Cuddly Teddy Bear

It is the start of a New Year and the weather here is so utterly miserable.  I know I should not complain, we may be have endless heavy rain, but least it is not snowing or blowing a hurricane - as it is in other parts of the country.  How is the weather where you are?

Today I wish to share with you a little teddy bear I made for my niece.  Those of you who follow my blog will remember my niece and her Christmas elves.  Last July, when I gave her her all of the dresses and jumpers I had knitted for her and her elves she said that she thought it would be a great shame if, when her children grew out of the fun they have with their 'Elf on the Shelf' antics, the clothes I had made were simply forgotten about.  She wondered whether she could find a doll they would fit.

This gave me an idea, I wondered if I could adjust my Little Cotton Rabbit pattern to fit these slightly larger clothes (you will recall that I made the clothes in Double Knit instead of 4 ply so they would fit te elves).  I gave you a brief glimpse of my labours to find the correct size yesterday.  Sadly none of those bunnies were the size I was looking for.  I thought I had been defeated, but a search of the internet told me that there is a thickness of yarn I had not heard of before - Aran, I had always thought this was a pattern not a yarn.  So, I ordered some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, which is a fabulously soft Marino Wool and Cashmere mix.  The size was perfect and it knitted up a real treat.

Here are a few photographs of this sweet teddy wearing one of the new dresses I made for her. This dress pattern is called 'Tiny Buds', it was designed by the talented SuzieMarie.  All of her designs are available free from Ravelry.

In the rear view you can see the tiny button fastening.  If you look closely you will see that it is a tiny heart shape.

Her other new dress is taken from Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits - Girl Fox' pattern. This dress design is called 'A Flowery Frock'.  As before, I made both dresses with Double Knit yarn.

A closer look at the new dresses.  I think the tiny buds are so sweet and the tulip design is very pretty, don't you agree?

I took this next photograph so you can see how much larger this bear is compared to the normal 'Little Cotton Rabbit' size, the only thing I did differently from the pattern was to use the Aran wool instead of Double Knit.

And finally, because I never made any shorts for the elves, I knitted several pairs of shorts for teddy to wear with all of the elf jumpers.

I really enjoyed knitting with the aran wool and think it will not be the last time I use it.

Dionne