🧶 Crochet Chickens

🔹 Background

I came across a crocheted chicken plushie online and thought I could make one myself. My roommate already knew how to crochet, so I asked her to teach me, and she walked me through my very first chicken from start to finish. That first one was rough around the edges, but it worked.
From there I kept going, and ended up making around ten chickens, which I gave to friends and family. It became a small ongoing project that fits neatly into evenings and downtime.

🔸 Pattern & Materials

The pattern I used is Simple Stardew Valley Chicken, a free Ravelry pattern inspired by the Stardew Valley game. The shape is simple enough that it's easy to scale up or down. Pattern link on Ravelry.

For the yarn, I used Pingouin chenille throughout, and polyester fibre fill for stuffing. I picked two colours, a brown and a beige, and always make the body in one and the beak in the other. That way I always finish both balls at the same rate, and I never end up with a half-used ball that just sits around forever.

🔹 Making the chickens

Small chickens take me around 1 hour each, and the large ones about 4 hours. That's slower than most experienced crocheters would need, and it's on purpose: I still want to pay attention to every stitch to keep them as regular as possible. The muscle memory isn't quite there yet, so everything is still deliberate rather than automatic.
Doing several of them back to back has been the best way to get faster and cleaner without rushing. Each chicken looks a bit better than the last.

💬 Personal comment

Different from anything else I usually make: no CAD, no printer, just a hook and yarn. It ended up being what I do while watching a series in the evening, which is a nice way to make an evening feel less wasted.
The people I gave the chickens to were happy with them, which is really the only thing I was after.

🧰 Skills Used

Crochet, Amigurumi, Pattern reading, Handmade gifting

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