The Nestlings

This all started with an assignment on owls for HLBOE on Ravelry. The original pattern is here:
http://www.geocities.com/crochetrat/owlfridgie.html
and that is what I used to create the largest nestling.

However, I wanted to be able to send this owl overseas; and since that can be expensive, I wanted something smaller than the original nestling. So I tried adapting the spell, er, instructions. That resulted in the middle nestling. (Spell, er, instructions follow.) The smallest nestling, who will live in my kitchen, was created using a double strand of Tofuties black-and-white fingering weight sock yarn. He was a bit fiddly because of the doubled yarn. The other nestlings were created with Red Heart Fall colorway. I changed from magnetic tape to round magnets on the back - they stick better. I use a cool temp glue gun to attach eyes and magnets.

First ... I use the Magic Circle to start projects which call for a starting ring. You'll find instructions here:
http://crochetme.com/Dec_Jan_0405/reads_round.html
My most favorite thing about this? You NEVER have to squish those last few stitches into a circle that isn't quite big enough. You just make the required number of stitches over your magic circle, pull the tail and hey! the starting ring is *exactly* the right size. Every time.

Using your magic circle, and using a size F hook with worsted weight yarn, chain 3, then make 19 dc into the circle. Pull the circle tight. Weave the tail in later. Slip stitch into the top of the chain 3.

Following the original directions, but substituting dc for tc and chain 3 for chain 4, create the owl's head & ears. If your circle tail was long, you don't need to leave a long tail here. If your circle tail is short, tho, cut this tail longer. You'll need one or the other to sew the face halves together when you finish.

Following the original directions again, make the tail, again using dc instead of tc and ch 3 instead of ch 4.

Finishing: Weave in the yarn ends from the tail. Using either the circle tail or the face tail, whichever is longer, on the back of the owl, weave over to the bottom of the split between the two face halves. Weave the sides of the two chain 4's together, then weave back down to the starting circle of dc's and bury the tail. Cut the tail and weave in the other tail.

Glue on a magnet and wiggle eyes. I use twigs from my yard for the owls to 'sit' on. The original spell, er, pattern, calls for chenille. I like the twigs better - they look more natural and each owl gets their own unique look.

Snowy Owls

The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The Snowy Owl is a large, diurnal white Owl that has a rounded head, yellow eyes and black bill. The feet are heavily feathered. A distinctive white Owl, their overall plumage is variably barred or speckled with thin, black, horizontal bars or spots. Females and juveniles are more heavily marked than males - adult males may be almost pure white, although they have up to three tail bands. Adult females are distinctly barred throughout, and have from four to six tail bands. Immatures are very heavily barred throughout, and dark spotting may co-dominate or dominate the overall plumage. Intensity of dark spotting varies with the sex of the immatures, females being the darkest. Juveniles are uniformly brown with scattered white tips of down. Snowy Owls are active during the daytime, from dawn to dusk. They have a direct, strong, and steady flight with deliberate, powerful down strokes and quick upstrokes. They make short flights, close to the ground, from perch to perch, and usually perches on the ground or a low post. During hot weather, they can thermoregulate by panting and spreading their wings. Snowy Owls are very aggressive when defending their nest. The Snowy Owl is a bird of Arctic tundra or open grasslands and fields. They rarely venture into forested areas. During southward movements they appear along lake shores, marine coastlines, marshes, and even roost on buildings in cities and towns. In the Arctic, they normally roost on pingaluks (rises in the tundra) and breed from low valley floors up to mountain slopes and plateaus over 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) in elevation. When wintering in the Arctic, they frequent wind-swept tundra with little snow or ice accumulation. At more southern latitudes they typically frequents agricultural areas.

Information found at: http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Bubo&species=scandiacus

HLBOE extra credit assignment