Kickstarter Aims to Produce Children’s Book about Knit Bear

A reader sent me a post about a children’s book she has written involving Huggable Henry, a little knit bear who helps people who are upset by giving them hugs.

Debbie Trainor, of Knit n Sew Studio, has produced the book and the cute little 5-inch-tall Garter Stitch bear to go with it, and she wants to self-publish the book with the help of a Kickstarter going on now.

Rewards include coloring pages from the book (illustrated by Rebecca Tierney), a copy of the pattern, the finished book, even an author visit if you pledge a lot and live near Toms River New Jersey.

It looks like a really cute bear and a nice story that will remind people of the power of simple goodness and giving hugs to make people feel better. I hope you’ll check it out!

[Photo via Knit n Sew Studio.]

The butterfly on this piece — the Owl Butterfly Playmat by Sophie’s Stitches — caught my eye before I even knew what the project was. Now that I’ve give it a closer look I’m still not 100 percent sure what it is meant to be for, but I still love it.

I think it’s maybe to give you a flat surface to roll dice or play cards on, but there are no images of the project in use so I’m just speculating on that. If you know what it is, be sure to let me know!

What it physically is is a worsted weight mat (the sample is worked in cotton) that measures 14 by 24 inches, or 35.5 by 61 cm. The impression I get from the pattern notes and the photos is that you knit the rectangle plain and the butterfly is stitched on after using duplicate stitch, which is provided as a chart.

Of course you could choose to knit some of the colorwork as you go, either using stranded knitting or intarsia techniques, or maybe some of both. It just looks like a lot of duplicate stitch (and it is!) so knowing me if I were making this project I’d probably try to knit some of it instead of stitching it all.

The pattern also suggests that you can knit a second plain mat to sew on the back and cover up all the yarn ends, as well as making the mat thicker and a little more stable. There’s also a photo that shows fabric sewn to the back, which is also a good option if you have some fabric that has a bit of grip.

I like the graphic on this one enough I might just make it as a table pad for our entry way table. You can always make the mat part a different dimension, just make sure you’re centering the image if you do.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Sophie’s Stitches]

Have you read?