Bear faced cheek

It could be said of some people that they have their heads firmly inserted up their own bottoms, you wouldn't be far wrong if you said it of my bear too. I've been making this Bear in a Lamb Suit since August last year. I made all the pieces, but as I hate seaming at the best of times the tiny little pieces really put me off. I finally dug him out from under the bed because Scarlett is going to need him soon. Another reason for putting him off were the instructions in the book - 'The Baby Knits Book' by Debbie (bloody) Bliss.

I didn't find them particularly clear for making up the bear and I had a rather baffling moment wondering where on earth his legs were supposed to go until realised I'd sewn his head to his bottom. I soon fixed him and he's all dressed up ready to go.

I did have a particular reason for making this for Scarlett. Her Dad Nick is Welsh and most of his time in the crew room at work was spent fending off sheep jokes. One of the first things I made for the expected baby was this Sheep Suit from 'Baby Knits' by Debbie Bliss. I saw it in the book and couldn't resist taking the piss. I made it in DK acrylic with a few modifications to the pattern. I took out the built in mitts and boots and went for separates as I felt it would be a lot more versatile like that. The shoes were in 'New Baby Knits' again by DB. I was a bit miffed about the suit pattern. The smallest size is for a 3-6 month old baby - with a 23" chest!!! I don't know what kind of gargantuan babies this woman has measured, but they surely belong in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Unfortunately this animal knitting started off a craze and the more patterns I found the more I had to make. I couldn't resist this Bear Gilet from 'Knits for Babies and Toddlers' by Fiona McTague. I wanted to put duffle fastenings on rather than a zip and searched high and low for ready made ones. There were none to be found and I was far too lazy to make some so I caved and put a zip in. You'd have cried laughing if you saw me trying to sew it in. I used my new sewing machine (I haven't used a machine for about 10 years) and this was the first thing I did with it. One side went in great but the other was all over the place and I had to unpick it 3 times. It's not great but passable.

The sheep shoes weren't the only little animal feet to make my heart melt. These bunny and bear shoes were too cute not to make.

I've linked to the patterns, but I couldn't make head nor tail of the bear shoes. I made the Fair Isle shoes from 'The Baby Knits Book' by DB instead and put the bear heads onto them. I thought proper little shoes would be more practical than just slippers too.

I'm dreading when she gets older and realises where all of her daft baby clothes came from.