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Sleepy Bear

Pattern by: Debbie Bliss

Found in:Teddy Bears

Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Petal and Nutmeg

Needles: Size US 2

Gauge: (Didn’t measure)

Here she is in all her sleepy cuteness. This was just as much fun to make as I thought it would be. It’s so cute I can’t really look at it anymore. She’ll be shipped off to some lucky person soon…

See all entries for Sleepy Bear.

So I’ve been sick all weekend, and into this week. Boo for being sick. But that means that I’ve had some time to knit, and do a little aimless internet surfing. I found a couple of things that are fun and exciting:

V&A Museum 40’s Knitting Patterns

Now, I know there are vintage knitting patterns all over the web, but I always love finding more, and I was particularly happy to find a pattern for fishnet stockings (!), which I’d never seen before. Totally making those. Also, V&A has a great little section on knitting on their website, including profiling interesting knitting designers and artists (go to http://www.freddierobins.com for some cool machine-knit art pieces). By the by, V&A is definitely one to check out if you are ever in London - it rocks.

I’ve also become very excited about making a visit to Habu Textiles, as I think the idea of knitting with stainless steel(!) and paper yarn sounds too good to pass up. I’m kind of digging some of their designs, as well, such as this, made with paper and silk:

As far as what I got done this weekend on my own projects, I have sleepy bear almost finished, but not quite, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so I’ll just show you a little bit of the progress that was made…

Bunny pajamas started…

Little pink hood

The bunny pajamas for the sleepy bear are coming along. Sometimes these little toy clothes (like the sweater for the fisherman bear) seem to take as much work as regular adult-sized things. I mean, you have to make sure they fit right, of course, and there are a lot of little details and stitches that need to be picked up and seams to be sewn, etc. Despite this, I have to say that making knitted toys is lots of fun - they knit up relatively quickly, don’t use much yarn, and are great little gifts. Every one I’ve made has gone to someone as a present.

The pattern is from Debbie Bliss’s Teddy Bears. I won’t ruin the surprise of just how ridiculously cute this pattern is, unless you want to go see for yourself. Debbie Bliss’s toy patterns are pretty clever, although they do incorporate lots of sewing. For the bear I’m using Knit Picks Merino Style in Nutmeg and the bunny suit is in Petal. This yarn is awesome, not just because it’s so inexpensive.

This guy is for someone in particular, but I’m not telling who yet.

Sleepy Bear in Progress…