NEW! 5-mm glass eyes on wire pins

5-mm glass eyes on wire pins

The Lil' Bear Hugs pattern is launched, and I now have available for sale the black 5-mm glass eyes on wire pins in my Etsy shoppe. I love these eyes for their sparkle! The glass eye is obviously 5-mm wide and the pin length is about 1/2-inch. All you do is use a felting needle to poke an indent where you want the eye to pop into. A tapestry needle, especially a sharp-end one, works well too!

NOTE: The bear pattern instructions gives two options for the eyes: glass eyes or yarn eyes. Yarn eyes are recommended for younger children because of the danger of swallowing. 

Once the eyes are inserted into the bear's head, and the final desired position is determined, the next step is to glue it into position. Ease the eye out slightly from the head and apply a small amount of craft glue along the eye pin. Then insert the eye back into the head, pressing down slightly. Allow to air dry in this position. The glue will dry clear even if too much glue oozes out.

The glue I like to use is Crafter's Pick THE ULTIMATE. You can buy it at any craft store. This glue was recommended to me by the distributor of these glass eye pins.

So whatever your eye choice: glass or yarn, I got you covered for convenience. No need to shop around. Looking forward to seeing what you create!

Happy knitting!

NEW! lil' bear hugs pattern

lil' bear hugs PDF pattern

During these times of social distancing, Zoom meetings and a whole lot of virtual everything, what's most needed right about now is a good bear hug! Everyone we know could use a good bear hug.

And to help bring some sweetness to those we may be missing more than ever, I have created my new little comfort bear: Lil' Bear Hugs. It is my newest knit and felt pattern. In designing this bear, I turned to the process of felting because of the great texture of felted wool, and I wanted the little bear to be sturdy for continual hug ability over time. The felted bear measures about 7.5-inch/19-cm tall, not including the ears.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn in two colors: the body color (76 yd/69.5-m) and the muzzle color (3 yd/2.74-m). The needle size is 10.5/6.5-mm double points. The bear's body is knit as one continuous piece. No sewing required! The pattern begins with knitting each leg separately then continuing up the body towards the head. The bear's muzzle, ears, arms and tail are each individually picked up and knit onto the body. Once felted, the face and paws are embellished using simple embroidery and needle felting. A hand-stitched ruffled-collar is created using a length of decorative ribbon.

bear with 5-mm glass eyes

The bear's paws consists of two parts: the yarn-paw lines and a craft-felt heart. The little heart is needle felted to the paw's underside. It is a perfect way to add a little extra loving to each bear hug! The bear eyes can be either glass or yarn. Because of the danger of swallowing, do not use glass eyes for bears of younger children. 

NOTE: For those interested in the glass eyes, they are 5-mm black glass eyes on wire pins and I sell them in sets in my Etsy store. 

Although, no one ever tires of a traditional brown-colored bear; its fun to play with a variety of yarn colors for each bear. Yarns with alpaca or mohair in them create fuzzy felted bears especially after being brushed with a nap riser brush.

My goal for early Autumn is to create a felted rabbit about the same size as the bear. Once published, I will begin designing clothes and accessories for both the rabbit and bear that will be interchangeable. 

For this pattern's recipe, I have included my most favorite blueberry muffin recipe. I have been playing with this recipe for some time and am happy with the final result. Hope you will too!

Once your little bear is finished, it is ready for gift giving! Box it up and mail him/her off to the next person on your list of special loved ones. What a surprise to receive a box of sweet bear hugs in the mail! Hugs to you!

Happy knitting!