Feb 26:
My first test knit. cute little guy.

Off to a good start, set up the pattern in KC, and completed the body in about 2 hours, with no hassles. Only tips so far are that the needle & yarn info should also be in metric, and the recommended size 3.25mm needle seems really tiny for worsted weight yarn. Making worsted toys I usually go 3.75-4mm, I did go up to 4.5 this time, but I shudda stuck with 4, he’s a little too loose.

A slight wording issue has already been corrected.

Feb 27:
Made the head and gave him a face tonight. 8 or 9mm eyes, 15mm nose. Still going smoothly.

It says to “mattress stitch” the head to the body, I’ll have to research that, I’ve only ever seen mattress stitch used on 2 flat, straight, perfectly matched, side-by-side pieces.

I found my chocolate brown DK yarn today so I might do a second test and make a smaller pal for Oakley. I also think he’d look awesome in some heathered brown or grey, or some tweed yarn.

Mar 1:
Serenity sent me a tutorial for mattress stitching uneven and differing alignments, so that helps for her assembly recommendations, but to be honest, several of the tips are what I was doing anyway, I just didn’t know they were also called “mattress stitch”. There were some tips that might help tidy things up for me though.

Third evening I made the ears, tail, arms and feet. Tonight I’m working on thumbs, legs and assembly. So he should be finished shortly.

Note for Serenity: the wording for where/how to place the thumb & legs is a little clumsy, diagrams or close-up, in-progress photos would be useful for some (many?) knitters.

March 2
I see foot and hand photos on Serenity’s project page so I think yesterday’s issue is already being addressed.

I made his legs a few rows longer for increased poseabiliy, but now I’m thinking they were fine the way they were.

Tonight he is finished! He didn’t squirm or cry at all during the stitches, and he even helped me out a little with the final assembly, he’s a helpful little guy. DH & I just love him!

OH MY GOODNESS… I forgot his scarf! DH says having him sewing his own pads is a reflection of the laziness of the knitter and that he may have to knit his own scarf too, but I’m sure I can get that done for him before the next heatwave.

March 6
Oakley diligently worked away at his scarf. He had no complaints about the pattern. 100 stitches, 5 or 6 rows (he’s not a great counter, no fingers) with sock-weight silk/wool-blend (he uses nicer yarn than I do) on 3mm needles.

March 9
Oakley and I are at my parents cottage this weekend, he enjoyed watching the hockey game with Mom and they both got really animated when Toronto scored. I think he learned a few new swear words from Mom when the Flyers came from behind to tie in the final few seconds and was very relieved when TO won the Sudden Death goal.

He’s hoping to see real bears in the garden tomorrow, I haven’t the heart to tell him that in 25 years we’ve never seen a bear here, oh well, maybe tomorrow will be the day.

one photo shows Oakley waiting patiently to see real bears in the woods.

March 10:
Big Oakley helped to assemble Little Oakley. He is very helpful, but DH is concerned that I may be running a little teddy bear sweatshop.

80/8