Welcome to Finbar’s world. I am REALLY proud of this pattern!

I grew up in a small town in Upstate NY called Bearsville (really!). I have always loved classic teddy bears. I wanted a pattern for an artful, detailed, full-size crocheted classic bear and I couldn’t find one, so I set about coming up with my own. I spent over a year working out the subtle shapes in this bear. The whole bear is done in single crochet, with increases and decreases. I made Finbar out of millspun sportweight alpaca yarn, but you can use ANY yarn. I have started one in handspun white bunny angora, and I am really enchanted by it. The thicker the yarn, the bigger the finished bear. You can make a whole family of bears with this one pattern. If you use different yarns, they’ll all look different.

This pattern is more detailed than any of the bear patterns out there. The head, at its largest, is 68 single crochet stitches around, compared with about half that number in even the most detailed thread-crochet bear patterns I have seen. This is not a very fast project, for sure. It is a labor of love, and the quality of the bear will reflect the hours you put into creating it.

I thought about writing a book about classic bear crochet, complete with a section on natural fibers and handspun yarns, with detailed photographs of many different bears at various stages of completion (the head alone would make an excellent paperweight). I spoke (through e-mail) with a publisher at Interweave Press, and she told me that, though she really liked the bear, they wouldn’t be interested in a book with only one pattern in it, no matter how detailed the process. So, here is Finbar, ready for you to crochet and love. I am excited to share my very special bear with you.

This copyrighted pattern is a PDF file that you can download directly from Etsy upon payment! It is not presented in shorthand but, rather, in a detailed, user-friendly worksheet that you can print out, so that you can mark off steps as you complete them. I hope you enjoy every bit of your bear-making experience. Thanks for your support.