Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Everybody, I am so touched about all the kind words. It means the world to me. You know I am just a hobbyist, make perhaps 1-2 bears a month and haven't designed many patterns. So this was very nervous for me to swap with such a great artist as Matilda. She has been very sweet and I am still in heaven.    :hug:

Heather - the snowman is crocheted including his nose and hat.

Sophie, is there no marzipan in France? We have some here in Sweden, but perhaps not the same kind. I'll soon go to Germany: How much marzipan for one of your bears? Just kidding, couldn't help myself. :twisted:     

Thank you everybody for your compliments on Sammy. He is a new pattern and if I may say so one of my best bears to date. I am so happy he made the long journey safely.

Matilda, did you notice that Sammy is made to live on the edge?  Allow me to add a few more pictures. The left pic is closest to his real colour. Can you tell I love him and had a hard time letting him go?       

Finally I got acceptable pictures. I got the most unusual and wonderful swap gift from Matilda. Mother roo with her little son. The little joey kept sliding out of her arms and the sun kept hiding, but here you can see what they look like. Isn't Matilda clever with needlefelting faces? Wonderful design and fabric choice. They are fully armatured.

Thank you a thousand times Matilda.        This is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. I sent you at least 4 emails today and one immediately after they arrived a couple of days ago. Today I used three different accounts. Did any of them go through? I was so anxious for Sammy to arrive that I wasn't really happy and I didn't hear from you, but now I am in heaven. Thank you for the TimTams, they are delicious. I had heard about them, but never had them. What a coincidence that you would still my curiosity.

Thanks again and lots of hugs :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Sabine

Judi, this is my all time favourite bear. Can't get enough of looking at her. Don't ever sell her or the hares, you'd regret it for the rest of your life.     

:redface: Hmm, Matilda I sent you an email when they had arrived. Perhaps you did not get it? Sent another one through TT a second ago. I loooove your critters.     

Folks, what I got was a huge surprise. It wasn't a bear it was a kangaroo and with a joey no less. They have needlefelted faces and are so wonderful and typical of Matilda's style. They have proved very hard to photograph and we are not having the best of light at the moment, but I'll post some pics later today (haven't got them with me, still at work).

Thanks so much!!! This swap was fantastic!!  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :dance:  :dance:  :hug:  :hug:

Ohh, I received Matilda's swap two days ago, but was waiting for my bear to reach her before I announce it. Plus that I haven't been able to get good pictures. I'll try to post some tonight, am at work now. I promise a surprise. Check back in.

Winney, I bought carded, clean wool meant for stuffing toys. I find it isn't springy at all, but compacts nicely. I stuff with forceps and press hard, doing small pieces of wool at a time. Guess there are all kinds of wool from different breeds, no idea where mine is from. I have used it for needle felting too.

Just thinking out loud here as I haven't tried this. Perhaps you could make a pouch with bb's or stell shot and put some prefelted wool all aorund it, felt some more and continue adding layers of wool. Or if you mixed shot and wool in the pouch you could felt onto this. Hmmmm.

I use slightly larger hooks than in that list, mainly size 1.00 for punch thread and perle cotton 8. I guess i crochet pretty tight and also I have problems grabbing the thread with too small a hook. I usually make bears 2.5-3 inches tall, but that depends a lot on the pattern or number of stiches and rounds.

Where would one get a hook size 0.1? The smallest Ihave is 0.4 and that is pretty hard to find (Tedsfrom Threads has them).

I prefer kapok on really small ones and wool on slightly larger ones. I stuff pretty hard, almost like with sewn bears, especially the head. My Halloween roly poly has bb's in his body, without a pouch.

Hi Berta! Welcome to the board. I am glad you found your way to us.

:hug:  :hug:  :clap:  :clap:  :dance:

Awww Judi, so sorry for your loss. I too have lost pets and know what its like.  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:   

Oh, Matilda, I 'heard' that  Now I'm all excited. Can hardly wait anymore 

Helena, gorgeous bear. Looks like you are a pro with crochet bears. Can't believe it was your first and only. I'm not even gonna show my first ones  Love the idea with the hair. You should make more.

I'm on a roll. Here's Nelly from Berta's pattern (punch thread and pearl cotton). Rosie also from Berta's pattern with my own knitted sweater. Rusty again from Berta's pattern book and in punch thread. Lin Fang the realistic panda from Berta's in pearl/perle cotton. All somewhere between 2 and 3 inches.

Ok Kim, here it comes. Some crochet bears I made. Yours are adorable btw.
Florian is made from Berta's magic thread (unsplit) and my largest chrochet bear so far at about 6 inches. He is a combination of two of Berta's patterns.

Mats is made from Deb McCarthy's pattern in punch thread and my halloween roly poly is my own design.

Merry Christmas Julia! You have to show us the bear you got.

:hug:  :hug:

I think, a lot of wisdom has been exchanged here. A swap board for supplies would be great, but I doubt I will have anything to swap as I cling to my stuff just in case. Might come in handy one day, you know. Well, maybe if I dig deep enough I'll find things I don't want.    

I like the idea of a bear swap list with people who are interested in swapping. I love the work of many people here, but am too shy to approach anyone directly. Like Shelli says, she can't afford to swap and since many of you sell your bears for good money, which I don't, I feel a bear from me may not be enough "payment" for a bear of a successfully selling artist. I would probably be one of those who put their name on the list and wait patiently until someone else contacts me, but just knowing who is at least open to proposals would help a lot.  I am still so grateful that Matilda is actually swapping bears with me (they are still travelling). I feel I have gotten to know her a little bit and that is wonderful. I still can't believe, one of my bears will be living in Australia and I will have one from Oz. That's so special and a lot more exciting than just buying a bear. :dance:   
I think, it is important to see someones previous work to decide if to swap with that person unless we decide to draw partners like in the last one.  On the other hand, I would swap with a new friend just for friendships sake.
Well, whatever our wise advisors decide will be fine. :hug:

Erin -  me too! I have this golly pattern in my head, but so far, more urgent things have kept me from doing it.
Berta Hesen-Minten has a book on crochet bears, which includes a golly pattern. I haven't made it yet, but it looks cute.

I am a member of these yahoo groups:
Lovejapanesebearies
Threadanimals
Thranimals

There are lots of people on all levels of experience who make mini bears by crocheting, needle felting and sewing.

I don't mean to draw anyone awya from TT though!!! Stay here and if you don't have time to join these groups we can discuss everything here. I agree with Dilu, we can keep it in the miniature forum as most crochet critters are quite small.

Punch thread is fuzzy acrylic, used for punch embroidery. Deb McCarthy of TedsfromThreads.com sells it in lots of colours and she is a peach to deal with. Other threads can be found at Threadteds.com (Berta's site). Both ladies have very nice patterns too. A Canadian site is Mignonette stitch http://www.mignonettestitch.com/threadbearssupplies.htm by Chantal Giroux. She sells punch thread as well.
Lots of patterns can be bought from Edith Molina at http://www.angelfire.com/stars6/threadcrochetbears/ and she sells on ebay.

I have more links to artist websites. Keep asking me if you want more. I am just in love with these tiny creations. They are sooo much fun to make and once you get the hang of it there is no limit to your creativity.

Happy crocheting

I make crochet (and knit) bears. You can find my latest design Kameko in Japanese style in the Showcase forum. There are some great Yahoo groups on this topic. My favourite thread is punch thread, because it doesn't slip off the hook as easily as perle cotton and it can be brushed.
I believe Sandi prefers angora. Its really a matter of taste.

I'm not sure we need a separate forum, but would be happy to discuss the subject.

Bedtime for me, talk more tomorrow.

I took an online class with Bobbie Ripperger and she recommends to card all wool before felting it. I use wire dog brushes since I didn't want to invest in big carders. The brushes work really well and I only need small amounts at a time because I usually felt only small pieces. I am not sure, but perhaps roving can be carded and then it is batt?

That would be great to have!

Awww, Dilu you are so lucky! Thank you for sharing. I am so envious. If you need a safe place for the bears to protect them from the cats just send them to me.   
Way to go Dilu's hubby!  :dance:  :dance:

Hi Dilu,

after that exciting story with your hubby and ebay I am really curious about what bear he got you. Or did I miss the solution to the story? Any pics?

Hugs