The 7th pat­tern in the 12 Days of Wood­land Crea­tures (and Their Favourite Things) project!

It’s been a very busy week (hence the delay in post­ing this pat­tern, so sor­ry about that!). I’m fran­ti­cal­ly mak­ing as much stuff as pos­si­ble for my booth at a show this week­end (more below!!), at the same time prepar­ing for a research pre­sen­ta­tion and try­ing to meet oth­er dead­lines… *deep breath* so I thought a bee pat­tern would be a per­fect rep­re­sen­ta­tion of this busyness!

He’s very quick to make. The body con­sists of only 6 rows of 6 stitch­es around. But because of the colour change and his tiny size it can be a lit­tle tricky. The good thing is that because it’s such a small and quick pat­tern even if one has to start over it’s not such a big deal. It took me a cou­ple of tries to get the join­ing seam neat and tight, so don’t be dis­cour­aged if your first try does­n’t go as smooth­ly as you’d like, the bee will come along with just a bit of prac­tice :) Those tiny wings are pret­ty sweet, if I do say so myself.

I used:

Worsted weight yarn in yel­low and black

Sport weight yarn in pale blue

3.5 mm hook (for body)

2.25mm hook (for wings — you can prob­a­bly use a hook size from 2mm to 2.5mm, it does­n’t have to be exact)

2 small seed beads for eyes

Nee­dle and thread for sewing and embroidering

Pink thread for embroi­der­ing mouth

Pat­tern:

Body (use 3.5mm hook)

Row 1: with yel­low, 6 sc in mag­ic ring, sl st in first sc to join.

Row 2: ch 1, 1 sc in each sc around, sl st in first sc to join, change to black yarn, car­ry yel­low yarn up as you go.

Row 3: repeat row 2 with black, change to yel­low, car­ry black yarn up as you go.

Row 4: repeat row 2 with yel­low, change to black, car­ry yel­low up as you go.

Row 5: repeat row 2 with black, change to yel­low, fas­ten off black.

Stuff body with some scrap yarn.

Row 6: ch 1, *2 sc tog over next 2 sc*, repeat from * to * two more times, fas­ten off, leave a 6″ tail.

Weave yarn tail through the remain­ing 3 sc, pull tight, fas­ten off, weave in end.

Tiny wings (make 2, use 2.25mm hook)

With pale blue, 4 sc in mag­ic ring, ch 2, 2 dc tog in mag­ic ring and in first sc made in ring, fas­ten off, leave a 6″ tail.

Secure­ly tie off the loose end of the mag­ic ring, weave in and cut end.

Assem­bly

Tie both wings to one stitch at the top of body.

Sew on eyes and embroi­der mouth, hid­ing thread ends and knots in the black stripes at the back of the body.

And buzzzz!

Here’s the bee with my fin­gers hold­ing it as size reference.

AND if you’re in Toron­to or near­by, and look­ing for fun things to do on the week­end, come by the Week­end Ven­dor’s Mar­ket! It’s at 1630 Dun­das Street West.

I have a booth in the mar­ket tomor­row. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a booth so I want­ed to make some­thing new. And guess what, it’s wood­land themed! :D

Here are my fan­cy stealthy friends: city ban­dit, nin­ja cat, gar­den rab­bit, and white squir­rel (not pic­ture, because, stealth!)

 

And an assort­ment of mush­room and acorn pins and magnets.

 

And as you may rec­og­nize, owls and hedge­hogs too!

 

Plus! Mike has also made a series of delight­ful greet­ing cards! Would love to see you if you’re in the neigh­bour­hood! :D

Nuit Blanche is also hap­pen­ing tomor­row evening so it’s a good time to come explor­ing in the city!

Wish­ing you a fab­u­lous week­end of rest and fun!