Grateful Dead Dancing Bears

They still need their collars and black in their ears, but they are knit. 

I probably won't do the collars and ears for a while because I am pretty much done with these for now. But then I will pose them as the Dancing/Marching bears they should be and take photos.

And one last shot of all the bears.  Three of the big ones went to Gramma's house.

The golden big one stayed with me.  I have been knitting him clothes for fun.

Teresa

Mom's Bears

The lovely marled bear.  I think he is my favorite.  I love the way the yarn looks on this little guy and how it covers any stitches that might otherwise show.  Plus, he's the first of the three for Mom I made so he and my original bear helped with all the rest.

Next the honey colored bear.  The yarn color is actually sand but it is a nice little beige/brown bear.  I think this one will look nice dressed in a jacket and hat.

And the third friend, the polar bear.  He had to have blue eyes . . .  

And my bear with his coat and hat.  Poor thing still has no buttons on his coat but eventually I will find some small toggle type buttons that will work.

The three amigos getting ready to go on their long trip from my house to Gramma's house.  They have to travel over several rivers and through lots of woods to get there.  Then Dena will knit them coats and hats and maybe boots (working on that . . . .).  Wish them luck!

Teresa

A little sample . . .

 

I started this sample in March - around the middle of the month.  I was sent 3000 yards of lace weight yarn and the designer sent the pattern as she designed it.  What you see here is the center portion before being blocked (and stretched to show the pattern).  The needles are the new Dyakcraft Northern Lights Black Nickel which I was also testing.  I cannot tell you how much I love these needles.  I have a full set on order, which is completely ridiculous given the number of kitting needles that already live in my house.  Anybody want some needles?

Edit:  These lovely needles will be shipping by October.  The catch is that they must be pre-ordered.  Those who pre-order by September first will get their needles sometime in October.   Those who order in September will get needles in November, etc. My set has already been ordered because I so love these  needles.  When I first picked them up, I didn't know what they were made of - they felt like glass and looked like hematite.  They are smooth and warm up quickly and feel wonderful in your hands.  They love yarn and it lov s them - there is never any tugging or pulling across the needles or the joins.  The full story can be found on the Dyakcraft website here:
http://dyakcraft.com/nickel.html

This is the center being blocked.  I think it was about 40 x 40 but it might have been a little less.  It was originally supposed to be 42 x 42 but my knitting was tighter on the actual piece than it had been on the swatch.

This is the edging blocking.  It added about 8" to each side of the center piece.  I did a provisional cast on to start, left the end stitches live and picked up stitches on each side of the center piece.

The body was 180 stitches across and I knit 380 rows.  That is 6840 stitches.

The first edge repeat was 1050 stitches - that is 275 on each side and 250 on each end.  There were 41 rows which makes the first edge repeat 43050 stitches.

The second edge repeat was 1250 stitches because I increased 50 on each corner.  It was 42 rows so that makes 52500 stitches.

I knit 102,390 stitches in this thing - plus the bind off.

That is me - holding it by the corners.  

And a girl with it as one would likely wear it.

And this is Donna's sneak peak photo.  The pattern will be available in the next Stories In Stitches when it comes out.

Teresa