Jay

This is a pattern to create a lovely hanging knitted bird decoration for a Christmas tree or a door handle. The bird is knit in 6 pieces - 4 wing pieces, the bird body, head and tail in one piece and the beak. They are knitted on straight needles and sewn together afterwards. The wings and head are decorated with beads and a small amount of embroidery.

This pattern is a good stash buster as it can be made using left over 4 ply yarn and beads. Mine is a realistic interpretation of the Eurasian Jay but you can make it as colourful or imaginative as you wish. Using 4 ply yarn and 2.5 mm needles, the bird is around 14 cm long from til to beak tip. The gauge is not important but is 36 stitches and 40 rows to 10 cm. You could use dk and 3 mm needles and it would turn out slightly larger at around 17 cm long.