Aurora Bears - Mitten Inspiration

If its Black – Fight back

If its Brown – Lie down

If its White – Say Goodnight!

Aurora Bear mittens

I always loved this little poem from my childhood. It’s simplistic, as a meeting with a bear in the wild can have complex variables, what kind of bear? where are you? is it a momma with cubs? are you holding a tasty salmon? Raised in the country in Southern Ontario, black bears were a common site, especially in the fall in an abandoned apple orchard near our home, feasting on fallen fruit. They were wisely skittish and if they caught our scent on the wind or saw or heard us, they would quickly run off out of sight.  Much later in life I moved to Alberta and discovered one of my favorite pastimes, hiking in the mountains. I would hear about scary bear encounters and was told of all the protective measures like bear bells and pepper spray. My thoughts were I’ll miss all the wildlife if I’m jingling up a mountain and I’m more like to take myself out with pepper spray than a bear... or just make it mad. So naked of bells or spray off I go marching through larches and scree to some of the most beautiful places on earth. It was on a hike near Jasper that I met my Grizzly bear. I froze. It froze. I don’t think it saw me as I was probably 15 meters away, but I saw her. She lifted her head and snuffled the air – I could hear it over my pounding heart... and then she turned and walked the trail away from me. After what could have been 5 seconds or 5 minutes I turned as well and pretty much ran back down the mountain. I have hiked those mountains many more times and never seen or heard another bear on a trail. Of course I don’t hike alone anymore either. But I can see where the poem is appropriate and I’m quite content with never having met a Polar bear.

Polar bear swim anyone?

My son works on the ocean and has been to many places including the arctic. His arctic stories even include a few about Polar bears, swimming in the ocean miles from anywhere, and communities that posted guards with high powered rifles on lookout while they unloaded cargo.  The main take on these stories is that these bears are beautiful, unbelievably huge and that you never want to meet one. I get it.  My dog weighs just over 100 lbs and he has knocked me clean off my feet by accident just playing with another dog. I don’t imagine I would last very long on a snowy plane, facing an animal closer to 1,000 lbs that would happily eat me as a snack on purpose. They also eat walrus and whale on purpose, of course I would just be a snack.

Aurora Bears waving at you

Nanuq, Ursus Maritimus, Sea bear, Polar bear, Ice bear, Snow bear – elusive, gorgeous and one of the most dangerous predators in the world. White and fluffy with those big deceivingly cute soft dark eyes they are amazingly photogenic and deserve to be the icon of the frozen north. I decided to make my Nanuq bear mittens with the Aurora borealis, playfully peaking out and even waving with a great paw on the mitten thumb. For these mittens I took an extra step of duplicate stitching the bears with a fluffy white mohair blend to make them pop out and a little bit of embroidery for their faces. Yes, it’s a bit of extra work that the average knitter would avoid but I assure you its not that hard and worth the time.