Little Teddy Bear

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and I just had to give it a try. This cutie is the Little Teddy Bear from the book Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi by Tomoko Takamori.

There were a couple of aspects with the book worth noting (I didn't buy it, I borrowed it from my library). The patterns are written using an interesting mix of words and symbols that I hadn't seen before but they were explained well in the book and I found this method easy to read and follow. The biggest problem was missing instructions. Both the arms and legs were incomplete -- an additional 8 rows had to be added for each. A search on the internet for the answer found that other patterns in the book had errors too and for many people it was a frustrating aspect of the book. The assembly instructions were VERY clear and precise and I appreciated that because it's not my favorite part of making stuffed animals.

Notes:

I used scraps of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn. Other people report successfully using Lion Brand Wool-Ease and Caron Simply Soft.

Because Super Saver is stiff, I threw all the parts into a laundry bag and washed them before assembly.

I used a H hook and it turned out fine but a G hook would work too (producing a slightly smaller bear)

The eyes are 9mm solid black eyes with a washer back from Darice.

He measure 8" (stretched out) from the tip of his ears to the bottom of his feet and 6" high when sitting.

I think he's just the cutest and he joins "the boys" who sit on the bookshelf overlooking my desk!

My Ravelry project page for Little Teddy Bear.