Knits for Bears Released!

November 4, 2008 at 2:29 pm · Filed under book, design, family, knitting

Pearl is ready for her close-up, but I have a feeling the news media might have other things to cover today. Nonetheless, my new book, Knits for Bears to Wear is officially released today. (A friend of my mom’s in upstate New York even confirmed a sighting in the wilid). Pearl did insist that I clean up the mess in my studio just in case a rogue reporter mistakenly stumbled on over to Cordova. I am excited about the book launch–we’ll be having a party to celebrate at my local yarn shop, The Net Loft on November 19th.

The book has over 20 outfits for soft toys–that’s right, they don’t have to be for bears. The patterns can fit bears, American Girl Dolls, and any soft toy. Each pattern can be easily customized to exactly fit your toy with a simple little “customizing sidebar” we built into each pattern. You do a couple of easy calculations, and you’re ready to knit!

I also, can finally tell you that I’ve been asked to do a sequel to Knits for Bears. A yet-to-be-titled Crochet for Bears book will be out in spring of 2010. I’m working on it now, and without the wonderful group of sample knitters I had helping me with Knits for Bears, it is a little more challenging, but I’m delighted to be designing on a small scale again–it’s a process that allows for creativity in ways that human garments do not.

OK, back to my regularly scheduled obsessive watching of the election results!

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)

  • Carol
    Love the patterns. I am making the Mermaid pattern and am trying to figure out how I start off with 41 stitches before the flipper incr, add 4 stitches each knit row, and then end up with 76. How do you go from odd to even?
  • Hi Carol--I'm out of town and I don't have the book along with me, I'll
    check into it when I get home, but if you don't hear from me, please feel
    free to e-mail me directly to remind me at aoh@ipsmedia.com. It sounds like
    it might be a typo, but I'm guessing either way it's probably an easy
    explanation.

    Best,

    Amy
  • Jackie
    I knit the initial sweater for the second time and I noticed this time around that the chart and the written directions do not match for the number of rows you do in stockinette before you add the "B"
  • Thanks Jackie, for letting me know! :-)
  • Liss
    I just bought this book and am coming across the errors noted above. Is there somewhere I can get a list of the corrections?
    thanks!
  • Hi Melissa--Here's the publisher's errata page:

    http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/pottercraft/er...

    Also, if you're a member of Ravelry.com I've updated patterns there with any
    corrections.

    Feel free to e-mail me at aoh@ipsmedia.com if you have specific quesitons.
  • Rebecca P.
    I've been trying to knit the Floral Nightgown pattern. I have to use the customization formula because the bear I'm using is a different size. Unfortunately, there seems to be an error in this formula. I've checked my math three different times and it wants me to cast on far too few stitches. With a gauge of 5.25 sts/inch and a back-of-neck measurement of 6.5", I wind up with cast on number of 72. However, when I get to the Row 1 instructions for the custom formula, it's impossible to follow them because in order to place all markers correctly I would actually need to have 106 stitches. I will eventually be able to work this out, but unless I'm mistaken somehow this is an error and should be corrected.
  • Rebecca P.
    Actually, I should note that with 72 stitches on the needles, the ribbing goes around the neck nicely. It's just that all the other numbers arrived at with the formula (back-of-neck stitches, sleeve stitches, etc.) simply will not fit into those 72 stitches.
  • Hi Rebecca, I'm sorry you're having a little trouble with the calculations.
    Feel free to e-mail me at aoh@ipsmedia.com, and I'll see if I can help you a
    little more. It sounds like you're on the right track, you may not have
    added all the pieces of the cast-on calculation.

    Best,

    Amy
  • irishunic
    while your looking at the errors, you better double check the math for the customized fur hooded jacket. the end of the hood is basically twice the necline plus 4 but when you start marking out the increases you need 4 times the necline plus 4.(the neckline, 1/2 neckline for each sleeve, 3 edging stichs plus the front sleeves and the 4 decorative)
  • Hi Iris, thanks for your note, I'll certainly take another look at the hood.
  • Jackie
    I love the book! It is a great way to learn new techniques. I even steeked, ack! I am currently working on the bolero, and am wondering if part of the instructions are missing. It says to leave the stitches on the needles, and then pick up around the neck and side openings. I am assuming that I also knit the stitches left on the needle for the bottom edging, but it isn't clearly stated. Thanks for any help.
  • Hi Jackie--I'm glad you like the book. I'm sorry that's not clear, yes, the
    stitches you've left on the needles also become part of the edging. Hope
    this helps!
  • tommyy
    It seems to me that there is a chart missing for the fair isle sweater pattern in the Knits for Bears to Wear book. Has anybody else encounter this same problem? I have all the yarn and am anxious to get going. Help!!!!!!
  • Hi there--there is a chart error in the book with that pattern. Can you e-mail me? I'll send you the correction. We're getting ready to post it on the publisher's web site, but I can get it to you asap. (aoh@ipsmedia.com)
  • Hi There--I recently heard about it, and I'm working with the designer of
    that pattern to figure it out Thanks for the heads-up!
  • Love the book, but in the traveling vines sundress, when the customization instructions say to take the circumference of your animal, they mean HALF the circumference. This would be obvious to anybody who'd read all of the main instructions, but of course I didn't, and the fact that the pattern calls for circular needles (I'm not sure why, as it's all back-and-forth) mislead me into believing it was reasonable to want all of the circumference. Fortunately I noticed before I'd gotten too far, but it was a bit frustrating.
  • Elizabeth--thank you so much for your comment--that must have been frustrating-I'm sorry! I will make sure that the error is included in the books' errata.
  • Candi
    Cute Book!! I'm trying to do the fair isle sweater and I don't understand the chart. It appears the chart in the book is for the sleeve only. Do you have any corrections or can you send me the full pattern?
  • Grandma J
    I'm so proud of you. Can't wait to see the book, which I suspect I'll see at Christmas time.

    Love you.
  • Hooray! Can't wait to see it!
  • I can't wait to get my hands on this book.

    I can't find the info anywhere, so what weight of yarn should I be shopping for in preparation? My mom is getting me the book for Christmas and I would love to have some yarn ready to make some cute things for my daughter's American girl dolls.
  • Jackie Medina
    The book looks absolutely adorable. Congratulations, Amy! I am about to order.
  • Uncle Jack
    The bears and their wonderful wardrobe are delightful!! Congratulations!
    Aunt Carole
  • Congrats! What wonderful pictures! Just beautiful.
  • We hookers are anxiously awaiting "Crochet for Bears" edition.
    Congrads...
  • Congrats on the book! And as a crocheter, very pleased to hear of the sequel :)
  • I LOVE these designs and was sad that they were knitted... But you perked me right up when you said that you're planning a crochet book! Awesome! :)
  • Aunt Barbara
    That's wonderful. Congratulations! My library already has the book on order. Those bears are so cute.

    Love,
    Aint B
  • I'm voting for Mr. Bear today! Congratulations!
  • Congratulations! Ally will be wanting one of everything.
  • Congratulations! It looks super cute!!
  • OH they are SO cute!! Too adorable!! Omie needs this book (that's me)!
  • Eva
    Congratulations!!
blog comments powered by Disqus