And we have a bear!

Take a look at Erin's fluffy creation. How cute is this guy?

New free bear pattern

Greetings, bear-alongers! So far we haven't seen any updates, as everyone is still ordering patterns and yarn for their bears. Let us know when you have something to share; even just a leg or a head will inspire the rest of us! Katie J. has been visiting everyone's blogs via her Bloglines account and recommends this service to anyone who hasn't tried it yet. It puts links to all of your favorite blogs in one convenient place, and even notifies you when a blog has been updated!

Now for the free pattern: Berroco sends out an e-newsletter called "Knit Bits". You can sign up for it at their website. Today's issue featured a cute little bear and the free pattern. Check it out!

Additionally, Katie J. did a little looking around to see if the Blue Sky Alpacas Bobbi Bear pattern could be ordered online for less than $8. It seems that most of the merchants offering it charge $4 for the pattern and $4 for the shipping. Well, she would rather save the extra $4 and use it for yarn! So she finally found Knit Happens, who will send the pattern to you for $4.75, which includes shipping. Hooray for someone who actually ships at cost.

Happy bear knitting, everyone!

Bobbi Bear Tip

Patti wrote us today to mention that she has heard of knitters using Lion Brand Thick and Quick to replace the primo-expensive alpaca yarn called for on the Bobbi Bear pattern. This is a great tip--thanks, Patti!

In fact, one could probably use any yarn desired (as mentioned by Brynne earlier) for any bear pattern and just end up with a smaller finished product. Since bears are bears, and not garments which need to fit a certain size, the suggested gauge is really just important if you want your finished bear to be exactly the same size as the pattern indicates. Katie J. had to substitute yarns for her bear, and her gauge is actually going to result in a slightly larger bear than her pattern indicates (just be sure to remind her of this when she starts knitting the bear's sweater).

We have some new knit-alongers and one crochet-alonger--welcome to all of the knitters and welcome to Leisel, who is crocheting a thread bear.

Look Who's Knitting Bears!

Welcome to everyone who has joined the bear-along so far. Your names have been listed in the sidebar to the left. We hope everyone will enjoy finding their perfect pattern and yarns to make the perfect bear.

Brynne wrote with some more pattern sources and a tip for the Bobbi Bear pattern:

"There are also bear patterns in:
Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Simple Knits for Cherished Babies
Debbie Bliss Baby Knits Book
Interweave Knits Winter 1999/2000

And Bobbi Bear can be knit up with other, thinner yarns (for much less money, too) just by converting the few measurements in the pattern by using the row gauge."

Katie J.'s yarn arrived today for her bear, so she's starting right away (in fact, as soon as she makes this post, because her son is napping). Please let us know when you start knitting so we can all follow each other's progress.

For anyone just visiting for the first time, it's not too late to join. Just leave us a comment on this blog.

A Pattern Idea (or two)

For those who are still looking for patterns, here is a really cute and unique pattern from Debbie Bliss. Found in her Noro Collection 1 book is a bear made with 9 skeins of Noro Kureyon. How cute is this bear (scroll down the page to see photo and yarn requirements)?

Also, let's thank Patti for pointing out another cute pattern, Bobbi Bear by Blue Sky Alpacas. This one calls for their own bulky yarn and is almost two feet tall! The pattern and yarns are available through any of the retailers listed on Blue Sky Alpacas's website.

Here's a photo of two Bobbi Bears, from Blue Sky's website:

And a kit for Bobbi can be ordered from Jimmy Beans Wool.

Fiber Trends also has a few felted bear patterns. There are the baby bears (scroll down the page to view) and the marigold bears. Very adorable!

Welcome!

Welcome to Katie J. and Katie O.'s teddy bear knitalong! As we're both pregnant and looking for cute baby things to make, we thought we'd try bears. We'd love for other knitters to join us, because after all, who doesn't love a teddy bear?

Here are some ideas for bear patterns. Katie O. is using a pattern from The Knitted Teddy Bear by Sandra Polley. Katie J. is knitting the Stars and Stripes bear from Teddy Bears by Debbie Bliss. Both books have great-looking bears, so if you have one of these in your pattern library, you're already set.

If you want to try looking for a free pattern online, here are a few we've found:

"Little Teddy" (no photo)

Mr. Bean style bear

Teddy Bear by Rita Taylor (no photo)

And here are two free patterns for a bear sweater:

About.com's pattern

Brown Sheep's pattern

The Rules

Basically, there are no rules. This is supposed to be fun, and we're going into the holidays soon, so we'd like to keep it as loose as possible. If you'd like to participate, please let us know by commenting to any entry on this blog. Send us your name, your blog URL, and the pattern you plan to use. We'll list your blog here under the "Participants" sidebar. Copy the knitalong button (to your left) to your hard drive, upload it to your own server, then post it on your blog so that other knitters can see that you're doing this knitalong. Keep your blog updated as to your progress, and try to finish by the end of January 2005. That's it. We'll post updates to this blog as we can, regarding the group's progress as a whole.

That's about it! So, let's make some new bear friends!