Two Little Knitted Birds

These two little characters would probably have looked equally good adorning our Christmas tree; however, the busy season being what it is, I only just finished sewing them up. The pattern comes from a book called Little Knitted Creatures by Amy Gaines (Leisure Arts: 2010) . The book has instructions for a whole variety of nifty little creatures. These birds come with a pattern for a bird house.

Instead of the bird house, I decided to give my two little tweets a twig to sit on. It was very quick and easy to make using an i-cord.

 I am not generally a huge fan of sewing up little fiddly bits of knitting; however these were, because of their small size and easy fit, very quick and easy to assemble. The top of the bird body is made in one piece, then the belly, and the two little wings. All the shaping is achieved by working invisible increases and decreases. Then you just sew up and stuff.

I sewed the wings on before the bird was stuffed, but I suspect it may have been easier after. Then it's just a simple matter of sewing on some eyes and a little felt beak.

The i-cord is very easy to make: cast on 3 stitches, knit the first row, then pass the stitches back onto the left hand needle and knit again. Repeat the process to effectively knit in a circle. Repeat until your cord is the required length. Towards the end of the 'branch' I reduced the stitches down to two and completed another few rows to make the branch look tapered on the end. I then cast on 3 stitches past way through the first branch to make another stick. Sew all the ends in using a darning needle.

I toyed with the idea of putting wire into the branch, but it wouldn't have stopped the birds from flopping over, so I abandoned the idea for now.
These little tweets are definitely worth trying as they are quickly constructed, a great stash buster of odds and ends of wool, and as cute as a button.