Teddy Bear Granny Square (Afghan sqaure)

Thank you jctkrause for sharing this with us.

Here is a pattern for an unusual granny square; I found it in a 1995 issue of Quick & Easy crochet, back when the magazine was digest-sized. It has a teddy bear in the center of it! You embroider the facial features, but otherwise the face and ears are very apparent. It can make a very colorful baby afghan, and I have made it for baby gifts along with a crocheted or knitted teddy bear that I made. Enjoy! In case you can''t read the attached file, here it is copied from the file. I regret I can''t send a picture because I don''t have a scanner--it makes a really cute afghan!

TEDDY BEAR GRANNY SQUARES

SIZE: About 36" by 48"

MATERIALS: Total of 32 ozs. Worsted weight yarn in various colors: about 14 oz. white, 6 ozs. in various browns for the bears and muzzles; 12 ozs. assorted colors for the multicolor stripes in granny squares; about 40" black yarn for embroidery.

CROCHET HOOK: Size H or as needed to obtain gauge.

GAUGE: 4 dc = 1"

BLOCKS (make 12):

RND 1: Starting at muzzle with one of the browns, ch 4 (count as trc), work 17 trc in 4 th ch from hk, join with sl st to 4 th ch of starting ch-4-18 trc.

RND 2: Working this rnd in back loops , ch 1, sc in each st around, join with sl st to 1 st sc. Fasten off.

RND 3: Working through back loops only, join another brown with sc in any st, sc in same st, work 2 sc in each st around, do not join. (36 sc).

RND 4: Sc in each of first 7 sts, work 2 dc in each of next 4 sts for cheek, sc in each of next 14 sts, work 2 dc in each of next 4 sts for next cheek, sc in each of last 7 sts, do not join. (44 sts).

RND 5: Sc in each st around, do not join. (44 sc).

RND 6: Working in rows, sl st in first 7 sts, leave remaining sts unworked, turn. ( a crocheted "short row"!--CK)

RND 7: Ch 1, sc in each of next 14 sts, leave remaining sts unworked. (14 sc)

RND 8: Ch 1, skip 1 st st, sc in each st across to last 2 sts, skip next st, sc in last st. (12 sc).

RND 9: Work as for Row 8. (10 sc).

RND 10: Ch 2, skip next st, 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st, ch 2, skip next st, sl st in next st. Turn.

ROW 11: Work (sc, 5 dc, sc) in next ch-2 space for ear, sc in each of next 2 sts, hdc in each of next 4 sts, sc in each of next 2 sts, (sc, 5 dc, sc) in next ch-2 space for second ear. Do not turn.

RND 12: Continuing around head, sc in end of each row and in each st around, working sc in each st of ears and across top of head; total number of sc should be 60.

Join with sl st to first st. Fasten off.

RND 13: Working through back loops only, join white in center dc st of bear''s left ear, [ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc, ch 1, 3 dc-beginning corner of granny square made] in same dc; dc in each of next 14 sts, *(3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next st, dc in each of next 14 sts; repeat from * twice more, join with sl st in top of starting ch-3. Fasten off.

RND 14: Join a new color with sl st in any ch-1 of any corner, work beginning corner in same corner space, * ch 1, skip 3 sts, (dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st) 3 times, dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next 2 sts, **, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch-1 corner space; repeat from * around, end last repeat at **, join with sl st to third ch of starting ch-3. Fasten off.

RNDS 15-17: Join new color in any ch-1 corner space, work beginning corner in same corner space, *work (ch 1, 3 dc) in each ch-1 space across to next corner space, ch 1 **, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in corner space; repeat from * around, end last repeat at **, join with sl st to third ch of starting ch-3. Fasten off.

RND 18: Join white in any ch-1 corner space, work (2 sc, ch 1, 2 sc) in same space, sc in each dc and ch 1 around, working each corner as for first corner, join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.

RND 19: Join new color and work sc in each st around, with (2 sc, ch 1, 2 sc) in each corner. Join with sl st to first st. Fasten off.

RND 20: Join white in any corner, and work as for Rnd 19. Fasten off.

With black yarn, embroider face on bears; about 9 satin sts for nose, 1 straight st for mouth, and 1 straight st for each eye.

FINISHING: Join blocks in three by four arrangement. Hold blocks wrong sides tog and working in back loops of outside edge sts, join with sl st (in white or a color), working through both thicknesses. Join into four strips of three blocks each. Then join the four strips together.

EDGING: Join white to any ch-1 corner sp; ch 3, 2 dc in same ch-1 sp, *dc in each st across to next corner **, work 3 dc in next corner sp; repeat from * around, join with sl st to third ch of starting ch-3. Fasten off.

This afghan is incredibly cute, in part because teddy bear granny squares are so unexpected, and it''s very colorful. Rather than use scraps, I''ve made it with particular color schemes in mind; for example, my next baby project is to make a Care Bear for my niece''s baby girl, and I''m going to use the same Care Bear colors for the afghan as I do for the bear itself. In the picture, some of the squares are left unembroidered, which brought another idea to my mind; the plain squares looked just like "bear bottoms" and on one gift, I firmly sewed on some pom-poms where the tail would go, much to the amusement of the parents! I regret I can''t send you a picture of the afghan from the magazine because I don''t have a scanner, but here''s all of the source information in case you come across some old Quick & Easy Crochet magazines, back when they were digest-sized.

Source: Quick & Easy Crochet, March/April 1995, Volume X, Issue II "Scrappy Bear Afghan," pattern starts on page 30, photo on page 42. Pattern designed by Barbara J. Young.