The Story of the Four Bears

You’ve heard the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. Here’s the story of the four bears.

I am involved in a fundraiser for a friend, a local pastor’s wife who was diagnosed with a blood cancer, Multiple Myeloma, over four years ago. The last four years has been a constant stream of doctors visits, hospital stays, medications and treatments.  Medical bills not covered by insurance have added up to $75,000. Friends and family of Janice Cline have come together to put on a benefit on March 15, 2014 with the theme "Bear ye one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2), in an attempt to help ease the financial burden of those medical bills.

You know, I wish I could write up a big old check for this cause. Janice was librarian at the school my girls attended, then started teaching 4^th grade. She has been a faithful fan at school games when her health permitted.  We have been called “the knitting twins” because we bring our current craft projects to basketball & volleyball games and work on them while cheering on the Falcons.

But this is a year of strict budgeting for me. A period of unemployment last year squeezed our finances. This year we have a wedding to pay for, and a vehicle that sorely needs to be replaced. Instead of giving of my money, I need to focus on giving my time and my talents. I have already made a bear hat/scarf set to build a gift basket around, and I’m also going to make up a Buffalo hat like this one and a hat or scarf in Buffalo Sabres colors. I'll keep my fingers busy making items for the craft table I will have at the event, where a percentage of my sales will also go toward the fundraiser.

So, as I was trying to fall asleep one night, I was thinking of projects I might be able to make for the upcoming benefit. There will be a live auction and a number of silent auctions of gift baskets. As I thought of the theme, “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” I thought of making bear cup cozies. I thought that if I made four cute bear cup cozies, I could put them on disposable cups in a cup holder, and make up a gift basket with a gift card to a local coffee shop. The next day, I started working on the cup cozies, and the photo above is how they turned out.

Now all I need is a “sponsor” to buy the gift card for Tim Hortons! 

And here are the patterns for all four: 

 

Brown Bear:

Uses Size H hook

About 1 oz knitting worsted weight yarn - brown

Small scraps of off-white and black yarn

Two black buttons (I used 1/2”, with 4 holes)

With brown yarn, make a half-double crochet foundation chain of 30 stitches (or an even number just long enough to fit around your cup). Join with a slip stitch.

There is a tutorial on how to do a half-double crochet foundation row here http://www.ehow.com/how_12102336_crochet-base-foundation-halfdouble-crochet.html

Row 1: Ch 2, *raised hdc, hdc* around

(You work a raised hdc by inserting your hook behind the stitch, rather than through the top loops). By alternating raised and regular stitches, you get a ribbed texture and a bit more stretchiness to your work.

Repeat Row 1 until your cozy is the desired height. I worked 12 rows to get about 3-1/2”. Join with slip stitch on the last row, but don’t cut your yarn just yet!

Ears: Skip 2 stitches. Do 7 double crochets in third stitch. Skip 2 stitches. Slip stitch in third, fourth and fifth stitch. Skip 2 stitches. Do 7 double crochets in the next stitch. Skip 2 stitches. Slip stitch in next stitch. Now you can cut the yarn! J

Nose patch:

With off-white yarn, Chain 5

Hdc in third stitch from hook and next stitch. 3 hdc in next stitch. Work 3 hdc in the back side of the chain, and make 2 hdc in the same stitch as your starting hdc. Join with slip stitch.

Row 2: 2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next next stitch, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next two stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch, hdc in next two stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch, hdc in next two stitches, join with slip stitch. (Basically, you are making increases at the four “corners” of your oval). Cut yarn, leaving tail to sew onto body.

Nose/mouth:

With black yarn, Chain 4

Row 1: SC in second chain from hook and each chain across (3 stitches)

Row 2: Work a SC decrease on first two stitches, then a SC in next stitch (2 stitches)

Row 3: Work a SC decrease across both stitches (1 stitch)

Chain  4. Cut yarn, leaving about 20”

Sew onto nose patch, starting with the chain four. See the picture to see how the mouth curves up a bit. Sew around the top of the nose. When you get to your last stitch at the bottom, make a loop on your crochet hook as you pass the needle through to the wrong side of your work. Bring the yarn back up to the right side just under the nose and chain 4. Now use the rest of the yarn to sew that chain 4, just like you did with the other side.

Sew nose patch onto cup cozy. Tuck in yarn ends. All done! 

Polar Bear:

Uses Size H hook

About 1 oz knitting worsted weight yarn - white

Small scraps of black yarn

Two black buttons (I used 1/2”, with 4 holes)

Follow instructions for brown bear, but with white yarn. Don’t do a nose patch. Just put the Nose/Mouth directly onto the cup cozy.

Koala Bear:

Uses Size H hook

About 1 oz knitting worsted weight yarn - gray

Small scraps of white and black yarn

Two black buttons (I used 1/2”, with 4 holes)

Make cup cozy with gray yarn. When you finish off, don’t cut the gray yarn. Attach white yarn and do ears in white. Cut white yarn. Go back to your gray yarn and do SC over the stitches of the ears.

Koala Nose:

With black yarn, chain 7.

Row 1: Hdc in 3^rd stitch from hook and each stitch (5 stitches.

Row 2 and Row 3: Chain 2, turn, hdc in each stitch

Row 4: Skip 2 stitches. 7 Double Crochet in next stitch. Skip two stitches. Slip stitch in last stitch. Cut yarn, leaving 8” or so for sewing to cup cozy.

Panda Bear:

Uses Size H hook

About 1 oz knitting worsted weight yarn - white

Small scraps of black yarn

Two white buttons (I used 1/2”, with 4 holes)

Make cup cozy with white yarn.

Ears (Make 2): Make magic ring. Chain 3 and make 8 hdc in ring. Pull tight, but don’t join stitches with slip stitch.  Chain 3 and turn. Make 2 hdc in each stitch. Cut yarn, leaving 6” or so for sewing to cup cozy. The ear is in a “Pac-Man” shape. Sew one side of his mouth to the top of the cup cozy, and the other side to one of the ribs of the cozy.

Nose: Follow directions for brown bear nose, but don’t do the chain 4 at the end.

Eyes: Make 2: Make magic ring. Chain 3 and make 10 dc in ring. Pull tight. Join with slip stitch. Cut yarn, leaving 6” or so for sewing on.

Sew a white button to each eye, slightly off-center towards the bottom.

Sew eyes and nose to cup cozy as shown in picture.

If you would like to show your appreciation for the free patterns, please consider making a donation to Janice's Stem Cell Transplant fund. You can give through the Give Forward website, or contact me if you would like to contribute toward the coffee gift card for this gift basket. Every little bit helps!