Just in time for Easter

Since I tend to run a little behind on holiday crafts, I wanted to get a head start on this post. I have been knitting a few things for Hannah's Easter basket and wanted to share the patterns. I saw a picture of a cute knitted chick, but the pattern wasn't for sale yet. So I set to work to write my own baby chick pattern. I am so excited with the way it turned out. I wrote it down as I went changing things here and there as needed. I'm going to share it as a little gift to you all. I know there are very few knitters who read this regularly, so feel free to share it with your favorite knitting friends. It's entirely up for grabs.

Little Chick Pattern

I used US size 6 straight needles, 2 US size 6 double-pointed needles (dpns), 4-ply cotton yarn, a sewing needle, scissors, and a measuring tape

For the Body:

Using the straight needles and your favorite light yellow yarn, CO 35 stitches. Work in garter stitch until it measures 6 inches. Cut your yarn to about 12 inches, and thread it onto the sewing needle. Thread the tail back through the live stitches, and gather them to close (think drawstring bag). Using a mattress stitch, sew the sides together to create a tube with a cinched bottom. Stuff the tube with batting, poly-fill, or stuffing pellets. (I always use a technique for stuffing that I found here. In this chick's case, I wrapped strips of batting tightly around a large jingle bell to make a rattle inside. The head is a separate ball of wrapped batting strips only.) To close the top opening, sew through every stitch on the top, and gather again as a drawstring bag. To form the neck, use the same drawstring technique a third of the way down from the top. Weave in all of the ends.

For the Wings: (knit 2)

Using the straight needles and the same light yellow, CO 8 stitches. Knit 8 rows.

Row 9: Slip, slip, knit (SSK) the first two stitches, Knit (K) 4, Knit 2 together (6 stitches remain)

Row 10: Knit

Row 11: SSK, Knit 2 together (4 stitches remain)

Bind off

For the Beak:

Using straight needles and an orange yarn, CO 6 stitches.

Knit 3 rows.

Row 4: SSK, Knit 2, Knit 2 together (4 stitches remain)

Row 5: SSK, Knit 2 together (2 stitches remain)

Bind off

For the Legs and Feet: (knit 2)

Using size 6 dpns, CO 3 stitches. Work in i-cord for 2 inches.

Foot Shaping:

Turn and knit back and forth on the dpns as follows:

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Knit 1, (Knit in the front and back), Knit 1 (4 stitches total)

Row 3: Knit 1, (Knit in the front and back) two times, Knit 1 (6 stitches total)

Rows 4 & 5: Knit

Row 6: Turn, and knit into the first two stitches

Row 7: Leaving 4 stitches untouched, turn and knit back through the first two stitches. Bind off these two stitches leaving a 4 inch tail.

Row 8: Knit through the next two stitches leaving the remaining two untouched.

Row 9: Turn, and knit back through those two stitches. Bind off these two stitches leaving another 4 inch tail.

Row 10: Knit into the last two stitches.

Row 11: Turn, and knit back through the stitches, and bind off leaving a 4 inch tail.

Weave in all tails.

Piecing:

Using the sewing needle and the appropriate yarn color, sew the wings, beak, and legs/feet to the chick. Add eyes and other embellishments as desired!

You can find the accompanying egg pattern here. As a note of caution, the egg turned out much bigger than I anticipated although I checked my gauge against the directions. The directions say that it could fit over a traditional plastic Easter egg, but mine was at least twice as big. I ended up using a plastic egg with beans inside, wrapping it in batting, then tucking it inside the knitted egg. So both my egg and my chick are rattles.

I have never ever written a knitting pattern before, so I'm sure there are countless mistakes. Please feel free to ask any questions you run into, and I'll try to answer them asap.

Happy Knitting!