My Favorite Little Bear

Meet Mr. Bearly 2011

there is nothing sweeter than being able to knit and be nostalgic simultaneously ... AND not loose your place at the same time!  I have a sweet friend who requested something special for a new baby in her life and we decided that a little teddy bear would be JUST the thing for him to snuggle up with .... a soft little "something" to drag and crawl and carry as he grows ...

i remember MANY a day when Rachael and Mr. Bearly were inseparable ...  and Many nights we couldn't be properly tucked in unless Mr. Bearly was wedged just right, right there beside her, both of their sweet noses peeking out over the edge of the covers!

so i set off on my first journey into critter construction - - which of COURSE meant i'd have to go to the store for a book or two or eight (thank you 2nd & Charles!) ...and of COURSE i didn't have any yarn that would soft enough for a new baby ... no, really .. i didn't! .... but thanks to a sweet little find that was tucked over in the fabric section of JoAnne's rather than with all the yarn assortment ... i discovered one of their store brand options aptly named "Cuddle" in Brown, none the less!  It was Perfect for what i was looking for!   My Debbie Bliss pattern called for her yarn of course, but opting to keep the cost in manageable range, and anxious to get going, i found just what i wanted for $3.99 a skein!  I already had new size 3 needles at home just waiting ... so i was OFF to get my bear going!

it was a unique experience to work on the shapes of the pieces ... to apply the increases and decreases in order to get the roundness .... or to realize that it's only when it's stitched up that all the angles make sense. . . you KNOW there's a life lesson in that statement somewhere   :)

did you happen to get your crochet hook this weekend?  i found a wonderful use for one with all my knitting - - it makes a GREAT way to sew up all those pesky seams all while supplying a bit of stability in the process ...  you have GOT to learn to at least do a crochet "chain" before June's all said and done!

look how CUTE Mr. Bearly is .... he's just sitting there and patiently waiting for his pedicure .... for those sweet feet to get a little extra padding ....  arms flung up and open in genuine surrender ... relaxed and trusting ....

and as i was knitting and sewing there were times of frustration when i didn't understand how these flat "pattern pieces" were going to take shape and actually turn into ANYthing that remotely resembled a sweet little huggable teddy bear ....  there was a fair share of ripping out .... and doing over .... mixed in with plenty of "Ah Ha" moments when i finally DID get the picture ... and sprinkled into between it all were sweet reminders that this is nothing more than a mirror of the journey i take every day ... except that there is NO DOUBT that the Lord knows exACTly how the pattern is going to look ... how every single curve and angle fit Perfectly together ... there is no "randomness" or "Oops!"  in His vocabulary ... only Order.  There is no Surprize or need to Fudge the pattern in order to accomplish His task ...  despite what i understand or question, what i choose or ignore ... He has known from the beginning of time ... the very Pattern of my Time here on earth in preparation for my Time in Heaven with Him!

Oh My Soul!  how can you NOT love such a sweet little face!

and be reminded as much about the process and pattern pieces of my every day life ..... even when i don't quite see the whole, finished product just yet .....

Isaiah paints a wonderful picture of the Mess we so often make with the daily pattern pieces and YET, when we offer them to the Lord, He can and will anoint it all:


Isa. 6:5  "Woe to me" i cried.  "I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips [and pattern pieces], and i live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!"  [i don't understand how what I've got is EVER going to look like You, O Lord!]

but here's the BEST part:  Isa. 6:6  THEN one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it, he touched my mouth and said,  "See, this has touched your lips;  your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

All it takes is a simple act of surrender and submission ... and He promises to cleanse and restore .. and complete the task at hand ..   in all your ways acknowledge and He will direct your path [and pattern].

Let all things be done decently, and in order.

I Cor. 14:30