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Cornelius, Mr. Chicken Waffle

Meet Cornelius, Mr. Chicken-Waffle
Ever heard of a chicken waffle?  If not check out this definition from Wikipedia:

The best known chicken and waffle pairing comes from the American soul food tradition and uses fried chicken. The waffle is served much as it would be at breakfast time, with condiments such as butter and syrup. This unusual combination of foods is beloved by many people who are influenced by traditions of soul food passed down from past generations of their families.

My sons and their wives got together a couple of years ago in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina where they had a meal at one of the local chicken waffle restaurants.  This is not a dish found in most Northern U.S. cities so it was a treat.  (I have to say this combination does not whet my appetite, but then I've never had it either.)   To commemorate the meal one set of "kids" took home a chicken waffle potholder, featured above, and named the character Cornelius.  So this story starts with the photo of Cornelius attached to the following e-mail:

Hi Ma,

M's infatuation with Mr. Chicken-waffle continues.  I think a 3 D version of him could be awesome!  I see it like a wheel of cheese with feet on the bottom and a wattle on top and with the waffle pattern on both sides of the cheese wheel shape.  Wings on the side and tail on the back of the cheese wheel. Beak opposite the tail. Is this possible to knit?

Well what can I say?  This request is to make something for my first and only grand daughter. The directions given here by my son are so detailed how could I possibly not understand what he wants. I do have the skill, yarn and time to do it. And my grown son thinks it would be awesome if I could manage a 3D version of Cornelius.  So without a moment's hesitation I said, yes.

But then I'm me.  The first step is to make what is being described as the wheel of cheese, I'll call it a circle.  Knitting a circle is something done so many times for the food made in the past there's no need to locate a pattern.  I remember the waffle part of this enterprise to be brown so spend an evening making a dark brown circle, starting off on DPNs and then moving to a circular needle.  As this dark circle is being cast off it occurs to me to look at the picture again.  It is then I realize the waffle is a tan colour not a dark brown.  But I don't get upset because there's no point.  A rational person would first look at the picture to determine the colour, locate the right yarn and then knit.  I do it in exactly the opposite sequence.  These types of minor setbacks are a part of my life so I roll with the flow and spend no time (well not much) belittling myself.   

I merely rip out the dark brown and start again using the tan colour left over from the doomed tan and green baby blanket.  A second circle is knit; the dark yarn is used to embroider the dark wedges on the circles.  The project is back on track.

The wattle it was described in the request is really a comb for the chicken.  (Anatomically speaking Cornelius is a rooster.  But calling the potholder, Cornelius the Rooster Waffle, sounds too ridiculous.)  Knitting the comb may prove more challenging than the circles.  Hopefully with just a few tries with a flower pattern that has multiple petals I'll be able to customize something that looks like the red comb.  (The comb looks to be about one-half a flower to me.)  The idea is to stuff the comb so it too is 3D and then attach it to the 3D circles.  The wings, tail and beak have yet to be designed/figured out.  Perhaps they will be knit or perhaps I'll use felt to make them and then sew them to the circles.  My plan is to have the legs be more stringy than what is shown above.  I see a couple of i-cords with bobbles for feet.  The idea of them flopping around might interest M, at least, that what I'm thinking so far.  Parents, feel free to chime in here.

The plan is to finish this project over the weekend.  Let's see how that works out, shall we.


Cornelius' body in the making.  It is complicated, at least for me.
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