Presented to the Pride Lands in the opening sequence of The Lion King, Simba is Mufasa and Sarabi’s only cub, a brave but mischievous young lion who can’t wait to follow in his father’s footsteps as king of the Pride Lands. A symbol of leadership and hope for his people, his image is immortalized in shaman Rafiki’s baobab tree, having been drawn there after his birth. The Lion King was the first animated film since 1973’s Robin Hood to have no humans, and animator Ruben Aquino stated that drawing animals was more difficult because they have to have both human and animallike attributes. After making a decision not to anthropomorphize the characters, animators studied real animals for reference and even had a wildlife expert bring live lions into the studio so they could be observed up close. Animators also observed both of Simba’s voice actors (child and adult) reading their lines, taking personality traits and movements from the actors and directly drawing them into the character.

Inspired by Rafiki’s drawing of baby Simba, these mittens are worked in the round from the bottom up beginning with the cuff. Sized infant through adult with a traditional thumb gusset and Norwegian-style decreasing, the top is closed by cinching up the stitches. Held gusset stitches are then picked up and worked in the round to form the thumb. Different patterns on the palm side and hand side make these a graphic and interesting knit with motifs inspired by African art.

This pattern was offered as a bonus pattern for knitters who preordered the book and is not found in the hardback.