Yuri on Ice knitted finger puppets

More finger puppets! These Yuri on Ice ones were a custom Etsy order - Viktor Nikiforov, Yuri Katsuki and Yuri Plisetsky.

Knitted David Bowie - Low

I have decided to slowly work my way through trying to knit David Bowie in all his album cover incarnations, and Low is a good place to start. This Bowie is a finger puppet - I've been enjoying playing around with knitted finger puppets this year and will definitely make some more Bowie puppets soon. If you fancy giving Low Bowie a home, there should be one in my Etsy shop.

Knitted cockatiel

Another member of the parrot family - I'm definitely enjoying knitting parrots at the moment! This little cockatiel is currently for sale in my Etsy shop, it is hand knitted from my own pattern. If he has sold, please do get in touch, and I may be able to knit you another as a custom order.

Nesting osprey

You may recall that I knitted Monty, the osprey from the Dyfi Osprey Project, in my book Knitted Birds. Knitted Monty stands upright, and he has wire feet. Well, here is an adaptation of the same pattern, so you can knit Glesni, his partner, in a nesting pose (which is what she is currently doing if you check the Dyfi Osprey Project live stream at the time I'm writing this!).

To make Glesni, use a 4.5mm pair of needles rather than the 4mm pair recommended for Monty. This will make Glesni slightly larger. Knit the same body and head parts from the Monty pattern, stuff, and then lie the body down and sew the head into position as seen in the photos. Knit four wings, and then take two of them, pin them together with the wrong sides together, and oversew around the edges using dark brown DK yarn. This creates a double-sided wing which will stand up better than a single one. Repeat with the other two wing pieces and then sew both wings into position on either side of the body - don't sew the last third of the wing onto the body. Create eyes and beak as instructed in the Monty pattern.

Good luck Glesni and Monty! Here's to a summer of plentiful fish, and healthy chicks.

Yarn Shop Day at Seeded!

Come along and meet me and the knitted birds at Seeded in Southsea, Hampshire, and celebrate Yarn Shop Day! Yarn Shop Day is organised each year by Let's Knit magazine and it's a chance to connect and enjoy your local yarn shop - if you're not near Southsea, check out Let's Knit magazine's listings of participating shops. There's lots of special events, giveaways, workshops and free patterns (and cake) going on in local yarn shops all over the country. Anyway - I will be at Seeded from 11am - 3pm with the knitted birds and I will be signing copies of my book. There'll be lots of other things going on at Seeded too - what better excuse to visit this fantastic, friendly yarn shop!

Peacock on the beach

Here's another of my new designs - a knitted peacock. It's not often that you spot a peacock on Worthing beach. The seagulls didn't quite know what to make of it.

Knitted budgies

I've been hard at work designing some new bird knitting patterns, this time exploring the exotic birds of the world. There are so many to choose from! These little knitted budgies are the latest off my needles - I'm hoping to make some more to add to my Etsy shop soon.

Knitted Rubber Ducks

Everyone needs a cuddly knitted rubber duckie in their life, don't they? Here's your chance to make a flock of your very own - my knitted rubber duck pattern is now available in my Etsy shop as an instant download. The pattern includes full instructions for a large and small duck as in the photo - and there's no reason to just stick to yellow, the pattern looks great in any colour!

If you live near Worthing, the paper pattern is also available at The Wool Bar.

Now, all I need to do is to find a way to make them float...

Word on a wing

Here's a new bird knitting pattern - I'm very pleased with this one. It's a dove of peace and like all my patterns, it's knitted in the flat on 2 needles. I think these might be the best wings I've knitted to date - they are double-sided so can easily be posed up or down, and the whole project is a nice, simple knit. The pattern is available as a download from my Etsy shop!

The dove is an ancient symbol of peace and love in many cultures - hope these knitted doves spread a little more peace and love into your world. I'm also hoping that people will knit these white doves as an alternative to releasing the real thing at weddings or funerals (so many of the released birds end up attacked by predators or in shelters as they are unable to fend for themselves after release).

You can download your dove pattern instantly, from Etsy.