Winner winner chicken dinner!

Ok, not dinner, but it is chicken something.

 

Just got back from the fair. Walked around, had some food, smelled the smells, saw Weird Al’s Brain, you know, the usual.

 

And I stopped by the Hobby Hall to see how my chicken did. See for yourself!

 

 

Charted Chicken – 1st Place

Division H: Soft Toys and Teddy Bears 
Category: Soft Toys 
Class 3020: Knit Animals or Dolls 

 

The way this works is that the Hobby Hall has several big divisions for different crafts: woodcarving, leatherworking, dolls, etc. Division H is "Handmade Soft Toys and Teddy Bears." (There’s another division for professional soft toys and teddy bears, too.) Within Division H, there are two categories: Soft Toys, and Handmade Teddy Bears.

 

Each category is further divided into 9 or 10 classes, to separate fabric animals from fabric dolls, knit from crochet, and so on. My chicken best fit in class 3020, Knit Animals or Dolls. The below picture shows mostly the winners in the Soft Toys category.

 

 

The bunny behind my chicken is the big winner. It won 1st place in its class (3005, Stuffed Fabric or Fur Animals, Non-jointed), Best in Category (Soft Toys), and Grand Champion for Division H. The dog next to it placed 1st in its class (3000, Stuffed Fabric or Fur Animals, Jointed) and Reserve Grand Champion the same division.

 

The peach bunny on the shelf placed 2nd behind my chicken in the knit animals class. So cute!

 

On the crochet side, the little bear on the shelf placed first in the crochet animals or dolls class (3030). 2nd place in that class went the pink-haired doll next to it, 3rd place is a doll up in the right corner (not shown), and honorable mention went to the little white rabbit in front. I didn’t see any 3rd place or honorable mentions for my class, so I’m not sure if that means there weren’t any other knit entries or they just weren’t displayed in the same case.

 

Anyway, I’m thrilled. I never thought I’d enter anything in a fair, much less win!

 

Note: if you want the chart and help finding the pattern, go here!

Charted Chicken does the Puyallup

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve gone and entered my Charted Chicken in the Puyallup Fair. I just drove down there today to drop it off. So, if you happen to be at the fair this year (September 11-27, Puyallup Fairgrounds, Puyallup, Washington), do check it out. You will find her here:

 

Hobby Hall

Division H (Handmade Soft Toys and Teddy Bears)

Class 3020 (Knit Animals or Dolls)

 

She looks like this:

 

 

I guess the judging is Tuesday, but no one knows the results until the fair opens. I didn’t see the other entries, so I don’t know if I’m totally out of my league or what. I hope I don’t embarrass myself!

 

I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get there to find out if it won anything, so if you see it before me and it has a ribbon on it, let me know!

 

Charted Chicken Chart

Just a few weeks ago, I made and entered this chicken in a local knitted chicken contest at Renaissance Yarns, for LYS Tour 2009. Guess what? It won! All of the chickens were so wonderful, and I really had fun. Thanks to Renaissance Yarns and everyone who voted, and congrats to our local knitters for their beautiful entries.

(Update September 2009: it also won a ribbon at the Puyallup Fair!)

Blue Sky Alpacas “Knit Chickens” pattern by Susan B. Anderson, with chart modification by yours truly

Interestingly enough, the chicken has also become quite popular on Ravelry. As of this writing, its project page has had 2600 views and it’s been favorited 831 times. I’m a bit mystified, but I’m glad people like it. There has been some interest in the chart, so, as promised, I’m now making the chart available to the public.

Download the chart from Flickr

The chart is for personal use only. Please do not sell the chart or finished objects based on it.

Notes:

• This is the chart for my colorwork modification to the chicken body only. For the chicken pattern itself, you must purchase the printed Blue Sky Alpacas “Knit Chickens” pattern from a store. (Update: a PDF is now available for purchase at that link.)
• The chart is 105 stitches wide and 41 rows high, which will work with the small chicken in the Knit Chickens pattern, or any item of similar size.
• The chart assumes that the start of the round is in the back. If you do apply this to the chicken pattern, you’ll have to knit some extra stitches to move the start of the round to the back, then move it again to its original location when you get to the neck.
• The front and back center stitches are noted by green lines in the chart.
• If you are knitting this in the round (as you would for the chicken pattern), you can try some jogless joins in the back as you move to each new row. It won’t line up perfectly, but it should smooth it out. Can you find the heart?
• Some of the floats may be long, which can affect tension. You may have to experiment to keep them under control.

That’s it. If you have any questions, feel free to send them to me at ellemennop (at) live (dot) com. Enjoy!

Note to shop owners, teachers, knitalong organizers, and others:
If you want to use my chart for your activity, please do the following:

• First credit Susan B. Anderson for the Blue Sky Alpacas pattern, with instructions or suggestions about how to buy it.
• Then credit me, Michelle Mooney, for the charted colorwork, and link to this post to obtain the chart.
• If you use images, I prefer that you use a picture of your own charted chicken, and include a picture of a chicken from the base pattern (BSA stock photo, if permitted, or your own).
• If you want to use my photo, or distribute printed copies of my chart directly, please contact me at ellemennop (at) live (dot) com.
• Any of my photos must be credited to me, and the chart must remain as-is, with notices intact.

Thanks very much!

see this project on ravelry

Buk buk buk… bukawk!

Shhhh. Quit making so much noise.

 

So… I’ve actually been kind of busy over the last couple of months. Lots of things going on at work, and we just moved to a new office building. Craft-wise, I did finish a project that I haven’t shared yet because I’m also writing a pattern. More on that later.

 

For now, though, I just finished a knitalong project for my local yarn store, Renaissance Yarns. Some patrons are making knitted chickens for display during the LYS Tour next month. Here’s mine, a charted chicken:

 

 

The pattern is called Knit Chickens from Blue Sky Alpacas. The yarn is Dyed Cotton, also from Blue Sky. The pattern as written will produce chickens in three sizes, striped, or solid with embellishments. I did my own thing and wrote a chart for stranded colorwork on the body. I rather like the effect.

 

Edit: psst… the chart I made for this is now available for download.