Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Definitely still feeling springy so I went in search of a pattern for something fairly small, colourful and fun to make.  I have always wanted to have a cottage with a little plot of land somewhere in the rolling countryside, with a vegetable patch, chickens clucking about the yard and peace and tranquility. Unfortunately, in reality, I live in a town about quarter of a mile from the M62, I can dream!

Lately I have also had a fascination with old vintage lacy crochet patterns, you know, the little squares of super fine, precise lace that you would need a microscope to be able to make. I am in awe of people that have such good eyesight they are able to make these things, some of them are really quite wonderful. But my appalling eyesight was not going to stop me from having a go - OK so I wouldn't be able to use a half mm hook and fine lace cotton, but I can still follow a pattern. So I had short-listed the patterns to several 2D flowery panels when I stumbled upon this rooster!

Perfect, just what I was looking for.

I really didn't want to make him all in one colour, I had visions of something to hang in my kitchen that would be nice and cheerful, so it would need a fair amount of improvisation.

The pattern said he would be about two and a half inches across when finished, yes, mine is considerably larger than that, about ten inches. So I sat beavering away this morning trying to work out where to make the colour changes and which colours to use. Isn't the internet wonderful for inspiration like that? So many beautiful pictures of roosters:

 

 

I knew that I really wanted mine to have a big bright tail, even if the body would just be plain (it was far too difficult to work out how to change the colours on the body, but if I do make another one I will have a better idea next time).

The pattern  is well written, perhaps not great for a beginner as there as some bits which are a bit confusing but with a bit of perseverence and trial and error I'm sure most people who know their way around a crochet hook could work it out.

I got there in the end, lots of ends sewn in neatly and stood back to admire my handiwork:

 

Hmmm. This chap would definitely need some blocking and not just a light steam with the iron, some heavy duty pinning and PVA glue treatment.

40 minutes later, with an old tea-towel on the ironing board I had him pinned and every loop in place:

So many pins! Top tip, it's worth having a separate pin cushion and pins for blocking as they are horrible to use for anything else once they have been painted with glue.

So there I go merrily painting my rooster with glue until I had nearly finished when I realised I had pinned and painted the wrong side! Too late to worry about that now, it would either look awful or failing that, the back was pretty neat anyway and only I (and now you) would know about it :)

Turns out that the glue soaked right in and it really didn't matter, phew.

I love him! 

I have tried stringing him up with a hanging loop but he is just too big and weighty for that so i need to find him a frame. For now he can sit between a couple of heavy books on the shelf to keep him nice and flat. Well worth the effort, the endless counting, pinning and ruining a tea-towel for, I think :)