Thursday, February 24, 2011

Birthday Bear

I knit this little guy as a birthday present for a friend.  He's a bear, and a lion, and his name is Sir Leo Bearington Reginald the 1st.  I don't know how viable a species the bear-lion is, so there may or may not be a Sir Leo Bearington Reginald the 2nd, or the 3rd.  If you would like to know the story of Sir Leo's creation, read on....  If you would like to make your own bear-lion, skip to the bottom for the pattern.
 
 
 
There was a bear, walking along the African Savanna one day (he was lost, evidently)....no, but really, I asked my friend Nick, if he were an animal, what would he be.  His response was that he had never really thought about it, but most people either compared him to a bear or a lion.  We proceeded to have an actual conversation about this, and discovered in the process that there were no mythical creatures that were a combination of these particular two species...or at least we could find none with minimal computer research.  So I knit one.  Now there is a mythical yarn-based bear-lion, who lives comfortably in temperate climates on top of desks, or kitchen counters, or really any empty surfaces that you might have lying around the house.  This particular breed of bear-lion makes up in adorability what he lacks in ferociousness. Luckily, he is largely an indoor species and will thus likely never have to defend himself in the wild.




He also is a coffee addict, spending much of his time hanging around half-empty coffee cups.  

This little guy is an adaptation of Henri the Knitted Bear by Rachel Borello, available as a free download on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/henri-the-knitted-bear

 The following changes and additions were made to the basic bear pattern.

Arms (make 2):
CO 3.
Row 1: Kfb around, arranging evenly over 3 dpns.
Row 2: Kfb around.
Rows 3-8: Knit.
Row 9: K4, k2tog, k2tog, k4.
Row 10: K3, k2tog, k2tog, k3.
Stuff arm.
Cut yarn and thread through all stitches. Pull tight and fasten off. Sew arms to body.

Legs (make 2):
CO 3.
Row 1: Kfb around, arranging evenly over 3 dpns.
Row 2: Kfb around.
Rows 3-8: Knit.
Row 9: K4, k2tog, k2tog, k4.
Row 10: K3, k2tog, k2tog, k3.
Stuff leg.
Cut yarn and thread through all stitches. Pull tight and fasten off. Sew legs to body.


Mane:
Rows 1 and 2: Sl 1, k across.
Row 3: Sl 1, M1, k1, turn.
Row 4: Knit.
Row 5: Sl 1, M1, k4, turn.
Row 6: Sl 1, k across.
Row 7: Sl 1, M1, k2, turn.
Row 8: Knit.
Row 9: Sl 1, ssk, k across.
Row 10: Sl 1, k across.
Row 11: Sl 1, ssk, k1, turn.
Row 12: Knit.
Row 13: Sl 1, ssk, k across.
Row 14: Sl 1, k across – 4 sts at the end of this row.
Rep Rows 1-14 five times or until Mane fits around Head. Bind off, leaving a long tail.
Sew mane around head.

Tail:
Crochet this part on a 5.5mm needle
Chain 10.
Sc in 2nd chain from end
Sc in each chain around (you should have a row of sc stitches on each side of your original chain at the end of this).
Bind off.
Create a small pom pom and attach it to the end of the tail.
Sew tail onto body.

2 comments:

  1. I love the name you chose! : )

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  2. That's great that you were just able to knit one on your own. You did a great job! Very creative! I'm following from the CAST team on Etsy.

    http://www.brendashandmade.blogspot.com

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