Knit Chicken Pattern

This FREE knitting pattern is highly detailed and makes up an adorable life-size jumbo chicken friend!

Make a lovely knit chicken!

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I’m so excited to share my latest knitting design with you!

I’ve raised and cared for hundreds and hundreds of chickens here on our farm.

So, it’s only fitting that this sweet friend should come into creation!

I spent an awful lot of time studying my own chickens while knitting and designing this big guy.

At completion, this chicken is roughly the same size as the chickens pecking around in my grass!

I hope you enjoy making this chicken. He was such a joy to put together! You can get your knitting pattern below!

Supplies Needed

• Worsted Weight (US 4) Yarn in varying colors
• Scrap Yarn to embroider eyes
• 4 mm (US 6) straight needles
• 4 mm (US 6) circular needles
• Wool or fiberfill of choice
• Stitch Markers
• Tapestry Needle
• Scissors

Before you start knitting, gather up all your supplies.

Worsted weight yarn is used for all the pieces in this project. Less than a skein of yarn in each color is needed, but you will want at least 120 yards per piece/color, so be sure you have enough!

Circular and straight needles are used — both in a 4mm sizing.

This chicken will be seamed together at the end. For this, you will want a tapestry needle, some scissors, and enough leftover yarn to sew up your chicken with matching colored yarn.

Of course, your fluffy friend will need to be stuffed! Wool is my fiberfill of choice.

I love using natural materials in my knitting, and wool provides a warmth, quality, weight, and long-lasting shape that polyester counterparts can’t compete with.

Clean raw wool (see left) can be found locally or online. Click Here to purchase the wool I have been using for years!

Step 1: Knit all the pieces to your chicken

First, you will need to knit the pieces for your chicken.

Once you’ve knit all your pieces together for your knit chicken, you may either follow along the assembly instructions within the pattern, or you can follow along below.

Step 2: Assemble your knit chicken’s tail end

Now it’s time for perhaps the most exciting part — the assembly!

Your life-size knit chicken is about to come to life!

First, we will begin sewing together the tail end of your knit chicken. You will want to use a colored yarn that matches the color of the top body piece. I used grey.

With right sides of each tail end (cast on edges) facing together, tie and secure one corner of the tail end of the top and bottom body pieces. Keep your knot close to the edge of the pieces.

Next, tie and secure the other corner of the tail, right at the edge of the pieces.

Lastly, tie and secure the middle of each piece, right in the center of each piece. Make a small knot right at the edge of the pieces.

The top body piece is wider than the bottom body piece. Be sure you are attaching the center of the top body piece to the center of the bottom body piece; do not try to flatten the pieces evenly before attaching.

Now, sew from one secured corner to the secured center. Pull the pieces from the corner to the center to ensure even stitching through the top and bottom pieces.

Repeat on the other side — sew from the other secured corner to the center of the tail. Again, pull the pieces flat to ensure even stitching. The “fluffy” cast on edge of the tail should be completely sewed together.

Next, tie a knot on the edge of the top and bottom body piece where the stitch markers were placed. Repeat on the opposite end.

Sew along the sides from the cast on edge of the tail to where your stitch markers were placed.

From the stitch markers to the next corner, stretch the top and bottom pieces so they lay against each other evenly. Sew across the edge.

Step 3: Sew the bottom of your knit chicken’s tummy and chest

Fold the bind off edge of the top body piece in half. Sew from the folded edge to the first corner, as shown in right photo. You may jump to the second photo on page 18 in your printable pattern to see this edge completed if you need more help understanding which edge to sew.

Continue sewing the top body piece to the bottom piece, leaving an opening to turn right side out and to stuff with wool.

Turn the piece right side out.

Stuff the body of the knit chicken with wool, and sew the opening closed. There are several ways you can go about sewing the opening closed, including a mattress stitch, or a vertical invisible seam.

Here’s a front view of the chicken body. Notice the front top half of the body, as completed in the second step on page 17 in your printable pattern.

Step 4: Your knit chicken’s head and features

Next we will start to work on the head. First, sew the tiny hole at the top of the head closed.

Next, stuff the head with wool and attach it to the body. Sew around the head two times with a colored yarn that matches the color of the head. (I used brown.)

Once you have secured the head to the body, use a french knot to tie off your yarn. Then, to conceal your tail end of yarn without compromising its strength by snipping it short, pull your remaining yarn deeply through the chicken’s body.

Pull your needle and yarn all the way through so that the needle comes off the yarn and the yarn is sticking out the other side.

Then, pull the knitted material around the tail end of the yarn, as depicted in the photo to the right. This will conceal the tail end of yarn inside the chicken’s body.

If you have not already done so, Fold the wattles in half, with the knitted side facing OUT. Sew a seam across the top and then down the back of the wattles.

Attach the beak about halfway down the chicken’s head. Then attach the wattles by the back seam right under the beak.

Following the rounded edge, sew the comb to the top of the chicken’s head.

Using some scrap yarn and your tapestry needle, sew some little eyes onto your chicken. Always weave in your tail ends of yarn as shown on page 19 in your written pattern.

Step 5: Sew on your chicken’s knitted wings

Using the curve towards your chicken’s tummy as a guide, line up the chicken’s wing onto the body. The cast on edge should be facing toward’s the chicken’s front, and the cast off edge should be facing towards the chicken’s tail.

Attach the wing to the body by sewing a straight line down the cast on edge with a yarn that matches the wing color. I used purple.

Step 6: Knit Chicken feet!

To assemble the legs and feet, stuff the leg and center foot/toe with wool. Lightly stuff the 4 additional toes, and sew two toes onto each leg piece — one on either side of the center toe.

Play around with spacing of the legs on the body. I placed my legs centered evenly on the bottom of the body, right where the body rounds out in the center. Sew around the legs 2 – 3 times to create a strong bond — especially if your chicken will be played with by children. And here’s my obligatory disclaimer about how knit toys should only be played with under the supervision of an adult.

Step 7: Add some fluffy tail feathers for your knit chicken

Layer your tail feathers onto the tail of the chicken. You should sew each tail feather onto the bird using a yarn that matches the color of that particular tail feather. The more tail feathers you have made, the closer together they should be spaced.

In case you missed it…

In case you missed it, you can get your FREE photographed knitting pattern HERE:

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Looking for more free knitting patterns? Check out my other designs below.

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Have a lovely day knitting!