Bear Necessities

With a niece and nephew that have both made their grand entrances in 2009, there are most certainly going to be knitted toys in my future. Meet the first two!

First, I used the stash yarn that I bought months ago along with the Baby Bobbi Bear pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas.



This one is going to be for my niece. Since it was the first time I’d knit this pattern, it’s mod-free


Bear butt!

The construction is very simple. There are short rows to create its tush and make the legs stick out front a little bit, rather than going straight downwards from the torso



See? It’s legs stick out forward just a little bit.



The only part of the pattern that’s a PITA is the arms. The whole bear is stuffed as soon as the head is finished, so you stuff the arms as you knit them. Which makes it awkward to pick up the stitches to knit the arms out. Ugh. But once you get a few rows in, it’s really not so bad.

The second bear practically flew off of the needles. I would have finished in four days, but this was not a travel-friendly project, so it didn’t go to Arkansas. And then when we got home, I ran out of floof and had a day’s delay for a trip to Jo-Ann’s to get more stuffing. These are not bears that will do well under-stuffed.


Touchdown!

This bear is for my nephew, so Hubster insisted that he needed a smile. Once I shot the pictures, I realized his smile is a little lopsided, but hey. That just gives him character!

Bear #2 benefitted from me having already knit the pattern once, with the exception of one tiny detail



I lost my mojo a bit while I was out of town, and his ears didn’t come out nearly as well as Bear #1’s ears.

As I had done with the first bear, I attached the ears and embroidered the face prior to stuffing. The pattern has you completely stuff the bear and finish the arms before you duplicate stitch the neck, attach the ears and embroider the face. That didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, so I did everything I could possibly do before knitting the arms.


Book ‘em Dano!

All in all, a very enjoyable knit. Twice!

Bears for Ellie and Killian

Pattern: Baby Bobbi Bear by Bobbi Intveld for Blue Sky Alpacas

Bear #1 (for Ellie)
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Bone
Yardage: 1.25 skeins/approx 190 yards
Needles: US 9 KA Switch needles
Started: 23 November 2009
Finished: 29 November 2009

Bear #2 (for Killian)
Yarn: Blue Sky Dyed Cotton in Sky
Yardage: 1.25 skeins/approx 190 yards
Needles: US 9 KA Switch needles
Started: 29 November 2009
Finished: 8 December 2009

Mods: Did all possible finishing work prior to knitting and stuffing the arms of the bear rather than doing the facial expressions, duplicate stitching and ear-attachment once the bear was enclosed and stuffed.