My sister was cleaning up and found the Mother Bear Project kit that she bought at Stitches West. She knits but it’s not her passion so she gave the kit to me. I finished the bear and since this month’s theme is botanical, I turned the bear into a botanical bear.

I was inspired by Jessica’s sunflower bear. It’s hard to recognize but the yellow around her face are supposed to be flower petals. However, my petals sure look like cauliflower florets, don’t they? Cauliflower counts as a botanical so whether you see flower petals or cauliflower florets, this bear is still botanical.

I named this bear Sally after Charlie Brown’s sister. The yellow framing her face reminded me of Sally’s yellow locks.

I giggled as I was crocheting the headdress. I hope that the child who receives Sally Bear will giggle too.

The Headdress

Perhaps, I should have practiced because the flower petals sure look like cauliflower florets. However, the final results are whimsical and makes this bear look like a lioness. But no worries because the objective is to have fun and to learn.

Here’s what I did to make the “cauliflower florets”:

• first round: *pick up one stitch from the bear’s head and work two dcs, chain 3 stitches, move 3 stitches ahead*; repeat from *
• second round: *sl st in next 3ch space, work 4 dcs in same space*; repeat from *

If there is a next time, I will do the following:

• first round: *pick up one stitch from bear’s head, chain 3 stitches, move 5 stitches ahead*; repeat from *
• second round: *sl st in next 3ch space, work 4 dcs*; repeat from *

This will eliminate the “stalk” of the cauliflower floret and will space the petals further apart so they arc nicely. I think that the results will look more like flower petals.