Polar (Bear) Express

I mentioned the handmade shelf in my last post about the Christmas wreathe I made and alluded to my pompom decoration.  

It is not universally loved in this house and received widespread derision from three quarters of the family during its construction a few years ago.  Still, it pops up most Christmases and I hang its woolly loveliness in defiance.  To date, no one has yet removed it from view.

This year, the wreathe was propped up on the bureau with an array of knitted characters which I've accumulated since our daughters were wee girls.  

At the end of a Christmas fair in aid of our local toddler group some 20 years ago, one handknitted piece, which had caught my eye, remained unsold.  Mother Christmas came home with me for a tiny sum, considering the amount of work which had gone into making her.  I am still a little in awe of her clever construction and the adept, unknown knitter who tackled this pattern, possibly by Jean Greenhowe.

Turn Mother Christmas upside down and inside out...

and she becomes a beautiful angel!

Equally intricate are the mittens and sequin adorned tree, beautifully knitted by Lisa in Marblehead, Massachusetts and gifted to me in a Christmas decoration swap.  I know Lisa through her podcast Knitting By The Sea and our shared love of knitting (and chocolate!).

Three endearing Gnicholas Gnomes by Imagined Landscapes were also knitted by me at the end of 2017 in time for the decoration swap.  One winged its way abroad to my swap partner in Denmark, one hangs on our Christmas tree and the third one hung out this year with the other pals on the knitted shelf.

Close to my heart is this slightly goofy looking polar bear.  I knitted the toy, from Zoe Mellor's book Head to Toe Knits, for the girls probably in the early 2000's and he joined the Christmas decoration crew as their love for handknit soft toys eventually waned.  My affection for him remained however.

I think it's largely because he's knit in one piece.  This may not seem remarkable but toy making is notoriously fiddly.  Tiny parts are made separately then have to be sewn together, the success and character of the toy depending on expert completion and deft embroidery.  Cast your mind back to the pigeon I made in 2019.  

When fellow knitters started sharing their progress of a pattern for a wee bear called Tsutsu by Cinthia Vallet, I knew I had to make him.  Her toys are ridiculously cute!

How lucky am I to live in a village with a craft shop to which I could despatch my husband to obtain suitable toy safety eyes knowing he wouldn't come home empty handed.  The clever construction means you knit the whole bear as one, creating the head first and completing the facial features before continuing with the body and limbs.  Indeed the pattern states: Tsutsu is made all in one piece from his little nose to his little feet. All the finishing is tackled as you go and you won’t have to worry about assembling pieces at the end.  Not having to sew up is very appealing.

It also advises, you must have a taste for fiddly knitting, which is undeniably true!  

My decision to knit a polar bear Tsutsu coincided with my contracting shingles, caused by the chickenpox virus.  As all our lives, and especially our Christmas plans, were being thrown into disarray again by Coronavirus, I'd managed to contract a much less serious illness.  Fiddly knitting seemed the ideal distraction from its discomfort.  Staying home and not socialising were recommended for everyone this festive season and certainly helped me to a speedy recovery, along with enforced rest, the loving care of my family, and my busy needles.

I wouldn't normally wash and block my toy knitting but this wee chap was knitted in pure wool from Kingcraig and the pattern encourages a soak and dry prior to stuffing.  

My polar bear's woolly stitches benefitted from a bath in some Eucalan wool wash and he fluffed up nicely once he was dry.  Then there was his wardrobe to consider.  The pattern includes designs for three jumpers and a bobble hat.

Less than ten days since I'd begun this knitting project, my polar bear was done - complete with his festive jumper.  Express knitting indeed!

Just in time to take his place on the shelf with my other knitted favourites for the last few days of the Christmas holidays.