Hello and welcome to my little corner again. It’s been a while since I last posted. We had a school break during Passover here, with some very relaxing days. Spending time with the family, going to the beach and to some nice coffee places. In some cases all 5 of us but sometimes just us parents and the boys. It’s just too much to ask a teenage lady to join on every family activity, isn’t it? Our balcony spring garden hosted some very happy moments during these holidays and no doubt at all, we had too much food. In and out of the garden 🙂 But today I’m here with some crochet news. One of the things I love about these holidays is that they bring some slowness and easy going days with them. On one of those slow mornings, while still on his pajamas, Mimion#3 (almost 8) was very busy painting. His calmness and paintings inspired me so much and made me sit down for some spontaneous painting of myself. It’s just that I used hook and cotton for my painting and this time I painted a bear. This inspiration became a bear journey and I became obsessed with bear making for almost a week, days and nights. Minion#3 was very happy with the bear making, he checked out my WIP and gave his bear vision. He was totally engaged.
My original plans for these holidays were pretty much related to my Spring blanket making but this bear mania got me hooked. Just like with Angie bunny, I was all into it enjoying every single minute of the making. It’s been a while since I created my Angie bunny and it felt like it’s the right time for another sweet soft animal to arrive. I was SO excited about adding a new soft friend into my collection. The first bear I crocheted just flew out of my hook without any plans or calculations, I just painted crocheted for hours a bear that I had in my busy mind (for a while). Sounds good HA? NO NO, not good at all when you have a step-by-step pattern making in mind. At some point when I was crocheting the first bear, it became clear to me that I will create a pattern for this bear. So I started writing down and documenting every stitch. While crocheting the second bear I made some fine tunings and wrote down each and every step of the making, together with all yarn calculations needed for kit making. This time I made the striped shirt a little longer and I found it even nicer.

I called him Benji the bear. He got his name right away. There were a few more options on the way but Benji the bear was the one for him. E checked and searched all over the internet, to see if there are any copyrights for some other Benji the bear that we aren’t aware of, but eventually Benji looked OK to use. So, his name is…. Too doo Dum BENJI. Let me give you some important info about this stripes lover guy. His favorite crochet blanket is the Stripes & Colours of course.

ABOUT BENJI
Benji The Bear has a striped shirt which he loves to wear not just for everyday but for any occasion, he just LOVES strip-y shirts. Benji is very good at math and ever since we have him here, he helps me a lot during my crochet workshops, calculating all bills for each of the students. He likes to be hugged and to get snuggled and that’s what my kids love about him the most. Benji is very happy to be a part of the family and to spend time together and we love to have his positive energy around. It feels like he has been here with us for ages.

Benji has a soft body and is made to give soft hugs or to sit, on a shelf or table, as a nice decoration, or on your bed/ sofa. We have one on our living room sofa, always there waiting to be snuggled. One day, when we started to watch some family movie together, we found him under one of the crochet blankets, ready to watch the movie with all 5 of us. This smart guy knows exactly where is the best place to be seated. I thought you might like to make a Benji of your own, and to have him in your life as well, so I made a friendly pattern for you. I am VERY pleased I managed to put the pattern and the kits in my Etsy shop, during these holidays. I created not just the pattern but also 3 different Benji kits for you. I made 2 different colour options for Benji’s shirt. The second option was made while I rechecked the PDF file for the pattern. I crocheted Benji again, just to make sure every little detail on the pattern is correct. On my last check I created a new colour shirt, that naturally became a new kit.Here is some info you need to know about the new pattern and about each of the new kits in my Etsy shop. Lets start with the pattern.BENJI THE BEAR PATTERN
This is a step-by-step amigurumi PDF pattern, written in US crochet terms, followed by close-up pictures in some of the steps. I made it so you can enjoy the making even if you are a beginner. The pictures will help you understand the different steps along the process and the instructions are written very clear and simple. WHAT DO YOU NEED
You’ll need the Benji kit as shown down or:
 Granny Kit cotton in 3 different colours:
option 1. Sand, Royal & Lace
option 2. Sand, Plum & Lilac or you can choose any other 3 colours.
A small piece of black / brown yarn – for the nose.
2 brown 6 mm glass / safety eyes. If this Bear is made for a child under 3, than you better embroider eyes with black / brown yarn you have in stash.
Crochet hook: 2 mm (US 0) or 2.25 mm (US 1). Make sure you crochet tight, if you crochet loosely use a 2mm hook.
Soft stuffing (acrylic or cotton)
Stitch markers, crafty scissors & tapestry needle

LEVEL
This pattern is written step by step to make it easier for you to follow. You have to be familiar with the basic crochet stitches. Watch HOW TO SINGLE CROCHET on YouTube to get some help if you are a beginner – that’s the main stitch on this project and once you know how to make the Single Crochet = sc you can create Benji. The pattern contains photo tutorials to teach you some special tips and tricks on crochet. Here’s a little secret from the pattern, come closer: the ears and nose are the only parts you need to attach with a tapestry needle. Isn’t that great? BEAR SIZE
With Granny Kit cotton and the recommended hook:
Aproxx: 27 cm (10.6″) long full size, about 18 cm (7.06″) when he sits.
Weights about 100 gr’sBENJI THE BEAR CROCHET KITS
I’ve put together 3 different kits for you so you can make your own Benji the bear, or even more than one if you like, in any colour variation you choose. Each kit contains the cotton colours and the PDF pattern and there’s a double kit that was made so you can crochet 2 Benji bears, each one with a different colour shirt – like seen above. Let’s see what is included in each of the kits.

BENJI THE BEAR KIT #1 is made so you can create the Royal Blue & Lace white shirt as seen in above 2 pictures.
This kit includes:
3 Granny Kit cotton balls colours : Sand, Royal & Lace- 50 gr’ each.
A piece of JetBlack Granny Kit cotton yarn for the nose making.
1 pair of Black/brown 6mm safety eyes – optional
A PDF pattern – you can choose if you want to get it printed or sent to your mail (will efect the shipping cost)
A colour card of all Granny Kit cotton colours.

NOT INCLUDED in the kit:
a pair of brown 6 mm safety eyes – you can find them here if you don’t take them with my kit.
Crochet hook: You will need 2mm or 2.25 mm
Stuffing material – you will need to stuff your bear with a little, not too much because we want to keep it soft.
Tapestry needle, stitch markers and a pair of crafty scissors. BENJI THE BEAR KIT #2 is made so you can create the Plum Lilac version.
This kit includes just the same things you get in the first kit just with different yarn colours:
3 Granny Kit cotton balls colours : Sand, Plum & Lilac- 50 gr’ each.

NOT INCLUDED in the kit: same as the first kit.
BENJI THE BEAR DOUBLE KIT is made so you can create both colours
This kit includes:
6 Granny Kit cotton balls colours : Sand x2, Royal, Lace, Plum & Lilac – 50 gr’ each.
2 pairs of Black/brown 6mm safety eyes – optional
A piece of JetBlack + Brown Granny Kit cotton yarn for the nose making.
A PDF pattern – you can choose if you want to get it printed or sent to your mail (will effect the shipping cost)
A colour card of all Granny Kit cotton colours.

NOT INCLUDED in the kit:
Crochet hook: You will need 2mm or 2.25 mm
Stuffing material – you will need to stuff your bear with a little, not too much because we want to keep it soft.
Tapestry needle, stitch markers and a pair of crafty scissors. These are the 3 different Benji kits I created for you, I hope you feel like making one of your own. I enjoyed each and every moment of this creation it was a pure pleasure crocheting the bears. I already crocheted 4 and I will probably make more, sometime in the future. Meanwhile here, there’s a little Minion who has became very close to Benji and this friendship is heart melting. I love the fact that he still enjoys soft toys. I remember myself just the same and I know he will soon grow up and soft toys will be just for decoration. Till than I enjoy my little Minion SO much. Did you have any soft friend in your childhood? Or your kids or grandkids? Thank you so much for joining me here with all my bear stories. I hope this sweet little friend will become part of your creations soon. If by any chance you give it a go, please share your bear WIP or your finished Benji using #benjithebear or tag crochetobjet on IG. It will make my day to see your Benjis. Will you give it a try? I’ll be very happy if you fancy a Benji making. OKAY, I will go back to my Spring blanket basket now, see you soon with some colourful news, xxxMo

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