Longboater stitches and stuffs happiness

Growing up, Dolores Engelke played more with her stuffed bears than her dolls.

Today, Engelke has a few bears around her home and even a completed and framed bear puzzle above the bed.

But most of the bears in her home aren’t for her own enjoyment, beyond the actual knitting.

Engelke, 84, spends her free time knitting and stitching together stuffed bears for various charitable organizations, whether that be Red Cross or Solve Maternity Homes in Bradenton.

She started the endeavor while recuperating from back and hip surgery. Now, she says she is known as “the bear lady.”

The first year she did it, she didn’t keep track of how many bears she made, but she is sure it was more than 100. In 2017, she gave out 307. So far in 2018, she has given out 46. 

Once she has a large enough batch, she ships them off to charities, whether they are local or in New Jersey, where she is also a resident. Engelke estimates that each bear costs about $5 to make. She never sells them, though.

She happily gives them to whoever asks. 

One time, while in a Carvel ice cream shop, a child was crying and Engelke went to her car, grabbed one of the bears and handed it to the child, who immediately stopped crying. Another time, she gave a bear to her physical therapist who gave it to her niece. In another instance, a couple saw her knitting and mentioned they had grandkids. Engelke gave them bears for the kids.

“It makes me happy because I like to sit and knit, and I can get one done in a day between doing other things,” she said.

Engelke knits while watching TV or while riding in the car as her husband drives. She said sometimes it takes as long to stuff the bear as it does to knit one. She uses a circular needle and a chenille-type of yarn for the exterior and stuffs the bears with either polyester or acrylic so they are washable. Their faces are sewn on so babies can’t pull off the eyes. She makes them in various colors and prints from purple to floral.

“No two are exactly alike because I make them by hand, but they seem to have a personality of their own,” she said.

Engelke started knitting when she retired in her 70s. The first thing she learned to knit was an afghan. She estimates she has made more than 20. She’s now teaching the friend who taught her to knit how to make the bears.

“I said, ‘Look what a monster you made of me. I’m like a factory,’” she said of joking with her friend.

Recently, Engelke has started making stuffed bunnies, but she said they aren’t as cuddly as the bears. She isn’t sure if she’ll expand her efforts to other animals because, frankly, she likes bears and she wants to give out cuddly animals.

“A day without a bear is a day I was inefficient,” Engelke said.