The official 2005 Young Cross-Stitcher of the Year is a Budgie!

[tielfan]

...is a budgie!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006000705,00.html

Look out, it's tweedy pie



Darn clever ... Spike pulls needle through cloth



By RICHARD WHITE

SPIKE the budgie is a clever little sew and sew — she can do STITCHING.
And the three-year-old bird is so darn good she has been voted Young Cross-Stitcher of the Year.

Spike spent months watching her owner Sandra Battye creating patterns before picking up a needle in her beak herself.

They are now birds of a feather and work on tweed and other fabrics together.



Stitch up ... creating a new pattern



Sandra, 31, who nursed Spike back to health after a food allergy almost killed her, said: “She would sit on my shoulder and watch me for hours.

“One day I just sat and didn’t stitch. It seemed to frustrate her. Then suddenly she picked up the needle in her beak and began cross-stitching herself. I was staggered. Now I can’t stop her.

“She still gets a bit confused at how the patterns work but she is very good at pulling and pushing the needle through the fabric.”



Sew easy ... Spike admires her work



Forensic scientist Sandra, from Stevenage, Herts, added: “Maybe this is Spike’s way of saying thanks to me for sorting out her allergy. She seems to genuinely enjoy cross-stitching and it ruffles her feathers if I stop.”

Spike’s needlework so impressed the experts she was named Young Cross-Stitcher of the Year 2005.

Cross-Stitcher magazine editor Cathy Lewis said: “We were amazed by the photos of Spike.”

[svolk]

VERY COOL! I'm sure that Spike can push and pull the needle through the fabric, but can she follow a pattern at all? Very interesting.

[jimpierce7]

isn't that cute?!!!

[Vega]

Awwww, how cute~!

I'm gonna have to let Harvey have a try at mine. Although he seems more interested in attacking the thread. Gypsy just wants to poke holes in the fabric...I'm always too concerned about one of them getting hurt by the needle though. lol mama's a worry-wart.

[AmandaB]

That is very cute, but there's no way I'm letting beaks or bums near my cross stitching!!!

[Irish]

The Sun--one of the UK's more upstanding, well-respected papers--NOT! I can believe that the little budgie tries stitching, but there's no way I'm ever going to believe it's done the stitching I see it photographed with. Still darn cute, though!

[tielfan]

The article DOES say that the budgie and the owner are working together. I can believe that the budgie could push the needle down through the cloth, then run underneath the frame and push it back up again, but the owner is probably positioning the needle in the right spot while Spike is running back and forth.

My youngest cockatiel, Shodu, wants to help with cross-stitching and quilting. To be more precise, she's wanted to play with the needle ever since she found out that that's the part I most want to keep her away from. Besides the sharpness factor, I don't know what kind of metal it's made of. I usually have to lock her in the cage if I want to do any needlework. Once in a while she'll get distracted enough for me to do a little while she's out, but as soon as she sees what I'm doing she flies over and grabs for the needle, sometimes successfully.

My oldest tiel, Geezer, is more of a cross-stitch deconstructionist. He's only interested in ripping out the threads, but he's a lot less persistent than Shodu.

[Tiki]

Hey, I'm lucky if I can get a needle threaded! Spike sure is a clever little guy!