If a bear takes a knit in the woods...

Shhhh, be vewy qwuiet...

Who's that hiding there in the weezawoods? Could it be...

Weh hunting wabbits...

That devilishly sneaky knanimal...

Damn, ya caught me!

Why yes! It's the Baby Bobbi Bear! Captured for the first time on film, live in its natural habitat!

Beary cute
For LHN's (Little Honorary Nephew) first birthday present, I originally planned to knit him a fancy-schmancy gansey sweater. Then I read through the pattern and realized, man, that's a crapton of work for something he's going to outgrow in a week. So, back to the project binder I went and dug out this adorable little creature, which had gone into pattern hibernation last fall.

It's very well-written, clear and easy to follow. I do question the gauge, however - on size 9 needles at 4sti, it seems like the fabric would be way too loose for a stuffed toy. Which is why I knitted mine on size 4 needles at a much tighter gauge (that I er, didn't measure and now he's all stuffed and everything. But trust me, it's much tighter).

But of course, I made a few other mods as well - first, I used provisional cast on to avoid the bumpy ridge at the butt from picking up stitches off a long tail (ha!) cast-on. This was my first pass at the PCO, and I can say, without a doubt, that I totally, completely SUCK at it.

I tried it every which way, on different size needles, on waste yarn, on an Addi circ, on a KP circ, you name it. But every time, the stitches ended up twisted, too loose, too tight, or just generally effed up. Finally, I tied the two ends of the waste yarn together after the last stitch - tight enough to keep the stitches from getting twisted but not so tight as to stretch them out - and that seemed do the trick.

Until, that is, I went back to pick up the provisional cast on stitches, which still ended up wonky and uneven and just plain crap. Luckily, it ended up working out just fine as all I had to do was tink back an extra row to get at some nice, even stitches. Regardless, it's safe to say I won't be using that technique again anytime soon.

Hmmm, I wonder if there's any food in he...hey, what are you...aaaw man. This is so humiliating.

What else? Let's see...

• Made the body about 1/2" longer than the pattern called for (which was completely unintentional, I was just knitting along and by the time I realized, didn't see a need to tink back the extra length)
• Sewed his... er... nether regions... shut before knitting the head instead of waiting 'til afterwards (easier that way)
• Ditched the duplicate stitch around the neck (don't really see the point, his neck is so chubby, it doesn't really need reinforcement)
• Since I went with the PCO, used regular wrap & turn short rows for the butt
• Knitted the arms separately and mattress stitched them on (it was WAY too difficult to do this after he was stuffed - probably because I *might* have overstuffed him)
• Embroidered on a little mouth to make him more happy and cheery
  

The pattern calls for you to knit body, legs, head, stuff him, then do the arms last. Next time, though, I'll probably knit the head last - it was difficult to stuff him just through the armholes, and trying to pick up stitches for the arms on an already-stuffed bear was a... erm... bear. (baaaahahahahahahaha!) Hence why I knitted the arms separately and mattress stitched them on. I'd also knit a few extra rows after picking up all the wrapped stitches in the caboose to give him more of a badonkadonk.

Time to board the TARDIS for my next adventure!

Dr. Who Bear
Cute as he was, he needed a little something extra, so I dove into my overs bowl and knitted him a simple, Dr. Who-length garter-stitch scarf using leftover Spunky Eclectic from my Ampersand socks. Counterintuitive as it may seem, it's easier to cast on a bazillion stitches and knit a handful of rows than it is to cast on a handful of stitches and knit a bazillion rows. Ask me how I know this. :P

Tell me a yarn
HooBob is made with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, which you may have guessed by now is my all-time favorite worsted weight wool. Seriously, can't get enough of this stuff.

It took just about every inch of yardage from one skein with just a few scraps left over. The embroidery (which took several curse-the-paint-off-the-wall tries to get it even close to symmetrical) is a bit of Karabella Aurora 8.

Once he was completely assembled, I filled a small squirt bottle with some Euculan and water, shook it up, and give him an allover mist. Just enough to get the yarn damp. Since Euculan is a no-rinse wash, I was able to give him a nice little bath and gentle blocking, without soaking the stuffing!

Wrap it up
Oh, he so damn cute, I almost can't stand it! Hopefully LHN will have lots of snuggly nights with this little guy by his side. I'll have to wrap him up today and put him out of sight before the party on Saturday. Otherwise, I might be tempted to keep him!

HooBob
Pattern: Baby Bobbi Bear
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Chino (1 skein), Karabella Aurora 8 (embroidery), Spunky Eclectic SuperSock (scarf)
Needles: Size 4 for bear, size 1.5 for scarf
Mods: A few minor ones, see above!