Bears

By now, we all hopefully know who I'm talking about when I mention Jo-Anne and her bears. You know, the nice lady up in Canada who knits teddy bears for kids around the world who need them and does it with amazing speed and generosity. I sent her some of the extra sock yarn bits y'all sent to me over the summer and she knit them up lickety-split and asked for more. I'm happy to say J0-Anne has gotten boxes from me and several of you, and really appreciates it. I've got one more box to send out soon, and I feel confident that she'll be knitting it into more bears for kids whip-snap. Just as a reminder, if you want to send her some yarn, you can e-mail her at fourgump at sympatico dot ca.

Let's take another look at those cute little guys, shall we?



Several of my readers have asked if there is a pattern available for the bears, and before Christmas, Jo-Anne e-mailed one to me with permission to share it with you. I'd like to ask that if you use this pattern, you consider knitting at least one bear for charity. There are many organizations that can use these, from local hospitals and shelters and law enforcement agencies to aid organizations around the world. Also, print out as many copies of the pattern as you need for yourself or your friends, but please keep Jo-Anne's name and the request that a bear be knitted for charity attached to any copies you distribute, and no copies may be sold. Okay, then. Here's the pattern.

Knitting Instructions: I'm going to be specific about needles and wool, but of course, I use all wools and varied sizes of needles. But this is the original pattern I started with.

Use double knitting (ie Patons Canadian) wool. Approx. 20 stitches to 4 inches.

Use size 10 needles (3.5 or 3.75 mm)

Cast on 10 stitches of the body colour. Knit 10 rows. Change to pant colour. Knit 30 rows. Break wool, leave on needle.

Knit another leg the same. (I sometimes don't put a paw on the legs, and just use the pants colour to the waist)

With both legs on same needle, knit across all 20 stitches for 16 rows. Then change to shirt colour, and knit 20 rows.

This brings you to the head. Use head colour. Knit for 5-6 inches. Then go back to shirt colour, knitting 20 rows. (if in doubt about how wide the head is, err on the wider side, rather than too skinny)

Then pants colour, knitting 20 rows. Then knit half the pants (ie leg) one at a time. Cast off.

To make arms and paws, pick up 8 stitches on the shirt colour (below head). Knit 20 rows. Change to body colour, and knit 10 rows. Cast off.

Repeat on other side.

Sew teddy with the wool and large, blunt darning needles, leaving hole to stuff. Stuff with qualofil or quilt batting (not foam) . Sew up.

For the face, make it happy. It can be tricky the first few times. Round eyes, cute nose, and a smile. Do not use buttons.

For the ears, use a couple of stitches of the body colour, and sew diagonally across each ear, pulling the thread to create ear. Don't worry, all ears look different.

If you want to make a scarf, cast on 75 stitches (using shirt colour, or something that you like). Knit 4 rows. Cast off. Tie around neck.

THAT's IT.

My suggestion would be to make a first bear out of one colour, for those who are nervous about changing the wool. All colours are great. The only comment I would make is that on a very dark brown bear face, the face doesn't show up well. I use all colours for my bears. Grey, browns, yellows, beiges, rusts. Even non-traditional colours look great. The kids who get them will love them whatever colour they are.

For the arms. Some people have trouble picking up the stitches. It would be just as easy to knit a small rectangle, and sew it to the body. Whatever works best for the particular child.

Enjoy. I love knitting them. In fact, I picked up some some variegated wool yesterday at a thrift store, with bears in mind!

Jo-Anne

Thanks so much, Jo-Anne. You do good work and I know some people will appreciate your writing out such a simple, fun pattern to share the knitterly love. I'm going to put a link to this post in my sidebar so people can find it for future use.