Worry bear X 2

We thought we'd lost him.  Worry bear.
(also known as snuggle bear...but never mind.)

A month or two ago, one of my twins seemed to need some extra support at preschool in a few areas...in terms of feeling anxious and not behaving himself.

  (Developmental and physical delays are very common for twins, I've not gone into detail about it here...the short version is that it's a challenge, but slowly improving in many ways.)  

When I was in high school, I'd had a dear friend (still a dear friend, in fact) who also seemed worried a lot.  I made him a special felt bear, maybe 2 inches (5cm) tall, that fit in his pocket.  You could stick your hand in your pocket, touch your bear, and feel reassured...and although I still have that sewing pattern somewhere, it is small and fiddly.  I remember it being fiddly when I was a teenager, with all the time in the world.  It was clear I needed to make another one, and fast.

I grabbed some size 3 (3.25mm) double pointed needles, some Rowan Pure Wool dk, some wool stuffing...and voila, worry bear was ready by the time preschool was over that day.  Since then, worry bear has had a few accidental trips through the wash---thank goodness for superwash wool!  He is a bit smaller, and a bit more worn, but fine.  Until last Sunday.  On Sunday, the professor took the twins to their dance class.  I got to attend an adult ed. class...by myself--an hour and a half of learning, knitting, and pure joy, let me tell you!

When everybody was back home, I noticed that one twin was wearing the other twin's sweatpants...and at the end of the day, we found we'd lost worry bear.  OH NO!

We made it through one day of preschool without him.  I applied myself to the task, using some of the new sock yarn from www.yarncanada.ca.  Tuesday morning, worry bear #2 was waiting at the breakfast table.  There were complaints.  He was not just the same.  He was bigger.  Squishy.  (He had not been through the wash several times already!)  However, he hopped into a twin's pocket.  All seemed well.

I raced around doing chores for a bit, and vacuumed.  Guess what?  Worry Bear #1!  We found him!  He was just resting under the couch for a while....I guess vacuuming has some benefits after all!

At the moment, Worry Bear is just something out of my head, no pattern, no design forthcoming.  I did do Lambie and Doggie years ago, and they could be easily sized down with smaller needles and lighter weight yarn...but for now, Worry Bear is something we need here, at least in one four year old's pocket, so I will have to turn them out upon request.  Let's hope Worry Bear #2 is a good back up.  Just in case something goes missing again...which it is bound to, sooner or later!

In the meanwhile, I am just finishing up knitting the second twin sweater, and then it is on to more mitts, and wool socks.  We seem to have outgrown a lot of our socks...and it's finally snowy and colder today!  Maybe winter is really here now?  Two adults have already commented to me today, "Nice Snow!" or "It's snowing!" with glee.  We enjoyed the warm fall but snow a month late? We were missing it, I guess.  It's Snow Time, indeed!