One body, 2 head variations- Round and Feather edged.

Our family is very fond of our flock of chickens. They are old girls now and don’t lay as often, but they still have a cushy existence as beloved pets. They enjoy fresh garden produce and home made sourdough bread. This is the third chicken themed design I have made, probably not the last as I am a bit dotty about my hens.

This small softie chicken is about 8” tall. The body, head and wings are knit in short rows as separate pieces. The beak and comb are knit onto the head, the wattle is knit separately and sewn on. The feet are I cord stuffed with strands of yarn and are sewn on.

The first head is a round short row ball. The second, with the pointed or feathered edge, was inspired by my “Scary Ghosties” pattern. It reminds me of a character’s chicken headed staff in an episode “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”.

I use scraps of yarn that I save from my various projects and wrap with another yarn to make a ball to stuff my softies. I have found that polyester fiber fill tends to beard out of knitted items. The ball of yarn also give a nice weight so that the softie will stay upright.

Your skill set should include:
Garter Stitch
Short Rows
Increasing
Decreasing
Picking up stitches
Simple sewing
Crochet Chain cast on (optional)
I cord
Applied I cord
I cord bind off
Simple embroidery (optional)

Materials:
About 120 grams of worsted weight yarn in Main color, less if you are not using my ball of yarn stuffing method
Small amounts of contrasting worsted weight yarn
Waste yarn
Size 5 & 8 knitting needles, I use DPN due to the small scale of the project
Size E, H & K crochet hooks
Yarn needle (optional)

Choose a head and make a chicken for yourself or the chicken loving person in your life.

Our family does love our chickens, check out the t-shirts (and other stuff) my husband offers on cafepress:

http://www.cafepress.com/toolmakingart.649181567