#NeedleworkMonday : Knitting birds for spring ...

Today I am going to tell you about my attempt at getting better at reading knitting patterns.

Last year I was really fortunate to receive a knitting craft book I wanted badly… The title of the book is ‘Field Guide to Knitted Birds: Over 40 Handmade Projects to Liven Up Your Roost’ and is by Arne & Carlos (published by Search Press). Have you seen it?

When I started seeing these birds in magazines last year I was intrigued and the first feature I observed was that part of the body was constructed as part of a sock heel… I thought that in order to improve my sock knitting skills I ‘needed’ to get this book and so I put it on my wishlist. Below’s the back cover.

You can see part of the contents page of the book below. This was the first time I attempted a pattern like this from one of their books and I honestly found that the instructions were very clear. There was even a special page, which was easier to follow, with the ‘basic pattern’ - the one I attempted.

For the basic bird, I used size 4 double pointed needles and double knitting purple acrylic.

I can't write a tutorial of how I made the bird because it's not my own pattern, but below I include a couple of photos so you can follow the process.

In the first photo I have just completed the tail of the bird. You can probably sense the struggle, but I was happy I got that far considering that the actual tail was fiddly …. The instructions were easy to understand but knitting that very narrow shape with those ‘big’ double pointed needles was quite tricky… I even contemplated not knitting in the round, but I did not give up and I’m happy about that. Incidentally, in a past post @jamethiel has shown a super handy round needle. I feel that would be just fab for this tail knitting… That’s one thing I love of #needleworkmonday : I am always learning new skills, techniques and tools.

The second photo shows you when I managed to knit the whole body (in the round with those clanking needles). Incidentally, this is where I felt as if I was practising for sock knitting…

My advice at this point is to begin stuffing the bird because at the neck it gets much tighter. In my opinion I overstuffed it in the end, especially the tail. For a second bird, I would be tempted not to stuff the tail at all and see how it looks. I learnt from the experience.

The last photo shows you the last section. I tried to follow all of the instructions for the head, but it looked a bit odd… I continued anyway because I was a bit tired by then. I was feeling happy I had got this far though.

I think there is a way of starting the double pointed end of the tail with a close edge… I will certainly investigate that because my finishing wasn’t that great.

Anyhow… I sewed beads for the eyes and I am hoping to see how to make the beak next … After finishing it I felt I should have chosen a colour other than (my favourite purple) colour.

Below I have set my finished piece against my next challenge…. Moving on from the ‘basic pattern’ I would really love to make that blue tit in the book picture below.

I am lucky to live in the countryside and to see blue tits everyday and I know that the one in the picture looks a bit too elongated so I may have to ‘adapt’ the pattern slightly or over stuff it as I did with mine .

Two things that need to be said about the book. The photo above shows you what’s supposed to happen with the feet. It is very clever that the bird stands on the ‘feet frame’ so you can knit many birds and display a few at time and put them away without the feet (I guess)… I would prefer feet that are somehow included in the pattern though.

Also in the photo above you can see that while trying to read the pattern one needs to keep the page open - so I need to find a book stand probably.

I normally make very practical things but every so often I like experimenting by making items that do not have a direct application. To me it is also part of learning something new ... I could always use the bird as a pin cushion or key ring of course. I do not know much about birds but I certainly enjoy learning about them apart from their song, their colours and markings …

[ images taken by @cryptocariad of craft work and of my own book ]