Cedar Waxwing Coaster

'Bout time I got back to my coasters, huh? I always wanted to do a set of four unique coasters, but I ended up getting sidetracked after the magpie. But now I've returned to finish off the set! I chose to do a Cedar Waxwing for the third pattern.

I really love cedar waxwings! (I think I say that for every bird pattern I've made though, haha). At my parents' place, there's a mountain ash right outside the kitchen window. During the summer we always get a big flock of waxwings that descend on it and devour the berries. And if there's any left in the winter, we get some bohemian waxwings too! I chose the cedar over bohemian waxwing for this pattern because I think the yellow underbelly is nicer for a coaster than the bohemian's grey underbelly.

You can buy a PDF copy of this pattern in a little ebook here on Ravelry! The book contains eight patterns: four coasters (including this one) and four amigurumi keychains. It's the exact same pattern as you'll see here, but I bundled them up for $5 CAD to provide an easier-to-print PDF or for if you wanted to show me some support.

Here's some quick guff on the ways you can use my pattern:

• do not redistribute the pattern - just link to this page
• your results are free for personal use - but I ask that you don't sell your finished product. just hand them out as gifts, ok? your friends will love you for it

With that out of the way, on to the pattern!

Materials

• Size H (5 mm) Crochet Hook
• Worsted Weight Yarn
  • I used Red Heart Super Saver in:
    • Grey Heather
    • Warm Brown
    • Cornmeal
    • Soft White
    • Cherry Red
    • Black
• Yarn Needle

Abbreviations

• ch – chain
• sc – single crochet
• hdc – half double crochet
• inc – two single crochet in same stitch
• sc2tog – single crochet two together
• ss – slip stitch
• cc – colour change

Techniques

I have a useful guide on all the different techniques I use when I make amigurumi. Obviously, you should stick with whatever techniques you are comfortable with when making amigurumi, but I still recommend checking it out if you wanna get a result as close to mine as possible!

This pattern is worked in a spiral. Therefore, there are no joins at the end of rounds, except for at the very end.

Body/Coaster

Starting in grey (Red Heart Super Saver Grey Heather).

Rnd 1: in magic circle, sc, cc to brown, sc 3, cc to yellow, sc 2. cc to grey on last sc. (6 sc)
Rnd 2: inc, cc to brown, inc three times, cc to yellow, inc twice. cc to grey on last sc. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: sc, inc, cc to brown, (sc, inc) three times, cc to yellow, (sc, inc) twice. cc to grey on last sc. (18 sc)
Rnd 4: sc 2, cc to white, (sc, cc to brown, sc) in next stitch – this creates an increase with a white and brown sc in it. (sc 2, inc) three times, cc to yellow, (sc 2, inc) twice. cc to red on last sc. (24 sc)
Rnd 5: sc 2, cc to white, sc, cc to brown, inc, (sc 3, inc) three times, cc to yellow, (sc 3, inc) twice. cc to black on last sc. (30 sc)
Rnd 6: sc 2, cc to white, sc, cc to brown, sc, inc, (sc 4, inc) three times, cc to yellow, (sc 4, inc) twice. cc to black on last sc. (36 sc)
Rnd 7: sc 2, cc to white, sc, cc to brown, sc 2, inc, (sc 5, inc) three times, cc to yellow, (sc 5, inc) twice. ss to first and fasten off.

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Tail

Mark 2 stitches into the yellow and the second black stitch. Watch out for the ss, as it can look like a stitch. Like so:

Row 1: Attach white yarn to the yellow stitch. sc in this same stitch. sc in next, cc to grey, sc 2. (4 sc)
Row 2: ch 1, turn. sc 2, cc to white, sc 2. (4 sc)
Row 3: ch 1, turn. sc2tog, cc to grey, sc 2. (3 sc)
Row 4: ch 1, turn. sc2tog, cc to white. sc. (2 sc)
Row 5: ch 1, turn. sc, cc to grey, sc. (2 sc)
Row 6: ch 1, turn. sc, cc to white, sc. (2 sc)
Row 7: yarn over with yellow, then ch 1, turn. sc2tog. Fasten off and hide the tails.

Head

Mark the 5^th stitch from the yellow and then the 7^th stitch from that point. This will create a span of 8 stitches over which we’ll work the head. Like so:

Also, because there will eventually be a stripe of colour in the middle of the face, you might find it useful to use both ends of you yarn skeins for either portion.

Row 1: attach brown yarn to the point closest to the belly. This will make you work in the opposite direction of the body. sc in this same point then sc 7. (8 sc)
Row 2: ch 1, turn. sc2tog, sc, cc to black, sc, cc to white, sc, cc to brown, sc, sc2tog. (6 sc)
Row 3: ch 1, turn. sc 2, cc to white, sc, cc to black, sc, cc to brown, sc 2. (6 sc)
Row 4: ch 1, turn. sc2tog, cc to black, sc, cc to white, sc, sc, cc to brown, sc2tog. (4 sc)
Row 5: ch 1, turn. sc, cc to black, sc2tog, cc to brown, sc.

Don’t fasten off yet! We’ll be creating a crest by chaining and then working some stitches into the chain, back towards the head.

ch 3, sc in 2^nd ch from hook.. Now ss into the side of the 3^rd row, or somewhere close to this point. Here’s what that looks like:

Fasten off. Leave a bit of tail, which we’ll use to close up the gap between the crest and head.

Beak

Attack black yarn to the black stitch of the face. hdc in this stitch. Fasten off. Hide the tail along the top of the beak and into the head.

And you're done!

I hope you enjoyed making your waxwing coaster! If you'd like to make the other coasters in the set, take a look at more bird-themed coasters here!