Bobbles and Bears ~

Hi everyone!

Emmitt and I had a wonderful Holiday weekend. We cannot wait to come and see how you spent your day!

I think Emmitt is still stuffed from all of his Turkey Meatloaves, stuffing and pumpkin pie! He says there is nothing trim about the trimmings he ate! :)

I cannot believe tommorow is December 1st aleady! I am just in time to send off my November care package to Knit-A-Square.

I made 6 rainbow bobble squares and 5 knit teddy bears for the children. :)

I think my rainbow bears for the Mother Bear Project inspired my color pallet this time. :)

They were so much fun to make!

Gold & Yellow and Purple & Lavendar

Aqua & Light Aqua and Orange & Peach

Red & Pink and Green & Lime

... and here are the bears! Perfect for little hands!

I recently wrote a tutorial for you if you would like to make these little bears too!

Have a wonderful day! I cannot wait to see what you have been up to!

xoxoxox

Melissa

Meet My Friend Leann!

Happy Friday everyone!

I want to introduce you to my friend Leann.

She hired me over 20 years ago to work in her frame shop in Michigan and she never got rid of me! :)

She and her wonderful husband Mark came to visit us this past August and we had a blast!

Leann has taught me so many things over the years. She is a master carver and book binder was the inspiration for me to learn both how to carve my stamps and make journals.

I was so excited to receive a package from her last week. Look what she made for me!

A hand carved stamp of Emmitt with gorgeous prints too!

I ran right out and framed them!

Aren't they amazing?

Leann not only handcarves stamps, but she also makes fabulous fabric dolls, watercolors and much, much more that you can purchase in her Etsy Shop, Wiccadoo, and her blog.

Please stop by and say hello! She would love to meet you. Just tell her "The Short Framer" sent you. She will know who that is! :)

xoxoxoxo

Melissa

Emmitt's Turkey Meatloaf Recipe!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Emmitt here!

I have been very busy making my Mini Meatloaves and wanted to share my recipe with you!

I even made a recipe card for you. Just click on the picture to biggify and print!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground turkey, lamb or beef

1 12-15oz can mixed vegetables (no salt added)

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice or plain oatmeal

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix ingredients in a large bowl.

Scoop mixture into mini loaf pans or muffin tins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

*Ding* 00000! They are ready!

Yummy! Can we eat yet?

I am so thankful for all of you and your friendship!

Have a wonderful Holiday everyone!

xoxoxoxo

Melissa & Emmitt

Fabulous Felted Teddy Bears!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I had to share this special batch of new felted bears Melanie just listed in her Etsy Shop!

They are handmade from cashmere that she felted and made into ornaments for only $10 each!

Oh my gosh! They are so cute!

Melanie's Holiday 2009 Collection also includes her new Wool Blanket Bears for only $12.50 each!

I love all of their expressions! Their eyebrows make me smile! She needle felts and embroiders each one by hand. They are 2 and 4 footed child safe made with natural materials.

Kris at Resweater is a fabulous resource for sweaters to upcycle. Please visit her shop and blog for amazing finds and projects!

She recently wrote a wonderful post about the before and after transformation of a raw sweater into one of Melanie's amazing bears!

How fun!

Please stop by and say hello to her! She would love to meet you!

I cannot believe it is almost Thanksgiving already!

Emmitt has been cooking up a storm!

I'm tellin ya, we are tripping over the piles of mini-meatloaves he is making and boxing up over here! He is busy addressing the boxes to ship to all of you. :)

I think he is watching too much FoodTV because I swear he is now saying Bam! and Yum-o!

Please stop by tomorrow because Emmitt has a special gift for you!

Gobble! Gobble!

xoxoxoxo

Melissa and Emmitt

Tutorial ~ Easy to Knit Teddy Bear

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share my newest creation with you : An Easy to Knit Tube Teddy Bear!

It was the happy result of knitting a tube that was too small to wear, but perfect for stuffing. :)

It is so fun and easy to make that I documented all the steps so that you can make one too!

*Please treat this tutorial as a jumping off point for your own creations and creativity. There is no right or wrong, just fun! Use your favorite techniques to create your own creatures and please share them with me! I would love to see and learn from you too. :)

Supply List:

All you need is:

• 4 double pointed knitting needles - (I used) US Size 5
• a stitch marker
• a yarn needle
• US - Size G - crochet hook
• scissors
• polyfill (not shown)
• Your favorite worsted weight yarn of any kind.

For this project, I used two Lion Brand Yarns knit together :

Fishermen's Wool in Oak Tweed and Sock-Ease in Lemon Drop.

Step 1: Cast on a total of 24 stitches (8 on each of your 3 dp needles).



Step 2: Knit around until your tube is approx 4" long.



Step 3: Bind off your knitting leaving a long tail to sew up the seam.

Step 4: Use the long tail to sew up one end of your tube with your yarn needle.





Step 5: Stuff your knit tube with polyfill and sew up the other side to create a small pillow.

* Note: To finish off all of your ends, just poke them through the bear so that it goes through the opposite side and clip the end of the yarn close to the bear so that it will pull into your project and disappear. The polyfill will keep the end safe inside and invisible. :)




Step 6: To form the neck: Use a long strand of yarn to run a gathering stitch about 1/3 down from the top. Pull strands to gather and tie a square knot to secure. Weave in ends.

Step 7: To form the ears: Pinch the top corners of the head and use a strand of yarn and your yarn needle to sew the pinched area into a ear like shape that you like on both corners of the head. Weave in ends.

Ta da! The head and ears are complete! :)

Step 8: To form the legs, do the exact same thing as in step 7 to form the ears, but gather a larger area. Weave in ends.

Step 9: Making the arms: Feel free to make the arms in any way you like to make little tubes about 1 1/8 inches long. I crochet mine and I will explain now how I do that...

(Make 2) - To form the arms: Make a slip knot leaving a 4 or 5" tail and Chain 2.

Using your G hook, Single Crochet 2 stitches into the second chain from hook. Then keep single crocheting in the stitch below the one you just worked in until you have a 1 1/8" long form as seen above.

End and leave a long tail.

You will use the tails on both ends of your arm for sewing into the body and forming the hand.

To form the hand: Thread the tail that you started your slip knot with and sew it in a few times into the top of the stitches to form a ball like shape at the end of the arm to make a hand.

Weave in end.

Attach the arm to the bear at shoulder distance with your remaining tail. Weave in end and repeat on the other side.

How exciting!

Your teddy bear form is complete!

Now we are ready to make his collar and embroider his face.

We are almost done!

Step 10: To make the collar: Grab a ball or scrap of your favorite yarn and finger crochet about 20 loops. The exact length will depend upon the width of the neck you created. Before you end it, just size it around your teddy bear to see if the ends meet. Tie a square knot and snip the ends.

Here is a picture of all the stages your bear will take!

Step 11: Embroider the face: Snip about 18 -20" of a worsted weight black yarn and thread your yarn needle.

I started at the nose and made 3 horizontal stitches. I then made a diagonal stitch from the nose to the mouth area and made one stitch to form the smile.

I then traveled up to the eye area and made one or two stitches on each side to form the eyes.

weave in ends.

You are done! :)

You can see that each little bear and face has its own personality.

Have fun with this project and please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Remember, this is just a jumping off place for your own creations. I cannot wait to see what you make!

Have a ton of fun! You cannot make a mistake ~ only a happy ending!


xoxoxoxox

Melissa

My Newest Crochet & Knit Creations

Happy Monday!

I am so excited! I finished the sweater I have been working on. Now Melanie and I each have two in our closets.

I thought I would make a bright one for myself to compliment the mustard/light yellow one I made last month. :)

I was inspired by the baby blankets I made in July for KAS for this color combination of red and aqua.

I have also been knitting tiny teddy bears ever since my attempt to make a wristlet that evolved into a teddy bear! :)

I have 5 of these little guys ready for a holiday care package for the KAS Charity in South Africa. I am working on a few more bobble squares to add to the box so I will have more pictures for you this week!

The "Tube Teddies" are so easy and fun to knit that I am busy writing a tutorial to show you how to make your very own. :)

Have a super day everyone!

xoxoxo

Melissa and Emmitt

Emmitt has a dream!

Hi Everyone!

Emmitt here!

I am so excited!

I have a dream to be a Mother Bear ambassador. :)

My duties will be to teach the bears all of my songs and dance routines to make the children smile and laugh.

I think my new hat and sweater will help me to fit right in!

I have been practicing my singing all day!

I even have an audition tape!

What do you think? Do I make a good Mother Bear?

Have a super duper weekend my friends!

xoxoxoxo

Emmitt

Emmitt and the Rainbow Bears

Hi Everyone!

Emmitt here to show you my rainbow of new friends that mom just finished for the Mother Bear Project.

I have been busy practicing my new song and dance to teach them to make the children in Africa giggle.

These bears are a happy bunch! I think they like their new pom pom collars!

and a one and a two and a three...

Wow! They are pooped from all of the singing and dancing.

No problem! I will make them a snack of some cookies and milk.

They will have so much fun teaching the kids the new song!

*Ding* oooo! The cookies are ready!

Ok! Snack time! I had better have few while they are cooling off so the the little bears do not burn their tongues.

Have a super day everyone!