Knitted barn owls

A little barn owl family, nestling in a tree, wondering if it was going to rain (it did, storms and wind five minutes later by which time the barn owls had decamped indoors).

There's an enormous differerence between the shape that people think that owls are, and the shape they actually are in real life. Lots of knitted, crocheted and sewn owls are plump and rounded, almost like a cushion with two big eyes. Real owls are actually quite long and thin, like a feathered tube (have a look at this fine specimen on my Birds board on Pinterest)

I started knitting an owl, shaping it realistically, but it ended up looking like a penguin. Too skinny. So I ended up plumping out the original shaping, to make it look more like that inner image of an owl, but I hope it's kept some of its realism.

The baby barn owl was easier - they start out as just a ball of white fluff with an adult's face looking like it's been pasted on the front. They are one of my favourite baby birds, so much character.

Plarn seagull

I love this! The brilliant designer Jane Robertson used my seagull knitting pattern to create a plarn seagull as part of a craft bomb at her local harbour, for a Voluntary Arts Week event.

Plarn is a type of plastic yarn, which you make by cutting carrier bags into strips. There's some plarn-making instructions here, if you fancy giving it a try.

Here's the craft bomb at North Berwick harbour. It looks great and I'm so happy to have one of my knitting patterns taken off in a new direction like this, thanks Jane!

Knitted avocet

One of those mornings where the skies are bright blue with not a cloud in sight. The perfect day for a trip to the beach with latest addition to my knitted flock, the avocet.

This bird is the first one I've made which has a driftwood base. I will probably make some more like this in the future as the driftwood looks beautiful, and on a more practical note, it helps with stability when you're trying to get a long - legged wobbly wader to stand up!

Barn Owl

Here's some work in progress - a knitting pattern for a little knitted barn owl. I decided to start with the face on this one which is quite unusual for me, it's usually the last thing I do.