Little Owls

I couldn't think what to post today, as I am part way through another project. I am not very good at writing about WIP's, but prefer posting about projects when they are finished. I'm not sure what that says about me. 

But then I remembered these little guys. 

I knitted them back in the summer when we were on holiday in France. They are from a free pattern on ravelry, called Owls Two Ways. Really nice simple pattern, which also has a crochet version. The knitted owls are done on double-points. 

I like a project on holiday where I do not have to refer to the pattern too much, and after knitting one or two I could more or less keep the instructions in my head. Some of these chaps were knitted on the ferry and the beach, where it is nice not to have to worry about your pattern being whisked away by the wind.

I did slightly altered the pattern, by adding the wings, and for some of the owls instead of sewing a seam along the top of the head I grafted. You can see this in the photo above: grey owl is sewn, tan one is grafted. This was just really because at the time I had just discovered grafting, and enjoyed doing it so much.  

What I like about the owls is that by using different wools, slightly altering the size, adding a few speckles, they do seem to take on a life of their own.
 

A Rainbow of Owls

Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament? That sounds very serious, so I would prefer to call mine a rainbow of owls.  

This is a new venture, as I decided to have a go at a sewing pattern. I did intend my blog to be a mixture of everything, but I have rather got hung up on the knitting.  I decided to start with something fairly simple, but even for my little owl the process of making the pattern, has been a learning curve. Have I mentioned that I am a little bit computer phobic? One of the ideas of having a blog was to face my computer fears. So the process of drawing and scanning the pattern pieces, and then making logical written instructions, with photographs to help, has been difficult. 

But I love my little group of owls. I'm not sure if they are meant to be or toy or an ornament.  Definitely not a toy for anyone very young, because of the button eyes, but I think a lot of bigger kids might like a row of colourful owls on their windowsill. Or it could just be a little pincushion.

You can find the pattern in my Etsy Shop.