my first set of bears for 2014 are in t-shirts and shorts to match the strangely sunny & warm in san francisco (while the rest of the country experiences polar vortex conditions!!).

these are my first dark brown bears. still getting used to the face in other-than-black yarn but it’s growing on me.

hoodie instructions here.

note for next time: put tags on right. heart goes on left.

2/1/2014: sent to MN
5/12/2014: max bear with friend in south africa
10/29/2014: pat, pele and wily bears with friends in botswana
11/3/2014: jessie bear with friend at amifoto care center, lesotho

all bears spotted in africa!

bear cap: this may look complicated and it’s a bit fiddly but also small so it doesn’t take that long. here are the instructions if you’d like to make one. please let me know if you do!

band: cast-on 36 st¹. join to work in rnd. k 3 rnds, p1 rnd, k 3 rnds. final rnd: fold work at p rnd so cast-on sts are inside and aligned with live stitches on needle; k next st on needle with first cast-on stitch (put RHN through st on LHN and under cast-on from WS to RS then wrap and pull through). continue around joining cast-on edge to final rnd. 36 stitches still remain.

crown: 18 sts on each needle will be worked separately in flat (back & forth) for front and back starting with WS. front: WS: p across. RS: k1, ssk, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. repeat WS & RS until 10 sts remain ending with WS then cut yarn, keeping live stitches on a spare needle. back: repeat as front but do not cut. try on bear. if needed, add extra rnds of p WS & k RS until cap fits over bear head. cut yarn leaving ~ 8”. kitchener front and back together.

brim: hold cap upside down with crown towards you and band away. pick up 12 stitches from closest purl bumps at band edge in front center. turn and work flat starting with WS. (the next 4 rows will wrap the 2 outside sts on each side) row 1 (WS): sl1, p10, w&t. row 2 (RS, with 1 st already on right needle from w&t): k10, w&t. row 3: p9, w&t. row 4: k8, w&t. (you should have wrapped the outside 2 sts on each side - next you will rewrap each of those wrapped sts) row 5: p7, w&t. row 6: k8, w&t. row 7: p9, w&t. row 8, k10, w&t. (there should be 1 wrapped st on RHN and remainder on left needle) row 9 (bind-off): p1, slip the wrapped st over the st just p’ed. continue with bindoff in purl. cut yarn leaving ~6” and pull tail through remaining st on RHN.

finishing: fold the brim with p inside and k outside. use the tail to whip st bind-off edge to first p rnd inside band. work in all ends. be sure to tie hat to bear for shipping.

modifications/details:

Wily bear: all tk-dyed yarn with green and orange striped shirt, blue shorts and blue cap.

Jessie bear: yellow (jessica 2013) and purple (elizabeth 2012) striped short sleeved hoodie and green shorts.

Pele bear: orange and blue striped shirt with purple (elizabeth 2012) shorts and orange cap.

Pat bear: dark brown (gma stash) bear with lime (anna 2013) t-shirt and sliver-blue (elizabeth 2013) shorts and cap.

Max bear: dark brown (gma stash) bear with silver-blue (elizabeth 2013) short sleeved hoodie and red shorts.

yarn: these bears are made from yarn that i recycled from commercial sweaters and jacquard dyed to bright colors (dark brown for first 3 bears, and red, sapphire blue, orange and green for clothes) plus some yarn from stash.

total bear count: 31