It's Not Cheating to Use a Machine

I was moving right along finally making good progress with my afghan and soft knit toys when I ran across a beautiful hand knitted Christmas wreath online and wanted one... bad enough to make my own. So I dragged out my Addi express machine and got busy. 

Then the thought popped into my head that maybe little bears and other animals could be made on the small Addi... hmmm... I couldn't find a pattern with arms and legs. I found all kinds of patterns for the Addi for animal heads but it seemed like nobody wanted to make the bodies and limbs to finish them up. So I got busy and figured out how it could be done - and still look cute. Cuteness was the big factor. I knew it would be such a time saver. How many of these could you crank out in a day? I know, right! It took me two to three days to make a knitted LCR bear and I just didn't have that kind of time with Christmas coming. I love making them but they do take a while.

And a lot of trial and error and several hours later, I came up with a bear that I absolutely love. There are some special techniques that I used to make him look right. The arms and legs are rolled up and then sewn so there is no batting or stuffing in them. They don't need it. The head and body is made in one piece and doubled so no stuffing shows through since the needle gauge on the Addi is much larger than the small needles I usually use by hand. You double it up just like you would make a beanie hat. I only crocheted the muzzle and tail on this little guy.

The pieces went quick on the machine but it did take a while to sew him together and finish him off. I embroidered the nose and mouth. I used plastic safety eyes but you could embroider them. I scribbled row counts and instructions as I went so I'll have to sort them and write them out at some point and make a hand knit version for those who don't have an Addi but seriously - why not use a machine instead of taking hours to make these by hand? And I love to hand knit too but it's not cheating to use a machine. You use a sewing machine to sew don't you? It's a time saving device. 

Many people use these machines to crank out dozens of animals, socks, hats and scarves to donate to hospitals, the homeless, underprivileged kids, firemen and the police for kids in distress. 

We don't have to cook over open fires any more either... and I'm glad about that too.