Pattern: Hens and Roosters from Toymaking with Children by Freya Jaffke
I made this little family for the kiddo’s preschool. I’m terribly proud of myself for handing them over to his teacher this morning. I really wanted to keep them.
I used yarn that had been in my stash for about five years, and was in Iris’s stash for who knows how long before she passed it on to me. Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. Exactly the right yarn for a knitted chicken. Of course, this group used up all the chicken-appropriate colors I had in the stash. I want to make another hen and chicks, and maybe a rooster, for my kids (okay…for me. But they can play with them), and I want to make a set for my niece and nephew to play with at my mom’s house (okay…they’re really for my chicken-loving mom). Apart from a few–and I really mean just a few–skeins of sock yarn, and the Louet Gems bought for the baby’s tunic outfit, I haven’t bought any yarn at all in about three years. Yesterday I ordered a bunch of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. Who would have thought it would be chickens that would finally break the yarn fast? Now I’m back to the no-yarn buying thing. Three years without buying yarn, and it wasn’t hard at all. Which is not to say that I wasn’t knitting. My stash–it’s way too big. It’s going to take me another three years at least to knit it down to an acceptable level. But I couldn’t deny myself and my mom…or, uh, the kids…chickens in the perfect knitted-chicken yarn just because the size of my stash bugs me and I like our budget better when no yarn is purchased.
Which is to say, watch this space for many more chickens.
Ah, crap. If you’re gonna link to me, I guess that means I should update. Sneaky.
Maybe if you had white in your stash, you could’ve knit eggs and waited for the chicks to hatch? At least you broke the yarn fast for a specific yarn (that wasn’t in your stash) for a specific project. I think that qualifies as a need, not a want.?.?.?
Those are so cute!
I have my own medium obsession with chickens…I kind of want to tattoo a Wyandotte on my shoulder blade.
Those are some pretty cute chickens.
I love the knitted chickens! And they are way quieter than real chickens.
Those are awesome!!!
These are adorable! I don’t know if I would have been able to hand them over. 🙂
Those are cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute. There is a chick pattern at the Purl Soho website and I was thinking of knitting me some chickens. The problem is I don’t have any children to use as an excuse. Do you think it’s crazy to start a grandbaby hope chest? (In secret, of course.)
OMG they are adorable. I’m almost done with the beret I’m knitting from an old Rowan pattern book my step mom bought me. You have me knitting again!!
I have a pattern to knit a llama and it’s kind of complicated so I’ve never tried it. I want to knit llamas! I should start with chickens.
I have a ton of fluffy blue cotton I was going to knit into a baby blanket, but maybe I’ll make an army of blue chicks out of it.
Also why can’t you make chickens any color you feel like? Purple? Rainbow? Green? Red?
I’m with Katie – what color isn’t appropriate for a knitted chicken??? 😉
What a hoot ! Or should I say cackle??? . An army of multi-colored chicks sounds like a lot of fun. There are quite a variety of Chicken breeds out there, not just the standard barnyard white or red. I think some of the leftover sock-yarn would make some spectacular chicks!
Since you are blogging and buying yarn, I hope everything is going well. Let us know what Thumper’s class thinks of the new additions. 🙂
Hey! Those aren’t just chickens, they’re really cute ones. Who would say no to a knitted chicken?
LOL, the other blog I had open when I opened this post was about keeping chickens!
The chickens look great, and its totally valid to purchase yarn for a specific purpose, its not adding to the stash anyway, as you are using it up before it gets there!
Thank you.
I can’t wait for the chicken hatch!
I love you,
🙂
Mom
Very cute! But they need a worm. Reminds me of a poster I saw this weekend that cracked me up: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/One-Hundred-Chickens-and-a-Worm-Posters_i323105_.htm
a) I love those chickens. I can understand the obsession.
b) Even more than those chickens, I love this phrase: “Exactly the right yarn for a knitted chicken.”
I knit some dinosaurs a few years back and took them into work to show a friend. I had to steal them back from the 30-something guys who had been playing with them all day.
They were a lot of fun!
I need a chicken, a llama…and a dinosaur
Awesome! I love chickens. Have you seen the public television show titled The Natural History of the Chicken? It is oddly interesting and entertaining. I highly recommend it if you like chickens.