Weekend make-a-long: Easter chick

I'll be honest, this is a reblog from Pom Pom Emporium.  But the story behind it has a few coincidences and I thought worth telling...and fun making even though Easter has passed.

So the lovely people at Creative Living forum have regular swaps to keep us on our creative toes.  This spring the swap was an interesting one.  Make something spring like for yourself, using any medium at all.  Then gather up the exact materials you used and send them to another forum member...no instructions at all, just the materials.  So I receieved a packet in the post with some DK cotton look yellow yarn, a small piece of orange yarn, two mini buttons, some thick cotton thread and toy stuffing.  My first thought was this is to make a yellow chick.  I had seen many of these crocheted but I can't crochet and hoped I coould manage to knit one.  The same morning I headed off to work and remembered we had no milk for the tea-break so stopped at a shop I haven't been in for a few years.  At the counter was a basket with little yellow knitted chicks stuffed with cream eggs...just what I wanted. They were being sold for Cancer Charity.  I was in a hurry and then forgot to stop on he way home...so googled Easter Chick. I was amazed that the exact chick I wanted came up first.  Then I laughed when I read her story...very similar to mine...seeing it in a shop being sold for charity. 
I downloaded her pattern, knit my chick and posted photo on Creative Living forum.  My swappee then posted hers and yep, she had knit a chick, hers looks much nicer but mine is just cute enough.  I have it in the kitchen "minding" the eggs.   And I'm off to make some in other colours aswell.  We have our own hens and my nephews love collecting the eggs...could you just imagine their faces finding a little chick in the hen box.

My hens eggs were a tight fit for the chick

Here is the pattern word for word from Pom Pom Emporioum.
To make a chick you will need...

1. Small amount of yellow DK yarn
2. A pair of needles UK size 3.75mm / 9 / US 5
3. Small amount of stuffing for the head
4. Small piece of felt for the beak
5. Chocolate egg, plastic or hard boiled!

Body:
Cast on 26 stitches.

1. Row 1: K1, increase 1, K to the end.
2. Repeat first row until you have 36 stitches on the needle (10 rows)
3. Knit four rows. (14 rows)

Shape the tail:* (abbreviations expanded to make it clearer)

1. Row 1: K3, bring yfwd, slip next stitch, ybk, move slip stitch back to left needle. Turn
2. Row 2: K3 to end
3. Row 3: K2, bring yfwd, slip next stitch, ybk, move slip stitch back to left needle. Turn
4. Row 4: K2 to end
5. Row 5: Cast off 10 stitches, K to end
6. Repeat last five row for the other side to shape tail.
7. You will have 16 stitches left in the centre of your knitting.

Head:

1. Rows 1-4: Knit
2. Row 5: K1, K2tog, K to last three stitches, K2tog, K1.
3. Rows 6-8: Same as row 5
4. Rows 9-10: Knit

This will leave you with 8 stitches. Cut the yarn leaving a length 30cm (12") long.Thread a needle with the 30cm length and run it through the 8 remaining stitches, pull them tight. Continue with the yarn to sew up the head, back and side leaving a hole big enough to insert an egg. Stuff the head lightly. Insert the egg, this will give you the body shape making it easy to see where the neck should be. With a needle threaded with the yarn, do a running stitch to cinch the neck (not too tight) fasten off securely. The eyes are french knots made from black yarn. Sew on a beak made from red felt. 

 

For her photos and other wonders see here http://www.pompomemporium.com/

 

I made the beak with some orange wool as this is what was in my swap pack.  Incidently this is the other chick my swapper sent.