Well, Thomas Bear has been received by my sister for her birthday, so I can share about him now. This is the third bear that I’ve knitted now, and I get the hang of it more with each one I knit. The first one was for Bracken (Blueberry Bear), the second one for my mom (Daisy), and the third for my sister (Thomas Bear.) My sister and her husband (Thomas) are temporarily living apart while their jobs are in different locations, which has been hard, so I knitted this little bear to keep her company and to snuggle up to whenever they’re apart. If anything, this cute little guy will bring her a smile when she looks at him.

The pattern is Brambles Bear by Amanda Keeys. I love the pattern and it also happens to feature a WoolyMossRoots button, so that makes me love it even more. Jeff made me a WoolyMossRoots button for this bear, a heart in reclaimed western red cedar wood. (And he made extras too, which I will be posting in the shop soon.) The eyes are antique jet buttons from Jeff’s grandmother. He had been saving them for a long time, not knowing what to use them for, and asked me if I thought they would work well for the eyes. I think they’re perfect.

I embroidered a little nose for him and made him a wool scarf by cutting a strip out of wool fabric and cutting fringe on each end. (I ran out of time at that point to knit a scarf.) My mom and grandma knew I was working on this project for my sister and were helping me brainstorm ideas of how to make it a “Thomas” bear. They suggested a little wool baseball cap (how would I make that?), little sunglasses (how would I make that?), something with a bike on it (he owns a bike shop), or putting the letter ‘T’ in the heart. In the end, I added a scarf and named him Thomas. Ta-da! Thomas Bear!

Rather than buying new yarn for the project, I used the yarn I had left from the Harold Vest I knit for my nephew. The color was perfect for a bear and I had just the right amount to make it. The yarn was bulky, not DK like the pattern called for, but it worked just fine. The yarn is Wolf Ridge Icelandics and I got it at the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival. Bracken helped me card the wool to stuff it with (he loves doing that) and put lavender buds inside. Not only is the bear cute, but he smells really good too.

P.S. We found a nearby spot to take pictures before I mailed him out at the post office and Bracken enjoyed the leaves.

P.P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you that applies to!

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…Joining Ginny’s YarnAlong & Nicole’s Keep Calm Craft On.