Teddy Bear Lovey by One and Two Company - and a pattern review.

For a recent baby shower, I purchased the pattern for this adorable bear lovey.  Since this was for a baby shower, I had no time to procrastinate like usual...  The blanket took me forever, but I'm also a slow hooker.  ;)  And since I somehow did manage to procrastinate, I never had time to get glamour shots!

He's waving hello!

The pattern was easy to follow, once I finally read it all the way through... the only change I will make next time is a larger hook for the blanket to make it work up a bit faster.  The pattern makes a nice dense little blanket, but it took almost an entire skein of Big Twist baby yarn!  I was worried I'd run out before the end, so I ran out and got a second skein, but I didn't end up using it.  I also decided to make my own 'buttons' for the blanket, so I used the blue and did ch2 then 3sc into the 2nd chain from the hook, joined it and sewed it onto the straps.

I would have used safety eyes, mainly because I don't like my hand embroidery (it's never straight!), but since this is for a new baby, I don't want to risk choking!  Instead he gets a handmade item, imperfections and all.  ;)

I love the blue yarn, it's so pretty!

To go along with it, I made a little bear hat from THIS pattern.  I left off the earflaps, and used a bigger hook, mainly because I couldn't find the correct size and I needed to get it finished!  It should fit him for a while this way...but it might be closer to 3-6 months instead of 0-3 months.

This was my second time using the new yarn from Joann's - Big Twist Baby.  I really like the colors, they are very fun!  I also picked up a variegated skein that has all the colors - grey, green, blue, and white.  I planned on doing a simple hat with it, but I never got that far.  The bear head and main part of the hat is actually done in elephant grey, but I think it's still cute!  I still have more of the grey left, so I think either another bear lovey with blue blanket will go on the list, or maybe an elephant one this time!