I went down to needles sizes to get a denser fabric. Many of the knitted ESCs I’d seen were delightfully squishy, but the fabric was loose enough that I could see the stuffing and I wanted to avoid that. I’ve very happy with the size 5 version.

This was a present for my oldest son’s 14th birthday. It knits of very quickly and is easier to follow the second time.

The pattern isn’t difficult to follow, but pay close attention. I’m used to row by row patterns, and this one is more in steps with multiple rows per step. I misread/misunderstood the end of step one and was short a couple of rows on my first tail feather section. I tossed it and started over, and all went well the second time. Once I understood the whole pattern and construction, it was easier to read.

As an experienced knitter, I found this quite easy (once I took the time to digest it). As a novice, I would likely have struggled. I’ll admit, I tend to jump right into patterns, and don’t usually read them top to bottom before starting (even though I know I should).