when is a bear a mouse?
By Heather on Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
michelle at green kitchen shows off a “racoon” she made recently… yes, it was meant to be a bear… but i have to agree it does look more like a racoon!
i keep on trying to make bears, and fail. what makes a bear a bear? i have to figure out face proportions, and ear placement. i put the ears a little too close to the top of the head… and it didn’t look right. so instead…
look at the cute mouse it became! you can see i went over the ears with two single crochet rows, so i could make the ears bigger. (still not sure if this mouse would like his ears even bigger?)
then, i used the wool to ’shape’ the face, bringing in the eye socket area (and anchoring it to the nape of the neck, so it made cheeks. and i put the nose where the bear’s chin was going to be.
whenever i start a new animal, i begin with the belly, then do the head. then one arm and one leg. the ears are last. it’s not until the ears that i know exactly what it might be. i think i need to start with sketches, and see if i can plan ahead to actually make a bear!
EDIT: Newsflash… I was just surfing around (up early, hoping to sign up for backtack) and found that another mouse appeared when Fiona from Hop Skip Jump was trying to make a cat! Mouse is the new ‘one size fits all’ animal.
“Somewhere around 10pm panic set in when I realised my fat cat looked more like a bear of some sort. Cursing the (far too ample) glass of wine I’d had earlier, I forged ahead. Then I mucked up the arms and had to make some more changes to her body… and suddenly around about 11pm, a mouse appeared. A skinny kind of mouse at that, too. Thankfully, a happy accident.”
*And* it was posted on the same day as mine was!
April 4th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
I think he’s adorable.
April 5th, 2006 at 1:44 am
I love this little bear turned mouse. He looks so soft and fuzzy.
It is interesting to think about what the essential features are for each kind of animal - a cat, a bear, a bunny, etc. And it’s fun to make an animal that is open for interpretation.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:38 am
That’s so cute! And I think the ears are the perfect size.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:19 am
Very sweet - I think he looks like a bear with a curly tail.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
So much personality in one little animal!! I’ve been wanting to try to crochet a stuffie for a while now and I think this has put me over the top. Is it possible to share your pattern??? Thanks for sharing the photo and inspiration!! I just found your blog and love it already.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:02 am
very cute. he can be a mouse? but then, it doesn’t matter what he is, he is cute.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:17 am
oh god he is adorable!
April 6th, 2006 at 2:21 am
I thought it was a bear until I read your post…but now I think about it I think with bears it’s the snout. Even if the snout is just a circle of a different colour, it has the same effect.
April 6th, 2006 at 4:29 am
I’d say he’s a mouse. A very cute mouse.
April 8th, 2006 at 7:46 am
this teddy bear is the sweetest thing i’ve seen!!!!!!!!!! or a mouse!!! wow, that is tricky?! you can name the mouse, bear… or name the bear, mouse… hee hee! wow, it looks so cuddly though!!!! did it take you long to make?! do you sell them?! so beautiful! (your site is too)
April 11th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
so so sweet!!! and i love the photograph…the way the light lands on his sweet face…adorable