Brown Bear Knit Toy

Over the holidays, my friend visited from Philadelphia and wanted to knit a bear for her nephew, so I offered to help her. To make it easier to teach her and because stuffed animals are adorable, I decided to make one, too. I had not fully knit a stuffed animal before, but I took a phenomenal class on toy knitting from Susan B. Anderson in 2013 that was really informative, so we got out the needles and went to work. 

My bear was knit with Cascade Eco Duo, which is incredibly soft as it is made from 70% undyed baby alpaca and 30% undyed merino wool. It turned out pretty cute (apparently I need to practice face embroidery for the future though). If you are looking for a similar bear pattern, check out Susan's book "Itty-Bitty Toys: How to Knit Animals, Dolls and Other Play Things for Kids".  I would not hesitate to buy the book if you give gifts to kids. There are tons of really cute animals and giving a hand knit stuffed animal that the child will keep for years beats spending a ton of time on a blanket or sweater that they will quickly out grow - in my opinion. Susan also has a great video about anchoring and embroidering eyes.  

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