This is Best Friend Bear, another Lion Brand pattern available free, after you sign on to their site. This is an easy, very cute pattern. My only modification was to gather the neck in a bit. It’s shown here in Martha Stewart Crafts Extra Soft Wool Blend. Quite a nice yarn, especially for baby and kid stuff that is going to lead a hopefully hard life. Some day, after this bear is gifted, I hope to encounter Best Friend Bear worn to a frazzle because some special child has adopted this bear as a favorite stuffed buddy.

But, the bear did look very bare.

I got to thinking about a particularly disappointing knit 3-4 years ago. I started working on a Lucy Neatby sock kit, with wonderful Koigu KPM sock yarn. The pattern is Neatby’s Camelot Socks. In fact, the featured sock is exactly the colorway I was working with, but at the time it was kitted with Koigu. I got all the way through the cuff and just beyond turning the heel when I realized I’d goofed up on the instep pattern on one side. I was at a loss to figure what I’d done wrong. I planned to let it rest for a few days and return to it later. It is rare that I put a project into hibernation. This one was too beautiful to abandon. But I did.

So, I slid the bear into my half-a-Camelot sock and realized that I might be able to modify the sock to fit the bear as a hooded dress. The garter stitch cuff could be hemmed to the correct length. I could add sleeves and then, gulp, steek on the inside. The heel could be the hood. I’d just need to do some finishing work to frame the face better.

So, this is my Camelot hooded dress:

OK, I know I’m tooting my own horn here, but this “save” has me totally pleased with myself. The knitting has not gone to waste. Neither has the yarn. And I don’t have to feel the least bit guilty for not finishing a project. In fact, it takes a trained knitting eye to even notice my patterning mistake.

Here’s the whole Lion Brand set, Long-Eared Bunny, Knitted Lion, Cute Cabled Lamb and Best Friend Bear: