Maple Bear

You will need

Yarn

Worsted · cotton or acrylic, about 170–200 m / 100 g; small amounts of contrast and black embroidery yarn

Hook

3.5 mm (US E/4), for a firm fabric

Colours

3: Maple, Cream, Black (embroidery)

Also

Black yarn for embroidered eyes, toy stuffing, a stitch marker, a tapestry needle

Gauge

16 sc × 18 rounds = 10 cm (4 in); not critical, the fabric just needs to be firm

Terms

US crochet terms · 7 different pieces, 59 rounds written out

Size & yarn

Height sitting, from the round counts at the gauge above. Yarn: engine estimate from 1,326 single crochets, with a 10–15% margin.

Checked by the engine

• The 59 written rounds of the 7 pieces, read on their own, add up: each round works exactly the stitches of the round below and ends on the count in brackets.
• Increases and decreases are staggered: in all 17 back-to-back shaping rounds, none is worked into the stitches made by one in the round below, so the pieces stay round instead of turning hexagonal.
• No round adds or takes away more than 6 stitches, so nothing ruffles or puckers.
• Every round of every piece follows the drawn shape: the largest difference is 2.4 mm in radius (head).
• Every closed piece ends on 6 stitches or fewer, so the last hole pulls shut.
• Every placement points to a round that exists on its piece, every opening fits where it is sewn, and each piece is used as many times as it is made (10 pieces in all).
• The toy sits on its base: no leg, foot or tail is sewn so low that it lifts the base off the table (nothing reaches more than 2 mm below it).
• Size from the counts: about 13 cm tall at 16 sc × 18 rnds to 10 cm. Every round's size is its stitch count, so a thicker or thinner yarn scales the whole toy.

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