grizzly man

There's almost nothing you can add to a picture as ridiculous as this. The pattern is Teddy Bear All-in-one with Mittens by Sirdar - one of those old fashioned leaflets they used to have before the internets. My sister bought it and sent it to me a couple of months ago. I feel such philanthropic behaviour needs to be encouraged, so I immediately cast on.

The yarn is Sirdar Snowflake Chunky, and is the perfect example of yarn that a non-knitter thinks is a good idea. It is like knitting with cheese wire dipped in prittstick then rolled in cotton wool. Now I don't usually complain about yarn discomfort - I am happy to knit with the skinniest toughest 4 ply, but this left a deep groove in my finger that you could have rolled a marble down. The outer fluffy stuff is soft but has a tendency to come off in clumps if you accidentally tug in the wrong place. It also does a superbly efficient job of masking what you're doing, so you can't actually see stitches at all. This is frustrating at first - I was too cross to even attempt to work out my gauge before starting (and consequently have a slightly chubby bear suit) but to be fair it does have its advantages too. The sewing up was really easy (I am not a masochist, so used some smooth cotton in the same colour left over from the blanket of many browns) because, well, it didn't really need to be that neat. There were loads of seams but I got that bit all done in about a day. Possibly a little too quickly if we're honest - I completely forgot about the convention of baby clothes to put poppers on the inside leg for easy nappy changing - but I guess the button down front means it's not really that much more effort.

Speaking of buttons, these rather awesome ones were a gift from catr a while ago - so I don't know where they came from but they are very lovely and, pleasingly, the perfect size for this project. There are various dinosaurs, birds and a rabbit - I tried to arrange them in approximate evolutionary order but stopped short of googling to determine whether diplodocus preceded stegosaurus on the geological time line. I think from time to time I get a little overabsorbed in projects, and should go outside and get some fresh air. Which young rubbishknitterjunior can enjoy a bit more in his new comedy outfit - for all its failings, this yarn is nice and snug when knitted up, a bit like a fleecy jumper. And brrr, that air is still pretty damn fresh out there! Wrap up warm, knitterfriends....