Introducing Motley Bear! I made this bear for one of my dear friends who was donating her kidney to a relative. I wanted to provide her with a bear that exuded confidence while at the same time bringing a lot of colorful cheer while she was recovering. I think Mr. Motley pulls it off nicely.

This bear pattern is based on my original Sleepy Bear pattern, with one obvious difference — he’s all done up in stripes.

A striped bear provides a great opportunity to use up some leftover yarn too. I made this green bear out of odds and ends of green yarn that I collected over the years. I even have another bear that I am crocheting as I go, adding a round at a time as I gather leftover yarn from other projects. If you start a stash-busting bear like I have, my biggest word of advice is to pin a card listing your place in the pattern to your bear each time you put him aside so you’ll know where you left off when you pick him up again.

When I work in stripes like this, I prefer to end each round by joining with a slst and then chaining 1 with the new color to start the next round. By pulling on the strand for the previous color, it creates almost perfect, non-jogging rounds. They aren’t entirely perfect though. You still end up with a noticeable seam that spirals down the back, but I always just make sure that this part is at the back when I sew on the arms and legs and face. I prefer this method because I am too lazy to fasten off one color and attach the new one in each round. If you have a different method for changing colors in a striping pattern, by all means use it… and please share it with me! I am always up for learning new techniques.

Here are some other techniques you might try:

June Gilbank of Planet June has some great video tutorials for an invisible join (the one I mentioned above that I am too lazy to do), a no-cut join, and a hybrid of the two.

Needle Noodles has a great photo tutorial for two slip-stitch methods of color changing.

Motley the Bear Crochet Pattern

Note about yarn: Feel free to use the yarn of your choice, but be sure that all of the yarn you use for this project is about the same weight. For reference, I used an aran-weight yarn — Caron Simply Soft (250 yds [228 m], 5 oz [141.7 g] in neon orange, soft green, cool green, orchid, and purple.

This yarn and the gauge below made a 10″ tall bear and required about 5.5 ounces of yarn.

Gauge for bear made with Caron Simply Soft

9.5 sc sts = 2″
10 rnds = 2″

Materials

Yarn in the colors of your choice (again, it’s important to check that all the yarn you choose is the same weight)
If you’re having trouble choosing colors, try browsing the palettes at Design Seeds for inspiration.
Small amount of yarn in black and white for the eyes
Small amount of yarn in the color of your choice for the eyelids and muzzle
Crochet hook in the appropriate size for your yarn [For my bear, I used a G-6 (4.00 mm) crochet hook]
Polyester fiberfill
Yarn needle

Abbreviation Notes

inc = 2 sc in next sc
dec = sc2tog

Instructions

To change colors as I have, at the end of each round, join with a slst to the first stitch in that round and chain 1 with the new color. I haven’t included this instruction in the pattern, in case you choose a different technique.

Head and Body

Ch 2 or begin with a magic loop.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook (or in magic loop and close).

Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea sc around. (12)

Rnd 3: * Sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (18)

Rnd 4: * 2 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (24)

Rnd 5: * 3 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (30)

Rnd 6: * 4 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (36)

Rnd 7: * 5 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (42)

Rnd 8: * 6 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (48)

Rnd 9: * 7 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (54)

Rnd 10: * 8 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (60)

Rnd 11: * 9 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (66)

Rnds 12-24: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 25: * 9 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (60)

Rnd 26: * 8 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (54)

Rnd 27: * 7 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (48)

Rnd 28: * 6 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (42)

Stuff the head at this point.

Rnd 29: Sc in the FL only of ea sc around.

Rnd 30: * 6 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (48)

Rnd 31: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 32: * 7 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (54)

Rnd 33: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 34: * 8 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (60)

Rnd 35: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 36: * 9 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (66)

Rnd 37: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 38: * 10 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (72)

Rnds 39-51: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 52: * 10 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (66)

Rnd 53: * 9 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (60)

Rnd 54: * 8 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (54)

Rnd 55: * 7 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (48)

Rnd 56: * 6 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (42)

Rnd 57: * 5 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (36)

Rnd 58: * 4 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (30)

Rnd 59: * 3 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (24)

Stuff the body.

Rnd 60: * 2 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (18)

Rnd 61: * Sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (12)

Rnd 62: * Sc, sk, rep from * 5 more times. (6)

FO, leaving a long tail. Thread through remaining sts and weave in.

Arms (Make 2)

Ch 2 or begin with magic loop.

Rnd 1: 5 sc in 2nd ch from hook (or into magic loop and close).

Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea sc around. (10)

Rnd 3: * Sc, inc, rep from * 4 more times. (15)

Rnd 4: * 2 sc, inc, rep from *4 more times. (20)

Rnd 5: * 3 sc, inc, rep from * 4 more times. (25)

Rnds 6-8: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 9: * 3 sc, dec, rep from * 4 more times. (20)

Rnds 10-18: Sc in ea sc around.

Stuff arm and flatten the opening so that the sts line up in pairs. Sc these pairs together to close.

FO, leaving long tail. Pin to body in the position shown below and sew on using long tail.

Repeat for other arm.

Legs (Make 2)

Ch 2 or begin with magic loop.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook (or into magic loop and close).

Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc of round (12)

Rnd 3: * Sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (18)

Rnd 4: * 2 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (24)

Rnd 5: * 3 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (30)

Rnd 6: * 4 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (36)

Rnds 7-9: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 10: * 4 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (30)

Rnd 11: * 3 sc, dec, rep from * 5 more times. (24)

Rnds 12-19: Sc in ea sc around.

Stuff leg and flatten the opening so that the sts line up in pairs. Sc these pairs together to close.

FO, leaving long tail. Pin to body and sew on using long tail.

Ears (Make 2)

Ch 2 or begin with magic loop.

Rnd 1 : 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook (or into magic loop and close).

Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea sc around. (12)

Rnd 3: * Sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (18)

Rnd 4: * 2 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (24)

Rnd 5: * 3 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. (30)

Rnds 6-8: Sc in ea sc around.

Flatten the ear opening so that the stitches line up in pairs. Sc these pairs of stitches together to close.

FO, leaving a long tail. Pin to body in the position shown below and sew on using long tail.

Muzzle

With one color of your choice, ch 2 or begin with magic loop.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook (or into magic loop and close).

Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea sc around. Join with slst, ch 1. (12)

Rnd 3: * Sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. Join with slst, ch 1. (18)

Rnd 4: * 2 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. Join with slst, ch 1. (24)

Rnd 5: * 3 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. Join with slst, ch 1. (30)

Rnd 6: * 4 sc, inc, rep from * 5 more times. Join with slst, ch 1. (36)

FO, leaving a long tail. Using embroidery floss and yarn needle, embroider a nose and mouth.

Here’s a PDF photo tutorial on how to embroider the nose and mouth:
How to Embroider a Nose and Mouth by Jennifer Olivarez

Pin muzzle to head.

Using long tail, sew to head.

Crochet eyes and eyelids and sew them to the head. I’ve made a tutorial for this, which I hope you find handy.

Give your bear a cuddle.