Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Easter Egg Cozies


A long time ago I knitted chicken egg cozies, like the ones featured here, to cover hard boiled or plastic eggs for my kids at Easter for their baskets. After a lengthy online search, I didn't find anything that resembled the pattern I remembered so I was forced to "reinvent the wheel." Somehow, more than thirty years later, I was able to generally recall the pattern and even improved upon it, by shaping the tail portion and concocting a duck, too.

After posting completed chicken and duck photos on my ravelry.com project page, I found that others were interested in this pattern, too, so I decided to write it up to share. The patterns for both the chicken and duck are included here for knitters who want to create something fun for the little people in their lives this Easter.

Chicken Egg Cozy

Yarn: To make one chicken you will need about half an ounce of worsted weight yarn. This is a good opportunity to use up leftover yarn such as Red Heart Super Saver or cotton yarns such as "I Love This Cotton." Other suggested yarns include Peaches 'n Creme or Sugar 'n Cream cottons. Personally, I preferred "I Love This Cotton" for the chickens and Loops & Threads' Impeccable worsted (butterscotch) for the ducks.

Other items needed: size 6 knitting needles, tapestry needle, scissors, tiny wiggle eyes, and little bits of felt or fleece for finishing touches

Here goes the pattern:
1. co 32 sts
2. ribbing of k 1, p 1 on enough rows to measure 1" (6-7 rows)
3. From this point on, all rows will be k rows. K 1.5 inches above the ribbing so that the main body of the chicken measures 2.5 inches.
4. To shape the first half of the tail:
k 5, turn
k 5, turn
k 4 turn
k 4 turn
bind off 10 st and continue k to the end of the row (22 st remain)
5. To shape second half of tail:
k 5, turn
k 5, turn
k 4, turn
K 4, turn
bind off 10 st and continue knitting to the end of the row (12 st remain)
6. To shape the head:
Row 1—6: k across (12 st)
Row 7: k 10, k 2 tog (11 st)
Row 8: k 9, k 2 tog (10 st)
Row 9—11: k 10
Row 12: k 8, k 2 tog (9 st)
Row 13: k 7, k 2 tog (8 st.)
Row 14: bind off leaving an 18" tail of yarn

Fold chicken in half, matching tails. Using a tapestry needle and the long tail of yarn, join the two halves together starting at the head and ending at the lower edge of the ribbing. leave the bottom (ribbing) open to insert egg. Finish chicken with a top notch/comb, beak and eyes.

Finishing touches:
For the top notch, crochet right to the top of the head in three parts using thinner yarn such as sports weight yarn or size 3 crochet thread. Chain five st, sc into second ch from hook and in remaining st going down toward the head. Repeat the five ch and sc's for two more parts of the top notch. For a beak, just cut a small triangle from a piece of felt or felted wool. Fold in half and either tack or glue into place. Glue on small wiggle eyes.

Duck Egg Cozy

Yarn: To make one duck you will need about half an ounce of worsted weight yarn. This is a good opportunity to use up leftover yarn such as Red Heart Super Saver or cotton yarns such as "I Love This Cotton." Other suggested yarns include Peaches 'n Creme or Sugar 'n Cream cottons. Personally, I preferred "I Love This Cotton" for the chickens and Loops & Threads' Impeccable worsted (butterscotch) for the ducks.

Other items needed: size 6 knitting needles, tapestry needle, scissors, tiny wiggle eyes, and little bits of felt or fleece for finishing touches


Here goes the pattern, which is identical to the chicken, until the head shaping rows:
1. co 32 sts
2. ribbing of k 1, p 1 on enough rows to measure 1" (6-7 rows)
3. From this point on, all rows will be k rows. K 1.5 inches above the ribbing so that the main body of the chicken measures 2.5 inches.
4. To shape the first half of the tail:
k 5, turn
k 5, turn
k 4 turn
k 4 turn
bind off 10 st and continue k to the end of the row (22 st remain)
5. To shape second half of tail:
k 5, turn
k 5, turn
k 4, turn
K 4, turn
bind off 10 st and continue knitting to the end of the row (12 st remain)
6. To shape the head:
Row 1: k across (12 st)
Row 2: (k 1, k 2 tog) 4 times (8 st)
Row 3: k across
Row 4: (k 1, inc in next st) 4 times (12 st)
Row 5: k across
Row 6: (k 1, inc in next st) 6 times (18 st)
Rows 7—8: k across
Row 9: (k 1, k 2 tog) 6 times (12 st)
Row 10: k across
Row 11: (k 1, k 2 tog) 4 times (8 st)
Row 12: k 1, k 2 tog, k 2, k 2 tog, k 1 (6 st)

Leaving an 18" tail, break off yarn and thread the tapestry needle. Draw the yarn through remaining stitches and close up the head. Fold duck in half matching tails and whip the two halves together from the head, over the back, around the tail and down to the lower edge of the duck, leaving the bottom (ribbing) open to insert egg. Stuff duck head with polyfill. Finish duck with bill and eyes.

Fold chicken in half, matching tails. Using a tapestry needle and the long tail of yarn, join the two halves together starting at the head and ending at the lower edge of the ribbing. leave the bottom (ribbing) open to insert egg. Finish chicken with a top notch/comb, beak and eyes.

Finishing touches:
For duck's bill, cut two fat triangles from felt or fleece and round one point so that each resembles a fat gum drop. Fold both in half and overlay one over the other. Tack together and then stitch or glue onto duck. Glue on beads or gems for eyes or make French knots.





Suggestions: After knitting a chicken or a duck, how about inserting a silly putty egg inside for a little Easter surprise? Even bigger kids would like to have a chicken or duck egg cozy if the plastic egg inside had a little money in it!


If you would like to purchase a printed pattern along with an already completed duck and chicken, visit my etsy site.

__________________________

SPECIAL THANKS to Ellblo (Ellen's ravelry name) who so graciously tested the pattern by making up a few chickens of her own.

Copyright 2011, C. Lowman/Delights. All Rights Reserved.

32 comments:

  1. These are sooo cute! I don't knit, maybe you want to come up with a crocheted version? LOL.

    Renee :)

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  2. thanks for sharing this wonderful pattern!! Lauren not anonymous!

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  3. Just knitted a chicken, am sewing it up. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Very cute!

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  4. These are so cute, I remember an ex-SIL makeing these for one of her sons elementary school class party, for Easter a long time ago. :)

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  5. This is such an adorable pattern, can't wait to start one. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Thanks so much for this wonderful pattern. I've already made over a dozen little chickadees. They are so adorable and make me smile every time I see them. My grandma used to make these in the 1970s - so when I saw your pattern - I knew I had to bring this tradition back. I can't thank you enough!

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  7. Thank you for this lovely pattern. I will make a hen for my daughter who keeps chickens (calls them her girls). She will love it.

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  8. Going to get a head start for next year and start making them now! So cute!

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  9. Thank-you so much for sharing this pattern. I have been looking everywhere for little chicken egg warmers to knit for my kids and neices and nephews this Easter. This is exactly what I was serching for.
    Thank you !!!

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  10. Your pattern is just what I've been looking for - I want to knit an egg cosy for my little grand-daughter this Easter. Thanks so much for your generosity in sharing your skills. I think there will be lots of happy children with 'your' egg cosies this Easter! Elaine

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    1. and an update: well, a big success! I just carried on knitting after I'd made my grand-daughter's cosy, until the random-dyed yarn I was using ran out. In the end around 10 friends and family ended up with egg cosies. I used tiny glass beads for the eyes.

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  11. Thank You so much for this pattern, these chicks are an heirloom in our family and we thought that the pattern was lost forever. We wanted to continue this knitted tradition, so that our grandchildren could remember the talents their dear sweet Great Grandma Carol posessed. Thank you again. GK

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  12. Lovely. Thanks for sharing these

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  13. I have never knitted in my life, so the pattern seems like a foreign language!! These are so adorable that i really want to learn! Any suggestions on how to get started? Thanks for sharing.
    Jackie U.K.

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  14. I just finished my first chicken! I shall be making at least 30 of these for my daughter's special needs students!
    Thank you so much for the pattern!
    Rhonda

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  15. 4 down already! These are super fast, and easy for beginners. Many thanks!

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  16. Thanks for sharing ive just knitted my first duck for my daughter, im doing them for neices n newphews now :-)

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  17. Thanks, knitting them for my mum, who has 6 chickens and calls them her babies or her girls! They would make cool gifts and so easy!

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  18. Maja 14 October 2015
    Thanks very, very much for sharing with others your so beautiful pattern .It is most adorable little chicken. I will make a few to decorate individual plate for Easter family breakfast.

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  19. can you make these stuffed and sew a seam down the bottom thank you

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  20. love these so cute you rock I have bin knitting for a long time and never saw these be for so cute I am going to make some from Annie in mount Vernon WA

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  21. Annie, I was born and raised in the same county as you. How's that for a coincidence!

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  22. I suppose they could be stuffed. Interesting idea.

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  23. I use feltable yarn to create a feather like chicken after felting (fulling).

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  24. Thanks so much I am making some for my friend who runs a battery hen rescue to use for fundraising

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  25. How nice! Thank you for taking a moment to write your comment and for helping out a friend who does something good in the world.

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  26. Thanks for sharing,I made these when my children were small,naturally the pattern (from a magazine) is lost, my kids are now 39 & 34, I want to make them for the grand darlings. Just hope they raise a nostalgic smile.Thanks again MoMa.

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  27. Hello - have you ever made these in crochet thread?? I am sure they would be charming and delicate- Can't wait to hear you response!!

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  28. Yes, Karla, I have made them using crochet thread. I have a photo of a tiny one in my project pages on ravelry.com. Very tiny! I photographed it with a coin to show how small it was.

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  29. Thanks for posting this. I had made some many years ago and wanted to make some again and couldn't find the pattern. Thanks for sharing!

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  30. Gosh yes, it was over 30 years ago that I found a similar pattern in a magazine & used to make these. Thanks for the reminder

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