Peep! How to Knit, Felt & Finish Easter Chicks

I couldn’t help myself.  I thought I was over ‘cute’ after my kids grew up, but now I’ve been attacked by ‘cute’ again.  Probably because I have 3 wonderful grandchildren, with two more on the way.  Yay!  It’s a delight to set the table for Easter dinner with chicks and eggs that the kids can actually play with.  I wouldn’t at all be surprised if an egg fight broke out over the ham and scalloped potatoes.  My husband grew up in a family where his Dad started food fights with whipped cream over dessert.  I should have known better and run before I was sucked into the hilarity.  At least the eggs will be easier to clean up (if the grandpuppies don’t get them).  If you want to recreate Marie’s exceptional Easter cuteness, just follow these photo’s and you’ll be peeping in no time.

To buy the pattern from Marie Mayhew, the designer click here.  She has lots more patterns as well to tempt you.

To make your own chicks you’ll need:

-sport weight wool yarn in yellow for the body & orange for the beak, or any other color if you’re adventurous.  I used Tree Frog Alpaca.

-size 7 double point needles

-needle and thread to sew on the eyes (2 black beads) and wings

-wire, orange beads, pliers & wire cutters for the legs

-fiberfill

-a couple of hours

Start the chick on the business end with a knobby little tail, knitting in the round.  You’ll increase, do a few rounds for the body of the belly and decrease into the neck and head and end by knitting the beak in orange.  The directions were easy to follow and I am a relatively new knitter.

Next you’ll whip out the wings.

After your parts are complete its time to felt the body in the washer,  using hot water in the smallest load, and a drop of detergent.  Use a timer so you can stop the cycle before it starts to spin. These chicks took a total of three 12 minute washes and they were felted and fuzzy.  Check them after each timed cycle.  This post on felting will help if you have more questions.

While the body is in the washer, grab the wings and gently hand felt them with running hot water, a drop of soap and rub between your fingers until the individual stitches begin to disappear.

Next you’re onto the legs.  Marie’s directions were great and with these photo’s you’ll be done in 15 minutes.  The legs need to be wired together inside the body, making sure that the sharp ends are buried in the fiberfill.  Then go ahead and stitch the stuffing hole shut and sew on the little wings.  Oh and don’t forget 2 black beads for the eyes.

Voila!  You now have the cutest little chicks to celebrate the coming of Spring!

Have fun. Peep!

Happy Easter,

Laurie

Nesting

Happy Easter Friends!

Are you busy getting ready to celebrate Easter with your family?  My needles have been creating nests, eggs and birdies to give to friends and family and to decorate the Easter dinner table.  Here’s a completed project which will find its way to a friends house.  Spring is such an abundant and happy time of awakening, renewal and new life isn’t it?

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live,

even though they die;

and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied,

“I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11:25-27

Wishing you much joy this season as we await the day the Son rises.

Love,

Laurie

The Christmas Fish Hats

Hello friends.  You know I have a knitting problem as of late, right?  I just can’t seem to stop!  It always starts as a bright idea.  “I know, I’ll knit the boys hats for Christmas.”  After looking all over the Ravelry website and not being hit by any of the hat patterns, I looked at some local shops websites, and there it was.  A hat pattern of a fish head from 3 Kittens in Mendota Heights.  Jack loves to fish and spent many hours dangling his hook in the water catching sunnies off the dock last summer so I had my project for the grandsons.    Here’s Jacks colors, and Johnnies are below.

What I learned is that you need to have a soft yarn on the inside brim of the hat so it’s not itchy. Anyone need an itchy red fish head hat?  So I started the red hat over again with a synthetic yarn on the first 4 inches which gets turned inside for the liner.   The scales are knit right in as a pattern, the gills and eye are over-stitched and the fins are sewn on.  I couldn’t wait to see the fish heads on those cute little boy heads.

Here are the boys on Christmas day.  Can you stand it?  That was really fun…..now all we need is some snow.  It was 51 degrees today in Minnesota which must have set some records.  But I have confidence in Minnesota’s ability to spend a couple of months clothed in white, and we’re ready.   So bring it on mother nature.

Aren’t they cute?   I love being a grandma, or as Jack says, dwama.  Merry Christmas!