Pochard

Little knitted Pochard joins the flock of knitted birds at The Wool Bar...

Flock to Worthing

Creative Waves Flock to Worthing bird art trail starts today, July 22nd and runs until 1st September! Pick up an art trail map from one of the many venues listed on their website and then wander through Worthing town and seafront, spotting rare birds created by local artists and art groups. (Personally, I would use this as an opportunity to go to Parklife to pick up a map, coffee, and a cupcake, but then to be honest, I need very little excuse to go to Parklife).

All of my knitted birds are installed in the window of The Wool Bar, Warwick Street, so go along and say hello! I'll be adding more birds over the next few weeks as I make them.

Black Necked Swan

Here's my knitted Black Necked Swan and a cygnet - there will be more cygnets on the way once the weather cools down enough to knit with mohair without going crazy *shakes fist at sky*.

These beautiful swans aren't native to Britain, you'd have to go to South America to see them in the wild, but I'm lucky enough to live near to the Arundel Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, where they have a breeding pair of Black Necked Swans.

If you visit during the spring, you may be able to see the tiny cygnets being ferried about on their parents' backs. The cygnet I've knitted is just beyond this stage, probably much to the parents relief.

Can you believe that these swans used to be killed so their skin and feathers could be used to make powder puffs? Not one of mankind's finest moments.

Tufted duck

I think this little chap might be my favourite knitted bird so far. This is a tufted duck - a rather smart little diving duck who is slightly smaller than a mallard.

I redesigned and refined my basic duck knitting pattern for this one - my previous mallards were very simply shaped but this one has more complex shaping to give the duck a more rounded shape, slightly flatter than a goose.

I particularly like this duck's expression, like he has suddenly remembered something terribly important in the middle of the photo shoot. "Did I lock the front door before I came out? Oh no..."

Lapwing

A knitted lapwing, quite a rare sight on Worthing beach - or any beach, for that matter. This little chap will be appearing with all my other knitted birds in the Creative Waves Flock to Worthing art trail this summer, and then... well, I can't tell you more details at the moment, but something very exciting is going to happen later in the year. So get your binoculars out and watch this space...