Bears eat. A lot. But they also sleep a great deal, and these qualities make them excellent, cuddle-worthy companions, throughout all of life’s adventures. With proper training, bears are known to possess excellent manners.

The ALSAP Bear is worked in the round, using the magic loop technique, adding tails and limbs as you go to make your bear stronger and to make your life easier. You will have to do a bit of sewing: two French knots for the eyes, a bit for the nose, stitching down two ears and then attaching the head to the body. Not bad, for a whole bear, eh?

Gauge: 6st = 1 inch. This doesn’t have to be exact, as long as your knitting is nice and tight so the stuffing doesn’t come through. Don’t be afraid to go down a size. At gauge, my bears are approximately 8 inches tall.

Recommended Materials:

• Worsted Weight Cotton Yarn
• US #4 circular needles or size needed to get gauge. Save your sanity and a get a nice long one with a flexible cable. I like the ones at knitpicks.com. I used to avoid circular needles at all costs, until I found these things. (No, I do not work for KnitPicks. Ha, ha.)
• One US #4 dpn needle. If you don’t have #4’s, don’t sweat it. You just need one in a reasonably close size.
• Stitch holder
• Stitch marker
• Embroidery needle (use a doll maker’s needle if you have one)
• Darning needle
• Stuffing. You can use the poly-fil stuff, but I highly recommend Eco Wool Magic Loop experience is very, very helpful!

Please Note:** This pattern is just for the bear, there is no colorwork instruction included (as for the panda).*