As there are a lot of bird spotters among my friends and family, I’ve had quite some appeals for knitted birds and I’ve taken up the venture of cloning different species in a knitted collection. Nowadays, the kids in my family actually collect these birds and I’m always delighted when they can actually spot and identify a species without even leaving the house!

Australian birds are some of the most marvelous and multicolored birds on the planet in an abundant assortment of over 800 species!
So, this Christmas, paint your pine with a rainbow of down-under down!

There are six beautiful Australian birds included in this pattern: the splendid fairy-wren, Gouldian finch, pink robin, rainbow bee-eater, rainbow lorikeet and the azure kingfisher.

Each bird is a small, easy project, that can be finished in an evening or so and is a great project to use up any scraps you have lying around.
These 7 to 10 cm birds were knitted flat on 2 mm double pointed needles (UK 14, US 0) with some intarsia color work. The tiny beaks were knitted on 1 mm dpn, in lace gauge yarn (or can be made in felt). It all can be done in a heavier yarn on thicker needles and will turn out somewhat larger.

These birds make fun hanging ornaments for your Christmas tree!
Happy holidays, Viv