Wednesday 29 February 2012

Little Things to Keep My Hands Busy


I love little things that I can make in a short time.  It makes me feel accomplished and crafty.  I'm one of those people who can't sit still when a movie or TV show is on.  My hands have to be doing something.  That's why I like to knit and crochet so much. Most of the time, I work on a bigger project that's getting monotonous, like the foot part of a sock or sleeves on a sweater.

I especially like working on something if I'm watching an intense show; I've been watching a lot of Prison Break lately,  and that show gets pretty intense, so knitting has been a great help getting through the first 2 seasons.


And aren't these little birds so sweet?  They take almost no time at all, which fills my quick quota.  They fit in with my current bird obsession.  And they help me take my mind off some of the action.  The hardest part of these birds is choosing the colors to use.  I made these 4 in less than an hour.  They are super easy:

Little Birds

Gauge is not super important for this.  For bigger birds use thicker yarn and bigger hook.  For smaller use the opposite.  I used worsted weight yarn, and a 3.75mm hook for the bird, and 2.5mm hook for the wing.

For the bird head and body:

Round 1:    10 sc in an adjustable ring and pull as tightly so no hole is showing.
Round 2:    2 sc in the next sc, sc in next sc, hdc then dc in next sc, 2dc in next 2sc, 2sc in next sc,  sc then dc in next sc, 2 treble in next sc, 2 double treble in the next sc,  2 double treble in the last sts.
Round 3: double treble in first st, 1 triple treble and leave the rest unfinished.
 
Put this part aside and work on beak.

Beak:
  Join yellow yarn in the 7th stitch of the second row with a slip stitch then sc in the same stitch.
 
Wing:  Using the smaller hook, make a adjustable ring, then ch 2, 2 dc, 3 sc, 1dc, 3 sc, 2 dc. 
  
Put it all together:  Sew the wing to the bird in the desired position.Add some embroidery for the eye. Weave in all ends and voila you have a little bird!


 To make these little birds into a pin, I had to stiffen the birds first so that they weren't a floppy when you pinned them to something.  So I mixed a little tacky glue in some water, and painted the back of the birds with the glue.  Don't worry it will dry clear.  And then I let it dry over night.  The next morning, I had stiff little birds, suitable for pins.  I hot glued the pin backs on the birds, and then they were ready to go!  I put the blue one on my coat! and I have 3 for friends.

Look, the yellow one looks like Shiloh!

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