There is never a bad time to ask me to make a gift for someone, because it will always bring me so much joy to be a part of your special events. Truly. I had to speed-make this bear for a convocation deadline, but it was worth every second when I saw a picture of the happy day!

• 1/5 skeins of Estelle Yarns Superwash Merino DK – a DK weight (3) yarn (colour A: Gold)
• 1/20 skeins of Estelle Yarns Superwash Merino DK – a DK weight (3) yarn (colour B: Cranberry)
• 1/50 skeins of Estelle Yarns Superwash Merino DK – a DK weight (3) yarn (colour C: Black)
• 5g Regular Cotton Balls
• 2 Safety Eyes (8.00mm)
• 3.00mm hook

Pattern (Head) by Stephanie at All About Ami
Pattern (Body) by tick-tock hobbies
Pattern (Mortarboard) by tick-tock hobbies

As I mentioned last week, I ended up following the Boucle Bear pattern for the head, albeit with a much thinner yarn and smaller hook. I think it works so well with the happy face of Winnie the Pooh, who was the character that I was going for! At first I was unsure if the Gold was too rich in tone, but when contrasted with the red shirt and black mortarboard, it seemed to work perfectly.

This project ended up being a bit of a mishmash of patterns and improvisation, and as a result, the proportions of limbs and body is not exactly what I had in mind. I used the 24 row Perfect Sphere template for the body, and switched from Gold to Cranberry after row 12. In hindsight, I wish I had switched colours later, as that would’ve let more of Pooh’s tummy show through. After all, part of the charm is to see Winnie’s chubby limbs and body.

The arms are actually from the Boucle Bear pattern as well, with a colour switch after row 10. If I were to do this again, I would probably make chubbier arms for Pooh. The legs were improvised based on typical amigurumi patterns, starting with four single crochet in a magic ring, then increasing in each stitch, then increasing in every other stitch, and working in the round with 12 stitches until the legs were as long as I wanted them.

I also had to improvise stuffing for this little bear, as my typical fiberfill was in Edmonton, and I’m still not sure where to find it where I am currently living. Instead, I used fluffed up cotton balls to stuff this bear. I think that as long as it is not washed, it will probably hold up fine, as I am unsure how the cotton balls would dry.

The mortarboard (graduation cap) was actually a throwback to a pattern I created in 2017, except with the addition of school colours for the University of Alberta. It was lucky that I had some green yarn in my scrap pile, as it really wouldn’t have been worth it to buy a whole new ball of yarn just for a few strands. I was furiously trying to brainstorm ways to get the brim to lay flat, but I ran out of time before testing any of them. One potential idea was to thread or glue metal from a paper clip around the perimeter of the cap to give it more structure, and another was to ’starch’ it using white glue. It is the little details that make the biggest difference, and I would have loved to be able to gift the graduation bear with a more perfect mortarboard.

At the same time, my friends were kind enough to send me a picture of how they intended to present the bear to the lucky graduate, and it reminded me that I can be overly critical of the things that I make. As long as there is love and care in the process, I think they will always be appreciated by the right people. To be honest, I can’t imagine having to had completed most of an undergraduate degree under the spectre of COVID-19 , so all the more power to my friend’s little sister!

Until next time, happy crafting!