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.

Click Here

__________________________

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.