I couldn’t wait to feature my flock of Ozark Doorstop Hens. I have been working on them for two months. Never taking short cuts and doing much of my stitching by hand, they are at last ready for adoption. I have even named them at the suggestion of The Brycer, who picked his own wools for his personally-made hen last Christmas. He told me that before he got home, he had named his hen Henny Penny and suggested that I offer them for adoption on line, complete with names, as he found it was like taking home a new pet. He loves his and I hope my readers will find one that they enjoy as much.
I even made smaller ones, more like a Batam version of the original. I got this pattern when I was in the Ozarks over forty years ago. I had gone to visit close friends of the family, as a girlfriend and I took a trip to Kansas to visit her brother.
I have this thing about looking at a map and seeing that only a half inch further, and there is a yet another adventure waiting! It was many hours of travel in my VW convertible in the hot summer, with my car heater on overdrive and unable to be shut off! The Ozark hen pattern was worth the trip however!! I have never seen another one like it.
The tail is beautifully tufted and I found that making them in velvet or wool made them an even richer than the original calico version.This time I am offering them in a variety of beautiful wools.
They are much simpler than real hens and safer than roosters. Trust me on this one, for we have raised our own, and though I love them, they are rather messy and we had to be on the watch for predators always! I have a friend that has a flock of her own, that now have to be cooped up due to the local fox! Our rooster was even more difficult than our hens. Though beautiful, he was a bird of little brain, attacking the only family he knew and that had raised him by hand. I had to use a broom to keep myself safe from his spurs. A neighbor dog was less threatened by him and so Chuck met his end prematurely when he tried to take on the neighbor dog. We were sad but safer to be sure!
Do go to Etsy and check out their names and stories. Each has their own Hatch Certificate, as each took on a life of its own in the making. Wools are all different and so no two are alike and each comes with an authentic Vermont rock tucked inside to weight it down! Hopefully you will find one that will look lovely roosted in your house.
