Knit a Chicken

I really like my chickens.  A lot. Really a lot.  And my little ones really like them a lot too.  So when I was thinking of what I might knit next, after successfully having done some hats, chickens came to mind.

This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, chickens always come to my mind.

The thing is, I am barely a knitter.  I haven’t knit since I was very young, but this winter I thought I would pick it up again.

My Mama taught me and all my siblings to knit when we were little.  And she is a master knitter.  Watching her knitting needles fly is dizzying.  Also a bit frightening (you know, what if she lost her grip on one?  Those around her would be in extreme danger).

But no one is in danger when I am knitting.  No sir.  Sloooow and steady.

It took me a good month to knit my little ones some hats. And that was about my skill level.  A normal stitch, a little decreasing, and that is all.

So when I decided to make a chicken, I knew it needed to be very simple.  And I found a way to make it so.

First of all, I had to choose my yarn.  This was probably the trickiest step.  Who was I going to knit?

Each of the chickens are so lovely 😉 And since I know you are aching to see them …

You may notice our Rooster Chirstopher on the far right looking rather intense.  He doesn’t really like the camera – feels he needs to protect the ladies from it.  He is actually one of our tamest chickens though – all bawk, no fight.

These pictures were taken early winter, before the mounds of snow.  Our ladies were still happy.  Now they are rather miserable – I can relate.

We settled on Henny Penny.  She was our first lady to actually lay an egg, and a pretty sweet and extra special girl. Plus she is one of the only ones the kids can catch.

I decided to simply (I very often decide something based on simplicity in fact) knit a rectangle.  I figured if I knit a rectangle, then I could fold it in half, and sew in a bit of a curve to our chicken.

Worked great!

I knit a rectangle, with the length twice the width.  I think it was about 35 stitches across, and 70 rows long.

Then I folded it in half, and sewed the middle and two sides together, making a “U” shape. Then I turned it inside out.

At the top, I stuffed in some stuffing, and sewed the top pretty much straight across.

I pinched one corner to make a little beak, and wrapped sewed some orange yarn around it.  I also added eyes, by sewing right through bot sides of the knitting, just above the beak.

I added a little comb and then some tail feathers by using loops of yarn.  I simply sewed into the body, out the other side, and then back in the original spot, being sure to leave a nice big loop of yarn.

I am very happy with the way Henny Penny turned out.  I am also very happy with how quick she was to make!  I do have trouble keeping my focus on projects like this (just ask the 8 year old 1/4 made quilt in my closet).

Nice and easy, and speedy to complete – that is the handmade project for me.

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