The yarn can easily be changed for another. A thinner yarn makes a smaller bear, a thicker yarn a bigger one.

Just remember to choose a fairly sturdy variety if the bear will be used for playing (experience taught me that bamboo, for instance, while nice and shiny and bacteria-repelling cannot handle much toddler abuse and will disintegrate).

Also choose a needle size that is at least 0.5mm smaller than your ball band advises to achieve a fabric that doesn’t make the bear lose its stuffing too easily.

Pattern was first published in the November 2011 newsletter of Arthur Bales in Linden, Johannesburg, South Africa.