Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Red Heart and teddy bears, part 2

To continue....

I look back and see that the bear was less than stellar in execution.  I want to examine why.  I know that having a limited to no knowledge of gauge played a huge part in why the stitches were as widely spaced as they were.  What showed to be a close 4 sts per inch before stuffing, proved to be 2 1/2 sts per inch after and only got worse.  The weight of the old clothes used to stuff helped with the stretching.  Not understanding stretching of the fabric, I thought it would be done well and quickly if I made large stitches.  Sound familiar to anyone out there?

Stuffing with old clothes was not what I wanted but pricing fiber fil sent me out of the store fast. It was expensive, at least for me. Mom knew it was too expensive for my budget and hers, but I wouldn't listen.  After all, surely I knew better than any adult. I couldn't chop up yarn scraps fast enough to fill the bear and have enough for the size I wanted.  That much I did know.  I also knew that chopping yarn up made it compact easier and that was not desirable either.  I wanted him fluffy and large.  Can you see the flaw in this thinking?  40 years of experience tell me I can't be both fluffy and large like that while maintaining light weight and still expecting it to sit upright.  

So far this poor bear is suffering from filling showing, less than skillful stitching, non existent decreases (I just skipped stitches when I wanted it to get smaller), and being very overweight.  (He was overweight in the same way a very muscular person weighs more than a person of the same dimensions who doesn't work out.  Muscle is dense same as gold and lead.  Fat is much lighter in weight for the same volume like hydrogen and helium are lighter than the air we breathe.)  I feel more and more sorry for this bear every time I think of him....... to be continued.

Teddy bear pt. 2

Body

Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring.
Work as for the legs out to 300 sts.  
Then work in the round for 24 - 30 inches

Then start the decreases towards the neck.
Dec Rd 1:  ch 3, dc in next 9 sts, dc dec in the next 2 sts, *dc in the next 10 sts, dc dec in next 2 sts.  Rep from * around.  Join with sl st in top of ch 3.
Ch 3, dc in each st around.  Join with sl st in top of ch 3.
Dec Rd 2: ch 3, dc in next 8 sts, dc dec in next 2 sts, * dc in next 9 sts, dc dec in next 2 sts.  Rep from * around.  Join with sl st in top of ch 3. 
Ch 3, dc in each st around.  Join with sl st in top of ch 3.
Dec Rd 3: ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, dc dec in next 2 sts, * dc in next 8 sts, dc dec in next 2 sts.  rep from * around.  Join with sl st in top of ch 3.
Ch 3, dc in each st around.  Join with sl st in top of ch 3.

Continue these rounds of straight and decrease until there are 5 dc between the decreases.

Do not fasten off.



No comments:

Post a Comment