Crochet Update: Meet Jay and Little Red!

I'm so glad I finally get to post this!

Back in April, I did a photo shoot for my buddy Jack's 1st birthday :) It was really fun! We tried to do the get messy with cake and then have a bubble bath type photo shoot, but Jack just was not interested in getting messy, lol. Before we got into the cake though, we just did some regular portraits. I didn't know what Liz (Jack's mom) would want as far as pictures went, so I brought a few animals with me in case we needed props. That may not have been the best idea since Jack latched onto my red bird and did not want to let him go. Consequently, we have many shots where the bird makes an appearance.

Like so.

As soon as I finished the shoot, I knew Jack needed a red bird of his own to go with his pictures :) One that has baby safe eyes (Jack really loved chewing on the bird). Now I know that I can't give something to Jack without also giving something to his big brother, my main man Sawyer. Incidentally, Jack loves red and Sawyer love blue. I learned this back when I made each of them hats (here and here). Since the bird is such a quick pattern to make, I just made one in each color!

Meet Jay and Little Red :) I used the Jay the Bird pattern from the Amigurumi Woodland Animals class on Craftsy. For Jay (the blue one) I used Red Heart Super Saver in blue and for Little Red I used Caron Simply Soft in red (I've had both of these skeins since high school - yeah). For their beaks I used Red Heart With Love in Daffodil and the eyes are Simply Soft in black with white embroidery floss for the french knots. The funny thing is the birds came out slightly different sizes. The blue on is a little bigger than the red - this is just because of the thickness of the yarns. Oddly enough it coincides with their recipients because the blue bird is for the older brother :)

Aren't they just too cute?!

Both birds have safety eyes - I didn't want to chance Jack borrowing his brother's bird and chewing on it too. I really love the addition of the french knots for the little "glisten" in the eyes - adds so much more character.

I had to show this picture. The bird on the right is Milbert the Red Bird - my first ever amigurumi (also one of the first things I ever crocheted). Look at their size difference! They are made using the same yarn and same pattern - the only difference was me. I wasn't so great at tension back then so Milbert has quite a few stitches that are larger than others, also he is much more oval shaped than Little Red. Little Red is more like a ball with wings whereas Milbert is bigger and more oblong. Funny how much difference even tension can make. I still love them both :)

I've had these guys done since the end of April, but I wanted to keep them a surprise until I gave them to their new owners. In the interim, they've been sitting on my knitting basket looking cheery and bright. I've gotten so used to them being there that I might have to make more for myself to replace them, lol. They are so fun to see when you walk into the room.

I gave the birdies to their new owners last night and they went over very well :) The boys are about to go on a cross-country road trip, so I hope these can add a little fun to the car ride. Thanks, Liz, for letting me give your boys a little surprise!