Friday, December 20, 2024

The Emotional Support Chicken that turned into an Owl

I was planning on making another Emotional Support Chicken when I had found this pattern: Poppy The Chicken.  I thought it would be nice to make something different for a change as well as incorporate my zaney idea to make it rainbow coloured.  Plus, (of course) I wanted to super size it so, I proceeded to super size it so that it would be four times bigger!😳😁🤪  I got this far before I realized that I had bitten off more than I could chew:
That was 20 rows in before I said: "OMG?!😱😳🤦‍♀️😞 WHAT did I sign up for?!😳😱🤦‍♀️🙇‍♀️"  Then, I completely abandoned the project.  After a few days went by, I thought maybe if I did a smaller version, it would give me a better idea of how it would look.  So, I did the exact opposite: I split the pattern in half and this is what I got:
The tiniest "chicken" ever.  As you can see, it's not complete because I realized that I actually didn't really like this chicken pattern at all and my idea about making it rainbowed "pattern" wasn't going to work.🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️😞

I've had in my queue of things to make a kitty pouf that I was planning on making for my niece (to compete with all of her other marshmallow poufs 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️😉😁).  Since I knew that I couldn't (realistically) compete with all of her marshmallow poufs (that girl has A LOT of marshmallow poufs!😳 as well as tons of other stuffed animals, including the ones I've already made her), I thought that I make it for myself instead and turn the kitty into an Owl (I could turn the tail wings I learned from my Emotional Support Chicken into wings for its wings and still keep to my Emotional Support Avian theme). So, here's how my adventure went:

The original pattern said to cast on 46 stitches.  So, I wanted to see how "mini" it really was ... it was m-i-n-i!😳😔😱 So in my usual style, I super-sized it and casted on 140 stitches instead.  I also wanted it rainbowed 🌈 coloured as well as a flattish bottom so, I started with a Turkish cast on with my Caron Black for four (4) rows. Then I used up the itty bitty bit of Knit Picks (KP) Cobblestone (a warm heather grey) for 1.5 rows; them merged an even ittier bittier bit of KP Dove Grey for 1 row; then I added four (4) rows each in the following colour way: Yuzawaya Cream, KP Clarity, KP Sky, KP Cornflower, KP Marina, & KP Tranquil.

Decreased 20 sts for a total of 120 sts (K3, (k2tog, k5) 19 times, k2tog, k2) with Red Heart (RH) Mint and knit 2.5 more rows with RH Mint & KP Mint.

Then knit four (4) rows with the Yuzawaya Neon Green.

Knit one (1) row in KP Alfalfa then decreased 20 sts for a total of 100 sts (K2, (k2tog, k4) 19 times, k2tog, k2); knit another three (3) rows.

Knit one (1) row in KP Custard, decrease another 8 sts for a total of 91 sts (K6, (k2tog, k10) 2 times, (k2tog, k11) 3 times, (k2tog, k10) 2 times, k2tog, k5); knit another two (2) rows.

Knit four (4) rows in RH Sunshine Yellow, KP Caution, KP Cotton Candy, KP Rouge, KP Red, & KP Wine.

Knit two (2) rows in Mystery Fuchsia, decrease 13 sts for a total of 78 sts: K3, (k2tog, k5) 12 times, k2tog, k2; knit two (2) rows.

Knit two (2) rows in KP Wine.

Using KP Red, decrease 13 sts for a total of 65 (K2, (k2tog, k4) 12 times, k2tog, k2); knit one (1) row.

Knit two (2) rows with KP Rouge, KP Cotton Candy, & KP Caution.

Using RH Sunshine Yellow, decrease 10 sts for a total of 55 sts (K3, (k2tog, k4) 3 times, (k2tog, k5) 3 times, (k2tog, k4) 3 times, k2tog, k2); knit one (1) row.

Knit two (2) rows in KP Custard, KP Alfafa, Knit Yuzawaya Neon Green, KP Tranquil

Decrease 9 sts for a total of 46 sts kK3, (k2tog, k4) 4 times, (k2tog, k4) 4 times, k2tog, k2)

Knit two (2) rows in KP Cornflower  KP Sky, KP Clarity,, Yuzawaya Cream.

Finish off the ears with Caron Black: knit two (2) rows

I took a step back at this point to see the overall shape of it ... It was ... ok; it was a little more triangular shaped than I had envisioned but, I thought perhaps if I put the eyes in, it would look better.  So, with some spare yarn, I basted the eyes in then proceeded to put in the left eye ... as I was filling it in, I decided that, well, I just didn't like the shape.  I loved the colouring but, the shape was just ... off.😳🤦‍♀️  So, I ripped it out and looked for another (actual) owl pattern and found this pattern: Stuffy Owl.  Since it was more made to be a (very) small owl, I needed to figure out a way to super size it as I wanted a much bigger owl.

So, I decided that I would blow it up nine (9!) times and cast on 135 sts where I mostly did 2 rows of colours following the pattern as follows:

ColorSide (WS/RS)Inc/Dec/StSt
BlackCast on
BlackWSP
CobbleStoneRSInc
CobbleStone/Dove GreyWSP
Dove Grey/CreamRSInc
ClarityWSP
ClarityRSInc
SkyWSP
SkyRSInc
CornflowerWSStSt
CornflowerRSStSt
MarinaWSStSt
MarinaRSStSt
MarinaWSStSt
TranquilRSStSt
TranquilWSStSt
RH MintRSStSt
RH MintWSStSt
RH MintRSStSt

However, when I got to the RH Mint colour, I realized that it was way too big and it would be really stout looking.  So, I ripped it out (again) and re-casted on 75 sts instead (only five (5) times wide).  I got back to the RH Mint colour and decided that it was still too wide!😱😭🤦‍♀️ So, I ripped it out again and re-casted on 45 sts (three (3) time wide); I finally hit my Goldilocks moment with this Emotional Support Owl (I almost needed an emotional support animal in making this Emotional Support Owl at this point!😱🤦‍♀️).  Here's how I did the colouring:

ColorSide (WS/RS)Inc/Dec/StSt
BlackCast on
BlackWSP
CobbleStoneRSInc
CobbleStoneWSP
Dove GreyRSInc
Dove GreyWSP
CreamRSInc
CreamWSP
CreamRSStSt
CreamWSStSt
ClarityRSInc
ClarityWSStSt
ClarityRSStSt
ClarityWSStSt
SkyRSStSt
SkyWSStSt
SkyRSStSt
SkyWSStSt
CornflowerRSStSt
CornflowerWSStSt
CornflowerRSStSt
CornflowerWSStSt
MarinaRSStSt
MarinaWSStSt
MarinaRSStSt
MarinaWSStSt
TranquilRSStSt
TranquilWSStSt
TranquilRSStSt
TranquilWSStSt
RH MintRSStSt
RH MintWSStSt
RH MintRSStSt
RH MintWSStSt
KP MintRSStSt
KP MintWSStSt
KP MintRSStSt
KP MintWSStSt
Neon GreenRSStSt
Neon GreenWSStSt
Neon GreenRSStSt
Neon GreenWSStSt
AlfalfaRSStSt
AlfalfaWSStSt
AlfalfaRSStSt
AlfalfaWSStSt
Sunshine YellowRSStSt
Sunshine YellowWSStSt
Sunshine YellowRSStSt
Sunshine YellowWSStSt
CustardRSStSt
CustardWSStSt
CustardRSStSt
CustardWSStSt
CautionRSDec
CautionWSStSt
CautionRSStSt
CautionWSStSt
Cotton CandyRSStSt
Cotton CandyWSStSt
Cotton CandyRSStSt
Cotton CandyWSStSt
RougeRSDec
RougeWSStSt
RougeRSStSt
RougeWSStSt
RedRSStSt
RedWSStSt
RedRSStSt
RedWSStSt
WineRSDec
WineWSP
WineRSStSt
WineWSStSt
BlackRSInc
BlackWSP
BlackRSStSt
BlackWSStSt
WineRSDec
WineWSP
WineRSStSt
WineWSStSt
RedRSInc
RedWSStSt
RedRSStSt
RedWSStSt
RougeRSStSt
RougeWSStSt
RougeRSStSt
RougeWSStSt
Cotton CandyRSInc
Cotton CandyWSStSt
Cotton CandyRSStSt
Cotton CandyWSStSt
CautionRSStSt
CautionWSStSt
CautionRSStSt
CautionWSStSt
CustardRSInc
CustardWSStSt
CustardRSStSt
CustardWSStSt
Sunshine YellowRSStSt
Sunshine YellowWSStSt
Sunshine YellowRSStSt
Sunshine YellowWSStSt
AlfalfaRSStSt
AlfalfaWSStSt
AlfalfaRSStSt
AlfalfaWSStSt
Neon GreenRSStSt
Neon GreenWSStSt
Neon GreenRSStSt
Neon GreenWSStSt
Neon GreenRSStSt
KP MintWSStSt
KP MintRSStSt
KP MintWSStSt
RH MintRSStSt
RH MintWSStSt
RH MintRSStSt
RH MintWSStSt
TranquilRSStSt
TranquilWSStSt
TranquilRSStSt
TranquilWSStSt
MarinaRSStSt
MarinaWSStSt
MarinaRSStSt
MarinaWSStSt
CornflowerRSStSt
CornflowerWSStSt
CornflowerRSStSt
CornflowerWSStSt
SkyRSStSt
SkyWSStSt
SkyRSDec
SkyWSP
ClarityRSStSt
ClarityWSStSt
ClarityRSDec
ClarityWSP
CreamRSStSt
CreamWSStSt
CreamRSDec
CreamWSP
Dove GreyRSStSt
CobbleStoneWSStSt
CobbleStoneRSDec
BlackWSP
BlackCast Off

It took me forever to finish the body as I wasn't sure how many rows of colour I needed to add then realizing that I need to also be sure that I lengthened the body to match the additional stitches I had added on so that it would be proportional.🙇‍♀️😶🤔 (There was definitely a bit of trial and error to be had when trying to supersize something and making sure the colours worked as well!) It was (finally) time to add in the face and seam it up.  Learning/doing the duplicate stitch took me a minute to figure it out but, it was ok (not my favorite thing to do but at least doable - it didn't take me long to finish the face, even with trying to calculate how to supersize that as well) but seaming! *ugh*😖😖😖😖😖😤😤😤😤😤 ... that took me all night to simply seam both sides!😱😭🤦‍♀️😤 I definitely DO NOT like seaming!😖‍😤 

Nevertheless, my Emotional Support Owl is done:

Now I'll have the support I need while I'm reading in bed:

UP-DATE: My owl is working out perfectly. 🥰🥳 I just finished reading a book last night and it was the perfect book support!🥰📖💕🙌🎉🎊👍