FO: The Bird and The Bee

I already revealed half of this project on Wednesday, but I wanted to show everything here all together :)

Last week my sister asked if I could make her an animal to give as a baby shower gift. I had a lot of other projects in the works already, so I decided to make something simple. I decided to use the Jay, The Bird pattern from FreshStitches, but make her girlier. My sister also requested she have a flower in her hair.

I call this little lady Jayne, The Bird :) Isn't she cute?! I just love how she turned out. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Baby Pink and Yellow, as well as Red Heart With Love in Hot Pink for the flower.  

Since this birdy was for a baby baby, I went with baby safe eyes. I used my Sizzix paddle punches to cut out circles of black and white jersey left over from some of my recent t-shirt making endeavors and it worked out really well. I hand sewed the eye pieces on and then embroidered her eyelashes with some black yarn scraps. The flower is the "Little Flower" pattern from the book Crochet Garden by Suzann Thompson - it ended up being the perfect size! Just the little touch the project needed.

Mr. Bee here is actually a slightly altered version of the bees from the Buzzy Bee Mobile pattern from Stacey Trock's new book, Modern Baby Crochet. As part of the shower all of the guests were asked to make something to contribute to the baby's mobile - cute idea, right? When my sister saw the bees, she asked if I could make one but add wings. I made the bee body up til the point where you start decreasing so that I could get an idea of the scale of the wings. The wings I made were just free-handed, but it worked out well. 

Bee Wing Pattern:

1. Chain 10

2. SC into 2nd stitch from hook and all the way down (9 stitches)

3. Turn and SC 4 stitches. Fasten off with a long tail.

4. Bend the wing in half (pivoting at the end of the 4 sc stitches) and sew the wing together down the center.

Mr. Bee is made of Vanna's Choice yarn in black, mustard, and white. I added 6mm eyes and an embroidered smile to give him more personality. While I was making him, my husband suggested he should have a stinger. After brainstorming for a short while, I decided to tie off at the end but not pull the knot to the inside like I usually would. I kept the knot outside, tied it tightly, then cut off the excess leaving a little pieces sticking out. I put some fray check on the stinger and it was done :) I think it came out well.

I really enjoyed the break from my larger projects to make these. Sometimes quick and cute can cure your problems :)