Otto the bear

Packrat that I am, I ordered the Otto pattern from Ysolda - I loved Jordi's Elijah and a new baby in the family was enough of an excuse to start knitting a bear.

I bought a couple of balls of Cashsoft Cotton in John Lewis yesterday - on sale at 70p a ball, so a bargain to boot. But of course, when I got home and read the pattern (good idea, eh, read the pattern!) I realised I'd bought 4ply, not DK. Oh well, set to on 2.5mm needles and I am perfectly happy with the size and tension.

I've read the comments on Ravelry about Otto and was concerned at the "anteater" comparisons. I took someone's advice to shorten his nose a little by decreasing every row and was pleased with the result. As I stuffed his head, I took care to shape it nicely and took the opportunity to mark the eye position as I finished the thread end off from his nose.

But as I started to pick up his neck stitches it became clear that all was not right. Yes, his head is upside down! Am I bothered by this? Is Otto bothered by it? Not in the slightest. In fact, I think that his bear-like profile is rather grand!

Ysolda has written a great pattern to follow, easy to understand and clearly explained. quite why I've managed to go so far off piste I have no idea!