CKC’s Board of Directors was charmed by the bears and Marilyn’s story. Board members asked if she would write a crocheted bear pattern for CKC Members to download. Marilyn wrote instructions for the crocheted bear and also for a knitted version. In June 2023, CKC called for volunteers to test the patterns.

I volunteered to test the crochet pattern, and that’s how Pinky Bear came to be. Within weeks, knit and crochet patterns for Marilyn’s bears were available free of charge to CKC Members. To promote CKC’s free knit/crochet bear patterns, I posted Pinky Bear’s many Fall 2023 adventures on my own and CKC’s social media platforms.

In October we went to the Texas Fleece and Fiber Festival in Kerrville. At my TextileFusion booth, Pinky Bear clowned around with a crocheted butterfly which I believed was stiffened with wax instead of starch. The result: a Waxwing Bear Fly. Pinky Bear visited with Rose, the crocheted sheep mascot of Yellow Rose Fiber Markets. He stood on her left shoulder.

A few days later, we carpooled with friends to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, and yes, we did find yarn there. Pinky and I loved Dusty’s Buttons and More, where vintage buttons were sorted by color. Since then, Pinky Bear has been at home on my desk.

As an avid spinner, I was eager to bring home some spindles from our hiking trip to Peru in 2017.  Our guide helped me find them during a visit to a weaving and textile cooperative called the Asociacion Civil Apu Salkantay, Warmicuna de Mollepata, in Mollepata, Anta Province, Peru.

Spindles were not offered for sale in the weaving shop, but upon learning of my interest in spinning, one of the women went home and came back in a few minutes with a plastic grocery bag filled with loose shafts and whorls.  We fitted a few together and I purchased 3 spindles, with some raw Alpaca fiber to spin.  I understood that she made the spindles herself.  

These spindles are "low whorl" spindles.  The shafts are sticks that, according to Abby Franquemont (https://abbysyarns.com/2011/02/peruvian-spindles-my-spindles/) are peeled and whittled into shape. The whorls are turned on a lathe, with ornamental lines burned into the wood. The tag pictured is for a beautiful handwoven gray Alpaca shawl I purchased from the shop; I include it because it identifies the name and location of the Warmicuna de Mollepata weaving and textile cooperative.

During our travels I saw men and women using spindles like these to spin Alpaca and wool yarns.  I enjoy having and spinning with these working momentos of our trip.  

Construction Details: knitted in flat pieces (back and front), seamed at sides and shoulders, with sleeve edges and neckband picked up after seaming to finish. Allover texture pattern consists of vertical panels of stockinette stitch framed by columns openwork lace.   Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing at hem, garter stitch sleeve edges, neck edge, and toes.  Gauge 27 stitches and 29 rows = 4".  

Condition: Excellent. 

Recollections:  

My mother, Paige Negus, made this yellow summer sweater for me in 1978.  I never wore it much -- the color was not very flattering, and the yarn was not comfortable to wear next to the skin -- but I've kept it year after year because it is so beautifully made, and because I recall my mother re-knitted it several times to make it come out just right.

Recently we found the orginal pattern for this sweater among the craft magazines my mother has saved.  Published in the Spring/Summer 1978 Issue of American Home Crafts Magazine (shown), it is identified as "Cap Sleeve Blouse", pp. 83 and 100.  The pattern recommended using Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca yarn, but I am sure my mother substituted Mohair because it was less expensive.  The Magazine offers an interesting glimpse into 1970s crafting -- with knitted, crocheted, and sewn garments, quilts and shirred rugs made from recycled and scrap fabrics, sand painting in bottles, stenciled floors, embroidered peasant blouses, and much more.

Now my mother spends her crafting time on needlepoint and cross stitch, but then she made a lot of our clothing to save money.  She loved to knit and she was absolutely passionate about sewing.  This sweater reminds me of her love of making, the beautiful things she created for all of us -- me, my sister, my father, and herself -- and the many hours we spent during those years sewing, knitting and crafting together.

This version is Biggie 2.0, knit in bulky superwash wool (Cascade 128) and in a smaller needle size (US 8/5mm) to help make him sturdier. He's stuffed with polyfil and has a knit heart inside. Future Biggies may be needed, so the heart can be transferred if necessary into his new regenerated form.

Shown here are some of the characters, props, and sets that Jennifer crocheted for the book. 

The project of the Ballerina Bunny was created from a pattern I had found (but no longer retain).  It spoke to me because it encompassed a lot of my favorite things all at once: my love of ballet; my work as a ballet teacher; my love of animals, knitting, and dolls. I was especially smitten with the tutu and the faux-toe shoes. It was also a good project for learning different knitting techniques and to be able to see results quickly.

Most importantly, I knew it would make my mom happy.  She had been my knitting teacher and I wanted to show her how much she had taught me.  At the time, my mother was battling the final stages of her illness. I had caught a cold and for 3 weeks it was unsafe for me to visit with her, so I was seeking a way that we could still do something together that made us both feel useful and happy.  Making a knitted doll, with so much personal resonance, seemed like a good solution.  We talked over the phone regularly about how to approach different parts and fix issues and share pictures of our progress.

When I was finallly able to present it to Mom, her excitement was beyond what I had imagined.  She loved it, for so many reasons, and certainly for more than just the accomplishment of knitting.  That's what makes it a treasure - because it's an everlasting, irreplaceable, shared experience of the heart captured in each and every stitch.