The Blue Bear of Happiness

Almost 13 years ago, I was very new to crocheting.  All I had crocheted so far were a few afghans, doilies, and one disastrous sweater.  But when I heard that my beloved Aunt Kim was pregnant and I would soon have a new baby cousin, I got to work.  The best part about this story is that almost 13 years later, my adorable cousin still loves the bear!  Check this out:

The power of yarn, a crochet hook, some poly-fil, and a whole lot of love.

Project notes: I chose THE MOST OBNOXIOUS YARN EVER, Red Heart Baby Clouds, and got to work on a pattern that I found in a small Baby Clouds pattern book at Michael's.  This yarn is SO hard to crochet with....

.... but it is so beautiful.  I couldn't see my stitches very well, and this was my second amigurumi ever, so I don't think I was even using stitch markers or obsessively counting my stitches yet.  It's a miracle I ever finished the darn thing.  The pattern is now available for free on Red Heart's website, so you, too, can give it a try and see if you can get it done.  Beware, though: this is the most "splitty" yarn I have ever used.  I also made a baby afghan out of it for my friend, Sue, and by the end of that afghan, I swore I'd never buy this yarn again.  I still have a few partial skeins in my stash, just taunting me.  I need to give it to Sonia to make some art projects, or something.