As there are a lot of bird spotters among my friends and family, I’ve had quite some appeals for knitted birds. So I’ve taken up the venture of cloning different species in a knitted collection. Nowadays, the kids in my family actually collect these birds and I’m always delighted when they can actually spot and identify a species without even leaving the house!

There are six melodious birds in the band: the chaffinch, bullfinch, hoopoe, golden oriole, garden warbler and green plover.

These birds make great, colorful hanging ornaments, for your Christmas tree for example!
Try your hand at knitting some or all of these birds, and see if your holiday guests can identify these feathered friends!

Each bird is a small and easy project, that can be finished in an evening or so. The garden birds are about 9 cm from beak to tail and were knitted on 2.25 mm double pointed needles (UK 13, US 1).
Only small amounts of yarns are needed (about 20 m per bird), so a songbird is a great project to use up any scraps you have lying around.
The tiny beaks were knitted on 1 mm double pointed needles, in yarn of a lace gauge. However, they can also be done in a heavier yarn, then they turn out slightly larger or they can be made out of a scrap of felt.
The birds are knitted flat and some intarsia color work is asked for. The plovers’ tuft is fashioned through a number of loop stitches (which are explained in the pattern) and the hoopoe calls for a few knitted stripes.

Happy holiday knitting!!