The Best-Selling Crochet Chicken - Mabel

Whether or not you have heard about the Best-Selling Crochet Chicken, Mabel, designed by Oak & Marlow, you will want to check out this post!

I’m Candace of T&C Crafters, and I love sharing tips and tricks with other crocheters about how to be successful at crochet markets. Keep reading for some great new tips I have to share!

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I’m not sure what the fascination is with chunky chickens, but the Mabel Chicken pattern by Oak and Marlow has become an absolute best-seller this past year for many crochet market makers. Since I started making them, I have nearly sold out at every show I have done. These are my number one best-seller, so I wanted to take time to share with you all that I’ve learned about this awesome pattern.

The Original Mabel Chicken

The original Mabel Chicken pattern by Oak and Marlow is a super easy and quick pattern that creates a little chunky chicken body. The pattern is worked in the round with blanket-style yarn, so it works up in just a few rounds. After making a few chicken bodies, it is easy to commit the pattern to memory and make them on repeat all day long!

Since I sell my chickens for markets, I like to make all the bodies at once and then stuff them all when I am closer to my show date. This assembly-line style speeds up my process and allows me to make a lot of inventory without using up a ton of space for my finished chickens.

Once I get closer to my show dates, I stuff all the chickens and sew them up. Then, I go back and crochet the combs right on the top of their heads. After that, I sew on all their beaks and glue on felt eyes. I love the feeling of taking a pile of crocheted flat pieces and turning them into a whole flock of little chickens!

What Materials Do You Need to Make Mabel Chickens?

To make the standard Mabel chicken, as well as most of the modifications to the pattern, you will need the following materials:

Chunky Weight 6 Plush Yarn – I typically use Bernat Blanket yarn (Check out my list of colors below!)
Crochet Hook – The pattern calls for an 8 mm crochet hook. I use my 6.5 mm crochet hook because that works best with my personal tension.
Stuffing – I use Polyester Fiberfil.
Yarn Needle
Materials for Eye Embellishments – I use felt eyes for my chickens. You could also use safety eyes or sew eyes on using black yarn.

One of the most fun parts about making these chickens for me is picking out the colorways for the yarn I use. I feel silly going down the yarn aisle thinking, “what colors would make good chickens?” However, I have found several different colorways that have been selling really well and catching a lot of attention. Here are some of my absolute favorites:

Classic White – Bernat Blanket Yarn in Whipped Cream or Big Twist Plush in White
Ivory – Bernat Blanket Yarn in Vintage White or Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn in Vanilla
Tan – Bernat Blanket Yarn in Almond or Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn in Baby Sand
White and Black Tweed – Bernat Blanket Tweeds Yarn in Ivory Tweed
Brown Tweed – Bernat Blanket Tweeds Yarn in Sandy Tweed
Black Speckle – Bernat Blanket Speckle Yarn in Typewriter
Tan Speckle – Bernat Blanket Speckle Yarn in Cream
Blue Speckle – Bernat Blanket Speckle Yarn in Squall
Blue – Bernat Blanket Yarn in Navy or Country Blue

Mama Mabel and Babies

After releasing the original Mabel Chicken pattern, Oak & Marlow followed up with an equally adorable mama and baby pattern! This is a paid pattern that creates a significantly larger mama version of the Mabel chicken, as well as a super small chick version. Both of these pattern work up easily just like the original.

I love how much of an attention-grabber the Mama Mabel chicken is for selling at shows! Being that she is significantly larger than the other chickens, she is great to place at eye-level to catch customers’ attention. I normally try to have one or two of these in stock for each of my shows, and I typically sell them by the end of my show.

The baby chicks from this pattern are super adorable. They work up really quickly with just a tiny little bit of leftover yarn from the regular chickens. For these little cuties, I use up a little bit of my faux fur yarn to give them a fuzzy head and I use black yarn for their eyes instead of felt eyes since they are so little.

When I tried to sell the baby chicks by themselves, they caught a lot of attention but didn’t sell as fast as the standard Mabel chickens. However, when I started selling them as a set of three in a little nest, they were super popular! You can find the nest pattern linked below! One of my customers referred to them as “chicken nuggets,” and I absolutely fell in love with that name for them!

Roosters

The rooster modification for Mabel is a free mod that is available on Oak & Marlow’s blog. This modification features directions on how to add tail feathers and a wattle, as well as modify the comb on the head. You can either use the free modification on the blog in conjunction with the original Mabel pattern, or you can purchase the Marvin the Rooster pattern!

I made up a sampling of roosters for one of my shows last year, and they all sold that day. I haven’t gotten a chance to re-stock them yet, but I plan on making more of these for my big shows later this fall. One suggestion I got from a customer was to make the roosters just a little bigger than the regular chickens. Since “the customer’s always right,” I’m going to try to stuff mine just a bit fuller or maybe add one extra round to the body when I make them so they give off that effect.

Mama Mabel with Eggs

The Mama Mabel with eggs pattern is another modification that was released on Oak & Marlow’s blog. This is by far my favorite modification of Mabel. The Mama Mabel pattern is adapted to create a little pouch in the belly that can hold about three eggs or three little babies.

This pattern is pretty easy to work up, just like the regular Mama Mabel pattern. All the directions on the blog are really clear about how to add the pouch inside. I honestly can’t make these sets fast enough! I have sold out of them at every show I have taken them too! There is just something about pulling eggs out of a chicken that people can’t seem to resist!

The egg pattern that goes with the modified Mama Mabel pattern is a free pattern that is featured in the modification. Not only is this egg pattern perfect for filling the Mama Mabels, but it also makes the most adorable eggs for play sets or decor. I love making these little eggs in different colors to fill a nest or just sit out for decoration.

Nest

All sizes of the Mabel chickens have nests to call home! You can find free patterns for nests for the original Mabel, Mama Mabel, and even Mini Mabel on Oak & Marlow’s blog! I love making the Mabel-size nests and filling them with three little eggs or three baby chicks. You can also purchase a bundle of all three nest patterns.

These nests would make fantastic add-on options if you sell your items online. If you sell at shows, you can make a few up to offer as an additional add-on for customers that show interest in the chickens.

Hatching Egg

The most recent release from Oak & Marlow is a hatching egg pattern for Mini Mabel. This pattern really steps the cuteness factor up a level! You can find the free pattern for the hatching egg on Oak & Marlow’s blog. It works up really easily and quickly, and makes for a fun little surprise when paired with the adorable baby chick!

You can also make a hatching egg to put inside the Mama Mabel modification. How cute of a set would that be?

I am definitely going to be making a bunch of these sets for my upcoming shows. I think they will be great hits with kids and adults alike!

Crochet Chicken Key Chains

When I saw how popular the Mabel chickens were at my shows, I decided to make up some key chain versions of them using worsted weight yarn. I simply made the original Mabel chicken pattern with worsted weight yarn and a 4 mm crochet hook. Just like the baby chicks, I used black yarn to embroider the eyes.

When I was finished making the super mini version of the chicken, I just added it to a chain on a split ring key chain. These have been great sellers for me and are great gifts for older chicken lovers. I love making them in white tweed, tan, and brown.

Marketing Tips for Selling Mabel Chickens

I have seen some absolutely adorable ways that people have displayed their Mabel chickens. For some time, Hobby Lobby sold a cute little wooden shelf that looked like a house and made a great display for these chickens. Some makers have made their own versions of this cute little wooden display as well. I think that any sort of shelving display with a rustic look would be a great choice for displaying your chickens.

I have been using a galvanized tiered tray that I originally purchased back in 2015 for my wedding. While I don’t believe the same version is still available, this galvanized tiered tray from Amazon is pretty similar.

I have also seen a lot of the Mabel chickens stacked up in wooden crates. I think as long as you have a rustic feel to go along with your display, there are lots of great ways to display your variety of Mabel chickens at your next show!

Mabel Merchandise

Oak & Marlow has recently released some super adorable Mabel merchandise that goes great with these best-selling chickens! On her website and Etsy shop, you can now find adorable adoption certificates and stickers that feature the cutest little sketch of the Mabel chicken.

Mabel Stickers

You can find the Mabel stickers on Etsy or Oak & Marlow’s website.

Emotional Support Chicken Printable Kits

You can find the Emotional Support Chicken Printable Kit on Etsy or Oak & Marlow’s website.

Mabel Chicken Adoption Printable Kits

You can find the Mabel Chicken Adoption Printable Kit on Etsy or Oak & Marlow’s website. These would be absolutely perfect for creating an adoption station at markets!!

Need More Help with Crochet Markets?

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The Best-Selling Crochet Chicken – Mabel