materials Needed for the Love Bug Cocoon & Hat
Gather everything before you begin so the quick rounds stay uninterrupted. The designer lists three hook sizes, a modest amount of worsted weight yarn, basic tools, and small embellishments for the bug face. Here is the complete checklist.
- Crochet hooks in sizes I (5.5 mm), K (6.5 mm), and L (8 mm)
- 300-325 yards of worsted weight yarn (#4), in one main color plus four contrasting colors
- Scissors, a yarn needle, and a measuring tape
- Googly eyes or sleepy googly eyes; either option works
- Pink and white felt scraps, a very small amount, for the nose, hearts, and eye shapes
- Fabric glue for attaching the felt pieces
- Yellow yarn for the embroidered smile
- Optional: a book and clothespins to hold glued pieces while they dry
Stitches and Abbreviations Used
The pattern uses US crochet terms, with a short abbreviation key and one specialty placement that creates the set’s ridged texture.
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Round |
| Ch | Chain |
| Slst | Slip Stitch |
| Sc | Single Crochet |
| Hdc | Half Double Crochet |
| BB | Back Bar of the HDC from the prior row |
That last entry creates the texture: work into the back bar of the previous round’s half double crochet, top braid facing you, then finish the stitch as usual. From round three onward, it builds the subtle ridges across both pieces.
Gauge Check for the Love Bug Cocoon & Hat
A quick gauge check keeps the finished pieces true to size. The designer suggests a swatch of about 11 rows of 15 half double crochets, then measuring a four-inch square. With Hook K, the target is 9 rows with 12 hdc equal to a 4 inches square.
If the swatch is larger than stated, drop down a hook size; if smaller, go up a hook size, then recheck.
Pattern Sizing
The set is sized for newborns. Finished dimensions from the source:
| Piece | Finished size |
|---|---|
| Newborn hat | 12 1/4 inches around, 5 inches high; fits heads up to 14 inches |
| Newborn cocoon | 14 inches around, 15 inches long |
Notations for Hat and Cocoon Patterns
Both pieces are made inside out, so the side that is usually the back of the stitches shows as the front. Do not count the beginning chain of the rounds. When the pattern says to repeat to the end, repeat only the part written inside the brackets [ ].
The hat and cocoon are each worked in rounds, with the first two rounds in the traditional manner and the rest in the back bar of each stitch. Turning on random rounds, rotating the top braid away from you, builds the ridges, which is intentional. The cocoon uses five colors, one main with four contrasting, adjustable to your liking; the photographed sample has two extra rows of purple added for length.
Love Bug Hat Pattern for Newborns
The hat is worked in the round with Hook K (6.50 mm) in the main color, from a small ring that cinches closed when the beginning strand is pulled; a magic circle may be substituted. Rounds increase outward through the back bar, then continue evenly, ending with a single crochet round before fastening off and weaving in the ends.
The source lists the finished hat at 12 1/2 inches around (6 1/4 inches laid flat) and 5 1/2 inches high; find the round-by-round counts on the original designer’s page.
Antenna’s - make 2
The hat needs two antennae, made with Hook I (5.50 mm) in a contrasting color. Each starts with a chain of 12, then slip stitches are worked back along the chain. Leave a tail long enough to sew each antenna onto the hat.
Hat Finishing Details
Make sure the hat is inside out, since the backside of the stitches is the visible side. Sew both antennae to the top, placing each between the first and second rounds. Embroider a small smile on the center front with yellow yarn, about two rows high and seven stitches wide.
Cut the felt pieces: a small pink nose circle, two small pink hearts for the smile tips, four medium pink hearts for the antenna ends, and a white eye oval folded from a 2 inch square. Glue a medium heart to each side of every antenna tip, holding the felt with a clothespin while it dries. Add the smile-tip hearts, the eye shape about one row above the smile, the nose just below the eyes, and the googly eyes, then rest a heavy book on the hat until the glue dries.
Love Bug Cocoon Pattern for Newborns
The cocoon is worked in the round with Hook L (7.00 mm) in the main color, from a small ring that cinches closed when the starting strand is pulled; a magic circle may be substituted. Early rounds increase outward, then the body grows downward in back-bar half double crochet, striped with pink, purple, green, yellow, and blue as in the sample.
Rounds turn at random points to shape the ridges. Check the length as you work: fasten off at 14 inches, or finish the last three rounds if it is not quite there, ending with single crochet. The finished cocoon is 14 inches around (7 inches laid flat) and 14 inches long.
More Crochet Fun
Once your love bug is finished, the source site is worth a visit: Sweet Potato 3 shares new pattern releases and crochet updates, plus a Crochet and Conversations community where makers share projects, works in progress, and inspiration.
