January Bear of the Month: Winter Bear

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Today is the start of the 2026 year long Bear of the Month Crochet Along! I am excited about this crochet along because it is something new that I haven't done before. Each of the bears in this crochet along with be themed to go along with the month that they are released. Whether that is a holiday, a season, or some other event or activity that is associated with that month. I had a few different ideas I was debating between for January, but the one I ended up deciding on was a Winter Bear.

I originally thought about a New Year's themed bear for January, but since New Year's is on the first and the pattern was being released on the first I ended up deciding against that idea. That is the main holiday that I associate with January so if I wasn't going to make a New Year's bear I decided to go with the season option instead and make a little bear all ready for winter. 

I decided that a winter bear needed to be a polar bear so I made my January bear white, but you could obviously make yours any color. That just felt like a winter bear to me, and it is what I thought of when I thought of a bear that was out in the cold and snow. Then I gave him a little hat and scarf so he is ready for winter. I chose cooler colors for the hat and scarf because just like with choosing a polar bear, I thought like those colors felt more cold and wintery. Funny enough the colors I chose for the hat and scarf were actually called Arctic and Glacier so they seemed very fitting. I used a solid color for the hat and a variegated for the scarf because I wanted to have kind of a striped pattern on the scarf without having to change colors. I  don't know if it worked quite as well as I was hoping, but it did add in a little bit more color. 

The little Winter Bear is made using the same base pattern as the bears in the Bewitching Bears series and all of the patterns in this Bear of the Month series will be the same, there may be some small variations (like the pumpkin bear that is fatter than the rest) but they will all be the same size so that way they all kind of go together. I sew the legs onto my bears in a sitting position and they are about 6" tall sitting.  

You can use any medium/worsted weight yarn for your bear, I actually used a couple of different brands for this one because I was just pulling from what I had in my stash for most of it. I used Red Heart Super Saver in Soft White for the Bear itself, for the hat I used Loops and Threads Soft Classic in Arctic with a pom pom made in Mushroom, and the scarf was Loops and Threads Impeccable in Glacier Print. You could make the hat and scarf in the same color too, I just wanted to add a little bit more color so I used different yarns for both. 

The next Bear of the Month will be coming on February 1st, so be sure to come back then to see what the next little bear is!

How to Crochet a Winter Bear

Finished Size: about 6" tall sitting

You will need:

• medium weight yarn in desired colors (sample made in Red Heart Super Saver in Soft White, Loops and Threads Impeccable in Glacier Multi, and Loops and Threads Soft Classic in Arctic, and Mushroom)
• G crochet hook (4 mm)
• 2- 8 mm safety eyes
• 1- 11 mm safety nose
• Polyfil fiberfill
• yarn needle
• stitch markers 
• scissors

Instructions:

The body and head are made in one piece, the other pieces are made separately and sewn on. Most pieces are made beginning with a magic ring (mr), the beginning of each piece will indicate if it starts with a magic ring or a chain. 

Body/Head

Make 1 with white yarn, beginning with a magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (18 sc)

Round 4: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts] repeat around (24 sc)

Round 5: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts] repeat around (30 sc)

Round 6: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 7: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 8: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 9: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 10: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 11: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 12: 1 sc in each st (30 sc)

Round 13:  [sc2tog, 1 sc in next 3 sts] repeat around (24 sc)

Round 14: 1 sc in each st (24 sc)

Round 15: 1 sc in each st (24 sc)

Round 16: sc2tog, repeat around (12 sc)

Begin stuffing body, next round begins the head portion 

Round 17: 2 sc in each st (24 sc)

Round 18: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts] repeat around (30 sc)

Round 19: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts] repeat around (36 sc)

Round 20: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Round 21: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Round 22: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Round 23: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Round 24: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Round 25: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Round 26: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next 4 sts] repeat around (30 sc)

Insert eyes between rounds 23 and 24, about 5-6 stitches apart, begin stuffing head and continue to stuff as needed as you finish closing up the head

Round 27: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next 3 sts] repeat around (24 sc)

Round 28: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next 2 sts] repeat around (18 sc)

Round 29: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (12 sc)

Round 30: sc2tog, repeat around (6 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn, use tail to weave around opening to close, weave in end

Muzzle

Make 1 with white yarn, beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: [3 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2] repeat (10 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in each of the next 3 sts, 1 sc in next 2 sts] repeat (16 sc)

Round 4: 1 sc in first 2 sts, 2 sc in each of next 2 sts, 1 sc in next 6 sts, 2 sc in each of next 2 sts, 1 sc in next 4 sts (20 sc)

Round 5: 1 sc in each st (20 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Add safety nose to the muzzle, and you can at this point use embroidery floss to embroider a mouth if desired but I chose not to 

Sew the muzzle to the face just below the eyes, adding stuffing behind it 

Ears

Make 2 with white yarn, beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3] repeat around (15 sc)
Round 4: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Set the ears aside to sew on later

Arms

Make 2 with white yarn, beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)
Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts] repeat around (15 sc)
Round 4: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)
Round 5: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)
Round 6: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next 3] repeat around (12 sc)

Round 7: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)
Round 8: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)
Round 9: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)
Round 10: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)
Round 11: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving a long tail for sewing

Add a little bit of stuffing to the end (hand area) of the arm

Sew the arms to the sides of the body

Legs

Make 2 with white yarn, beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (18 sc)
Round 4: 1 sc in each st (18 sc)
Round 5: 1 sc in each st (18 sc)
Round 6: [sc2tog, 1 sc in next 4 sts] repeat around (15 sc)
Round 7: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)
Round 8: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)
Round 9: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)
Round 10: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)
Round 11: 1 sc in each st (15 sc)


Finish off and cut yarn leaving a long tail for sewing

Add a little bit of stuffing to the end (foot area) of the leg

Sew the legs to the bottom of the body in a sitting position

Hat

Make 1 in desired color, beginning with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat around (18 sc)

Round 4: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts] repeat around (24 sc)

Round 5: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts] repeat around (30 sc)

Round 6: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts] repeat around (36 sc)

Rounds 7-12: 1 sc in each st (36 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Pull the hat down on the head so it sits just above the eyes and pulled back on the head to the neck area and stitch in place

Hat Band

Make 1 in hat color, beginning with a chain

ch 3

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and last ch (2 sc)

Row 2-36: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in blo of each st (2 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Wrap the band around the edge of the hat to look like it is a folded up ribbed brim and stitch in place to secure

Make a pom pom (or use a premade pom pom) and attach it to the top of the hat, I made mine by wrapping the yarn several times around my fingers, tying it in the middle, and trimming until I had the size and shape I wanted. 

Sew the ears to the head on top of the hat on each side of the head

Scarf

Make 1 in desired color, beginning with a chain

ch 4

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch (3 sc)

Row 2-52: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each st (3 sc)

Finish off and cut yarn leaving a long tail for sewing and weaving in the other end

Note: you can make your scarf as long or short as you want, I made it long enough to wrap starting behind one shoulder, around the front of the neck and then back over the first shoulder with an end hanging down.  You could make a shorter scarf and not have a tail hanging down, or a longer scarf so you can tie it differently or have two ends hanging down. It is completely up to you, just keep crocheting rows of 3 until you have the length you want. 

Wrap the scarf around the neck and once you are happy with the placement stitch it in a few places to tack it in place, like I said in the note- I wrapped it starting behind one shoulder, around the front of the neck and back over the first shoulder with the extra hanging down. When I stitched it in place I left the end loose and just stitched in a couple of places to hold it in place where I wanted it