Ruffles loves to ‘shake a tail feather’ and gossip with her pals. A button hidden inside her body enables her to sit comfortably on her nest.
You can have fun with the colours. Using single pointed 3mm needles, I made the orange, yellow and buff hens from Paton’s extra fine merino wool, but any DK yarn would be OK. Wool or alpaca is a good choice because it has some stretch which is easier when increasing at the beginning of the body and of course it is better for the environment than acrylic and cotton has less flexibility.
If you want to make a bigger hen you could use an Aran/worsted yarn with 3.50 needles. The ‘Bluebell’ hen is knitted in Aran- Adrifil Lana Natural Inca, shade 73. I used fabric paint for the head feathers.
You will need some experience of shaping and instructions are found in the abbreviations of the pattern. The hen is made up using mattress stitch and fake grafting and instructions can be found on my Facebook page: KnittingJules@1julielunt or Instagram: KnittingJulesDesigns.

Approximate size
Height – 8cm
Length – 10cm

You will need
A 15gm DK Merino Yarn in the colour of your choice
1 metre of red yarn in 4ply or a few strands of DK
30cm of yellow yarn
30cm of black thread
Pair 3.00mm single pointed needles
Stitch holder
2.75 crochet hook
Darning needle
Button, approx. 1cm
Small amount of high loft filler