Printing Labels for the Bears

Having spoken to Friends of Chintsa chair Lou, we decided that it would be nice to print labels for the bears so that the children's names could be written on them. We also decided to print the Friends logo on the tags.

Local businesses Tea in the Trees and Prana Lodge were both kind enough to sponsor the fabric and printing as well as needles and thread to sew the labels on to the bears.

The printing process was quite exciting and the labels are ready to be attached to bears as they are made up!

The labels coming out of the printing press

Labels completed with thread and needles!

Thanks for your support guys :)

The Knitting Revolution in Chintsa

At a recent family braai Kate & I brought along our bears to try and finish knitting them. It was a great occasion! Kerry also began a bear, even granny and the kids joined in on odd rows - proving that a simple bear is a great family project...

Fancy joining in? Grab the pattern from our previous blog "A Simple Charity Bear Pattern", along with some wool and needles...and join the knitting revolution. Don't forget to send any finished bears to:

Friends of Chintsa
PO Box 19
Chintsa East
5275
South Africa

Or drop them into the African Heartland Journeys office in Chintsa East.

Successful First Charity Knit-Off

 The first Bear Necessities knit off was a great success! The knit-off was hosted at the Chintsa Village Bistro with fresh tea and coffee for every knitter (kindly donated by Lynne Crawford - owner of the Bistro). There was tons of local support with knitters of all ages and abilities taking part - many of them bringing pre-knitted bears along!

The morning was super warm and relaxed with knitters coming and going as and when was suitable for them, and nattering as we knitted!

Lou, Kate and Kathy knitting up a storm!

Tracy working on the pattern 

Kathy and Kathi working on their creations

Lynne making up the pile of bears!

A huge thank you goes out to Kathy, Wendy, Lynne, Gail and Tracy who all brought several pre-knitted bears with them to be put together at the knit-off; to Lynne for putting the bears together on the day and to all the other knitters: Kate, Stacey, Megan, Lou and Kathi. An extra special well done to Kiki who came along to knit for the first time ever - can't wait to see your first bear :)

Kiki working on her first EVER knitting project
(with help from Wendy and Megan)

By the end of the knit-off the bear count is up to 25 completed bears with 5 in need of faces sewing onto them and several bears that were started and taken home to be completed. That's half of our original aim of 60 bears already!

A whole host of completed bears!

I was totally overwhelmed by the amount of support from the community with local knitters sending bears along to the cafe, tons of stuffing donations (including a huge donation of old pillows from Sal at Buccaneers Backpackers) and generally a great encouragement from both our local community and the international Friends of Chintsa community. Thank you!

The next knit-off will be held on Thurday 28th November at the Village Bistro at 10am. If you would like to get involved please bring along wool and needles. We will be knitting up a storm!

One last HUGE THANK YOU to all the Bear Necessities knitters for their wool, needles and time and energy to get this project off the ground :)

The First Bear Necessities Knit-Off!

Calling all knitters local to Chintsa/ East Coast Resorts and East London! 

The Bear Necessities Project is having their first knitting get-together (aka "Knit-Off!"):

Thursday 14th November 2013
10am at the Chintsa Village Bistro

Bring:

- Knitting needles
- Wool

- Darning needles & cotton

- Any ideas and enthusiasm!

I will bring copies of the basic bear pattern. We will get together for an hour or so, check that everyone is happy with pattern reading, casting on and off and answer any questions that you have about the project. There are bears knitted that need to be put together and finished, anyone who would like to volunteer to help with this is welcome.

Please post any questions in the comments box below!

The Clark family in bears! Thanks guys!

A quick thank you for the latest bear donations from Robyn and Rose Clark who knitted a whole family of bears for Bear Necessities! Thank you for your support, can't wait to give the bear family new homes in the village :)

Simple Charity Bear Knitting Pattern

As promised - a simple bear knitting pattern. This really is a simple pattern - even beginner knitters will find it easy to follow. The pattern is a culmination of several which I found on charity knitting sites and should only be used to knit bears which are going to charity - not to be sold for profit.

The Bear Recipe

The first bear I knitted with this pattern - I doubled up the
wool (double knitting) which made the "knit" nice and thick and probably
more durable...

The bear is knitted in one piece from foot to foot and then folded and joined with one seam along the side of the head, around the arms and sides of the body and along the bottom of the toes. 

Experiment with needle and wool sizes to get the perfect sized bear. I used double knit wool and 4.5mm needles on the first bear that I made to this pattern which came out at approximately 20cm from head to toe. The second bear I used bigger needles (6mm) and fatter wool and the bear once finished will be around 30cm I think.

The second bear in making!

Use any colours, and and knitting stitches that you like (garter, stocking stitch, ribbing...or a combination - all work well!).

1. Start with the legs: Cast on 8 stitches, knit 16 rows
2. Store these stitches either on one end of your knitting needle or on a stitch holder/ safety pin
3. Cast on another 8 stitches, knit 16 rows
4. Join the legs & knit the body: Don't break/ cut the wool at the end of the second leg. Knit the next row across all 16 stitches, knit another 11 rows (12 in total)
5. Knit the arms & body: Cast on 10 stitches at the start of the next 2 rows (making the arms). By the end of the second row there will be 10 (arm) + 16 (body) + 10 (arm) = 36 stitches. Knit 6 rows
6. Cast off 10 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows
7. Knit the head: Knit 32 rows (front and back of head)
8. Knit arms & back: Cast on 10 stitches at the start of the next 2 rows (making the arms). By the end of the second row there will be 10 (arm) + 16 (body) + 10 (arm) = 36 stitches. Knit 6 row.
9. Cast off 10 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows
10. Knit body: Knit 12 rows
11. Knit legs: Knit the first 8 stitches on the needles, place the remaining 8 on a stitch holder/ safety pin. Knit another 15 rows (16 in total) and cast off
12. Put the stitches from the holder back on to the needles and knit 16 rows, cast off

Knitting done! Time to put the bear together:

Fold the bear in half lining up the legs and arms. Using the same wool as you knitted the bear with sew from the top of one of the ears, all the way around the shape of the bear until you reach the bottom of the head at the other side to your starting point.

Stuff the bear with suitable stuffing making sure you get stuffing right into the ends of the arms and legs.

Complete stitching the seams together up the side of the head to complete to prevent the stuffing popping out!

If you're feeling creative you can use the same yarn to accentuate the shape of the head and ears: weave the yarn into the bears neck and pull tightly to draw in the shape of the neck. Tie off/ work in the end of the wool. For the ears: push the needle through the corner of the bears head and back again, pull the yarn tight to pull in the shape of the head and create ears. Work in the ends.

A close up of the embroidery on the face

Use a dark embroidery thread or wool to create the face of the bear - sew loops to create the nose, a mouth and eyes. Although it's lovely to use buttons and beads for eyes and features, these bears are going to small children and should have nothing on them that can fall off and cause a choking hazard. Please do not use buttons or beads. 

Easy! :)

If you have any questions about the pattern or if anything is unclear please comment below and I will do my best to help. 

Bears (either stuffed and finished or un-stuffed "flat" bears) can be posted to:
Friends of Chintsa
PO Box 19,
Chintsa East,

5275
South Africa

Thanks for your support and happy knitting!

Bear Necessities is Online!

Bear Necessities is a small project based in Chintsa on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The project is in the very beginning stages of it's (hopefully long and successful) life. It is a project which aims to give a little something to the children of the local area who don't have much, if anything, of their own; a small knitted bear. Because it really is a necessity for everyone, no matter how big or small, to have something to call their own.

The Inspiration

When browsing through my facebook wall one day I came across an beautiful photo of a little girl clutching a knitted bear with a huge smile on her face. I followed the link from the image and came upon a project called "The Mother Bear Project". I am totally inspired by the idea of the Mother Bear Project which is an non-profit organisation and international initiative where people knit simple teddy bears which are then distributed to developing countries who are struggling with the HIV/Aids epidemic. A simple something which passes on the message of love and hope to these children. If you would like to support this amazing project or find out more about it, you can visit their website at www.motherbearproject.org. (There are other charities which also need teddies - the Teddies for Tragedies website has quite a comprehensive list of these charities if you are looking for something closer to home, or if you type "Knit for Charity" into google, a hundred and one options will pop up - there will surely be one to suit you if Bear Necessities does not!).

Project Location

Chintsa is a small village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa; the gateway to the Wild Coast and former Transkei homeland. The Eastern Cape is the poorest province in South Africa with the slowest rate of development. The general standard of living and education services available in this under-developed region mean that the majority of children live below the poverty line. Typically Xhosa families are large; each family supports several children, grand parents, grand children and extended family, in a house with very little space, often with no running water or consistent supply of electricity. "Hand to mouth" kind of living. Luxuries like toys are not high on the list of priorities and the majority of children will grow up with very little in the way of these things.

Friends of Chintsa

Friends of Chintsa is a highly active non-profit organisation based in Chintsa. The "FoC'ers", as they are affectionately known, instigate and support initiatives in the greater Chintsa area which address long and short term, social and environmental issues faced by the communities of this area. This project will work in partnership with Friends; using their support, aims, communication channels and relationships to ensure that the bears are going to the right homes and to the children most in need. You can find out more about Friends of Chintsa on their website at www.friendsofchintsa.org.

The Project Begins

To kick off Bear Necessities I would like to supply one of the rural Chintsa Preschools with bears for each child. There are currently two preschools in the village and I am in communication with Friends of Chintsa as to which preschool would be best to work with at this stage. I believe that no less than 50 bears will be needed - possibly up to 60.

Project Support

Bear Necessities had already received a lot of support and several donations including:

• £50 for bear stuffing and 4 bears from Susan Spedding
• 6 bears, ribbon and cotton from Mari Hjul
• A donation of old pillows from Sal Price at Buccaneers Backpackers, to stuff the bears (loving the recycling) :)

  

  Knitted bears and a stock of ribbon from Mari

  
  

  

  A whole host of English bears from Sue

I'm so pleased to have had such enthusiastic response and support and can't wait to see the bears pile up as our knitting begins!

The Next Move

Start knitting! At this stage, because we don't have a budget for the wool, equipment and bears, knitters will have to donate their own wool and cotton as well as using their own knitting needles. I hope that once the project is a little more established we can start to build up a base stock of such things in Chintsa (either donated or bought with monetary donations), so that knitters only need give their time and creativity! I am planning to start a bi-weekly/ monthly bear knitting gathering in Chintsa and will keep you posted as to date, time and venue.

I would also like to print a small Friends of Chintsa logo on t-shirt fabric to be sewn to the chest of each bear. I have worked out that if we buy and print "in bulk" i.e., buy 1m x 1m of fabric and print logos to fill that area, it will cost less than R 0.50 per bear. The extra logos will be used for additional phases of the project.

How You Can Support the Project

1. Knit a Bear (or 10!) - look out for my next blog for a simple bear pattern. If you're not in S.A you can post your creations (stuffed or un-stuffed) to Friends of Chintsa, PO Box 19, Chintsa East. 5275. South Africa.
2. Donate your old and unused knitting equipment, wool and threads (see the wish list below for an idea of what we need).
3. Give a monetary donation to help us buy equipment and knitting materials (see Friends of Chintsa bank details below).

Wish List

A basic wish list to help Bear Necessities get off the ground:

Materials for bears

1.       Wool – R25 (for high quality lux. Wool – 100g)

2.       Stuffing - R10.50 per bag (2-3 bears)

3.       Embroidery thread - R15.50 – enough to complete approx. 4 bears

4.       Tracksuit/ t-shirt material to print logos onto - R 50 for 1m

Equipment for knitting

2.       Knitting needles - R16 per pair

3.       Darning needles for sewing edges together - R8 (2 needles)

4.       Standard needles for embroidery - (R 5 for 5)

Extra’s

1.       Luggage labels (to write child’s name on)

2.       Black pens for writing labels – R 16.99 each

4.       2 big boxes to keep everything in (one for materials one for bears!) - R450

Donate directly in the Friends of Chintsa account (please reference "Bear Necessities"):

Account name: Friends of Chintsa Account number: 1206076925
Branch code: 12062100
Account type: Current Account (Cheque account)
Sort code (Routing number) 12-06-21
Swift code (IBAN number) NEDSZAJJ
Bank address: Nedbank, Vincent Park, East London

Please leave a comment if you would like any more information or if you have any questions, I can't wait to get this project up an running!