These patterns were developed after a local wildlife rehab center asked if anyone in the area was able to knit or crochet realistic birds that they could use as companions for their orphan fledglings.

Included are patterns for adult and fledgling American Robins, which are common to the whole of the USA, and at various times found throughout the North American continent. To many people in colder climates their arrival is the first hint that spring is coming.

They are knitted back and forth in rows, with the sides being joined as the front is knitted, though there is an option to knit the front separately and sew it to the back. There is a small amount of stranded knitting for the adult robin’s throat. They are a bit fiddly to make, with small numbers of stitches on double point needles, but an advanced intermediate knitter should be fine with them.

Yarn: Fingering weight yarn. Use any yarn, but yarn that includes at least 50% wool will hold the shape better.

Adult Robin
Dark gray 11 yds (10 m)
Medium gray 34 yds (31 m)
White 4 yds (3.7 m)
Orange 8 yds (7.3 m)
Black ½ yd/m
Beige ½ yd/m

Fledgling Robin
Dark gray 7 yds (6.4 m)
Medium gray 23 yds (21 m)
White 4 yds (3.7 m)
Orange with black speckles 10 yds (9 m)
Black ½ yd/m
Beige ½ yd/m

It is difficult to find orange yarn with black speckles. There are 3 other options.
a. Duplicate stitch the black speckles onto the orange after the knitting is finished.
b. Hand dye speckles onto the yarn. This is fun to do and instructions are given for using black food coloring to add the speckles.
c. If you like to improvise, add some speckles using stranded colorwork technique.