Friendly Chicken pattern

My daughter has recently become obsessed with farm animals. I spend more time these days listening to "Old Macdonald had a Farm" than I ever imagined I would. So I created this friendly little chicken for her so she could always carry a bit of the barnyard with her. Hopefully your little ones love practicing their animal noises with their new friend as much as mine does.

                                  

    This pattern is made using Big Twist yarn in Varsity Gold and Deep Red. Big Twist is a medium weight acrylic yarn. It's machine washable and fairly durable so I find that it works well for stuffies that I know are going to be well loved. The recommended hook size is US 8/ 5mm but I prefer to work it with a 4.50mm for tight stitches that I know little fingers won't be able to pull polyfil through.

For this pattern you will need:

Polyfil

Embroidery Thread

Scissors

Darning Needle

4.50mm hook

Worsted weight yarn in two colors of your choosing

Stitch Marker

Abbreviations

inc = single crochet 2 into the same stitch

BLO = Back Loops Only

sc2toget = single crochet 2 stitches together to dcr the toatl amount of stitches in a round

BODY:

Rnd 1: SC 6 into magic ring

Rnd 2: SC 2 into each st around (12)

Rnd 3: *(SC 1, inc), repeat from * around (18)

Rnd 4: *(inc, SC 2 ) repeat from * around (24)

Rnd 5:  *(inc, SC 3)  repeat from * around (30)

Rnd 6 : *(inc, SC 4)  repeat from * around (36)

Rnd 7: *(inc, SC 5)  repeat from * around (42)

Rnd 8: *(inc, SC 6)  repeat from * around (48)

Rnd 9:  sc around (48)

In the next round only we will work BLO to give a more balanced, flatter bottom. After round 10, resume working in both loops.

Rnd 10:  BLO *(sc 10, sc2toget) repeat from * around, place a stitch marker in each sc2toget to mark the 'corners' (44)

Rnd 11: sc around stopping before the last st of the round. In the last st, sc2toget with the first stitch of round 12. (44)

Rnd 12: *(sc 9, sc2toget at the corner) repeat from * around (40)

Rnd 13: (sc2toget, sc 8) repeat from * around (36)

Rnd 14-15: sc around (36)

Rnd 16: *(sc2toget, sc 7) repeat from * around (32)

Rnd 17: sc around (32)

Begin stuffing the piece

Rnd 18:  *(sc2toget, sc 6) repeat from * around (28)

Rnd 19: sc around (28)

Rnd 20:  *(sc2toget, sc 5) repeat from * around (24)

Finish stuffing the piece

Rnd 21-22 : *( sc2toget, sc 1) repeat from * around (18) (12)

Rnd 23: sc2toget around

Cut yarn, leave a long tail to close piece at the top

Face

Pick a side to be the face and embroider eyes about 4 stitches apart in rnd 15

Embroider beak in rnds 14 -12, between the eyes

After embroidering beak, take a scrap of red yarn and sew it over the top widest part of a beak, to mimic the comb of a rooster. Bring each end of the yarn through the piece and out the bottom, as demonstrated in the image displayed. Knot the two strands and hide in the main body

Comb (make 3)

Rnd 1: sc 6 into magic ring (6)

Rnd 2: sc 2 into each st around (12)

slst to join rnds and cut yarn

Sew the three separate piece together in a fan shape and attach to the center top of the head/body.

Wings (make 2)

Rnd 1: sc 6 into magic ring (6)

Rnd 2: sc 2 into each st around (12)

Rnd 3: HDC 1, DC 2, TRC 3, DC 2, HDC 1, SC 1, slst to finish off and cut yarn, leave a long tail for sewing.

Attach wings to either side of the body.

... And that's it. Now your little farmer can have their own flock of chickens🐔🐔