Why Not Knit Yourself a Pigeon?

When it comes to adding whimsy to your knitting, nothing quite does it like knit amigurumi or otherwise knitting animals. And I haven’t seen anything (well, knitting patterns anyway) that made me smile recently like Bill the Pigeon did.

This pattern from Knit for Victory has a few stripes like a rock pigeon, but don’t be intimidated by his fancy looks. This pattern is actually really easy as it’s knot flat in pieces and sewn together when the knitting is done.

It calls for DK weight yarn, which makes a pigeon that’s about 12 cm/4.7 inches tall, perfect for perching in your hand. Of course you can also make it with worsted weight yarn to get a bigger bird if you want. And don’t feel the need to stick to nature’s color choices on this one. Use whatever little bits of yarn you have in your stash to make the stripes, or just leave them off if you’d rather.

The eyes are made with a bit of felt and black beads, but you can also embroider eyes on if you’re making this for a little kid.

The pattern is available on Etsy, or you can purchase a full kit to make your own knit pigeon direct from Knit for Victory. The kit includes the yarn, stuffing, felt, beads, thread and a Pigeon Club button. You’ll need to supply your own knitting needles and sewing needle but otherwise you’ll be all set to make your own cute knit pigeon. The kit comes in a cute box if you want to buy it to gift to someone else for them to make as well.

I hope you’ve been enjoying the funnier patterns I’ve been sharing this month. If you’re a designer who has some whimsical patterns, or there’s an off-the-wall design you’ve made and loved, you can share it in the comments or click on “suggest a DIY” at the top of the page and tell me all about it!

[Photo: Knit for Victory]

There are two schools of thought when it comes to instructional books about knitting. Either focus in one particular technique or kind of knitting (stranded knitting, say, or brioche) or try to cover a little bit of everything in a reference book that knitters will use throughout their careers.

The Knitting Book by Frederica Patmore and Dr. Vikki Haffenden aims to be the second kind. The subtitle is: a step-by-step guide to creating imaginative projects for the home and to wear. I’m not sure it does that, exactly, but it does include a quick look at a lot of different techniques and stitch patterns you might use in your projects.

A “guide to creating imaginative projects” sounds to me like it’s about design, but this book is not. There’s 1/3 of a page about altering patterns that only talks about how to add length to a sleeve and adjust where the increases go.

There’s nothing about measuring your body (the section on choosing a size in a pattern only suggests measuring a garment you already own), general garment construction, ease or stitch pattern multiples. The section on gauge (which is the last third of the page with choosing a garment size and altering patterns, discussed above) just says to knit a swatch, block and measure it to compare to a pattern, with no discussion on how you might use your swatch to design your own project or alter a pattern to meet your gauge.

If you ignore the subtitle, what you will find is a lot of information about different kinds of knitting and various techniques you might want to try on your projects. There are 20 cast ons and 15 bind off options, for instance, all discussed before you learn how to knit or purl. (Another quibble I have with this book is the order in which things are presented, but that’s relatively minor.)

You’ll find quick hits on increases and decreases, twists and cables, lace, colorwork, textured effects like fisherman’s rib and brioche, loops, mosaic knitting, double knitting, decorative stitches, shadow knitting, bias knitting, mitered squares, entrelac and more. There are tips for selvedge stitches, knitting with beads, adding buttonholes, picking up stitches and more.

A few patterns at the back give knitters a taste of some of the techniques included, but they’re not rated by skill level and the first one is a bias knit gradient scarf worked in six different colors of mohair, which isn’t a thing I’d wish on any beginner.

And I guess that’s maybe what my issue with the book is. I don’t know if it’s meant for beginners and it doesn’t seem to, either. I feel like this book would be overwhelming to new knitters and doesn’t really give you a place to start or all the information you might need to do projects well.

The variety of techniques included is fun, and there are also stitch patterns in the back you can use on your own projects, but again it doesn’t really provide any guidance for how to design your own projects so I don’t know how helpful all of that is.

I want to like books like this because having one reference that helps you with a lot of different things is great, I’m just not sure this is the one. If you can find it at your library or local book store and flip through it before buying, I think that would be a great idea to see if it’s a book that would be helpful for you.

And if you have this book and love it please let me know! I’m sure it’s good for someone I’m just not sure who.

About the book: 336 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by DK. Suggested retail price $40.

Have you read?