This month’s theme are people who have inspired you or changed your life. This bear is a tribute to my mom. Like my mom, this bear is named Bo (寶), which means treasure. Mom has inspired me in many ways.

Tough as nails: I have always been amazed at Mom’s bravery to travel to the United States, almost 7,000 miles away from China with a toddler son and no knowledge of English. If that wasn’t enough, she raised 6 kids while working full-time.

Resourceful: Mom managed to make meals for her 6 kids on a shoestring budget. We ate unusual but tasty dishes and we never went hungry.

Champion for her daughters: Despite being taught that women were second class citizens, Mom pushed her daughters to get a college degree. She made sure that her daughters would be independent in life.

Best of all, Mom taught me how to knit.

Gored Skirt for dress

• Starting point - 40 stitches. Use markers to divide stitches into groups of 5 (eight sections)
• m1 before and after the marker (16 stitches increased)
• knit 2 rows
• Repeat above three more times (98 stitches total)
• Knit to desired length
• End with garter stitch (purl 1 row, knit 1 row, purl 1 row)
• Bind off with knit stitch
• Use steam iron to make the skirt drape into soft folds