This tiny barn owl decoration combines two of my favourite things- wool and wildlife. It’s always a thrill to see a ghostly barn owl flying at dusk and I thought I’d make these little ones, wet felted to sweet miniatures. They’re fun on the Christmas tree but I keep one in a little glass dome all year round, with twinkly lights to brighten darker days.

The owl is knitted in the round in stranded colourwork as a simple tube and little wings are knitted on. There’s some simple shaping in the small amount of sewing up. The owl is wet felted and moulded to shape while drying. Eyes, beak and feet are embroidered on- there are instructions for a simple method for embroidering neat, round eyes.

To be feltable, the yarn should be 100% wool and not superwash treated.

Barn Owl plumage varies geographically through their range (the taxonomy is dynamic- currently two to four species and lots of sub-species)- my favourite version to match the birds near me is knitted in Jamieson’s Spindrift in ‘Scotch Broom’ and ‘Natural White’.

Materials required:
3.25mm double pointed needles
Stitch marker
22m gold or brown feltable 4-ply/fingering yarn (5.1g of Jamieson’s Spindrift) or 19m 3-ply/light fingering yarn (4.3g of Jamieson & Smith Heritage Naturals or 3.7g of Cascade 220 fingering)
10m cream or white feltable 4-ply/fingering yarn (2.3g of Jamieson’s Spindrift) or 9m 3-ply/ light fingering yarn (2.0g of Jamieson & Smith Heritage Naturals or 1.8g of Cascade 220 fingering)
70cm of black stranded embroidery thread
25cm of white stranded embroidery thread or sewing thread
Tapestry needle
Scrap of stuffing (I used 4.2g of carded lambswool for 4-ply owls and 3.0g for 3-ply owls)
Binder clip or bulldog clip, jaws at least 3cm wide
Bakers twine, embroidery thread or fine ribbon for making a hanging loop, 25cm (optional)

I’ve put together a kit to make a Tiny Barn Owl Decoration - find out about it here

Please make Ravelry projects of your owl Barn Owl Decorations- I’d really love to see them!