Mind you, it's been a crazy six months or so.
All of our decorations are up, but somehow it all feels a bit fake... like a Christmas in July celebration. I feel as though I am going through the motions, but that my heart just isn't in it.
I guess there's lots of factors in play. It's only just over a year since Mum passed away, which has left a huge void in my life. And then a few months ago, my Father-in-Law passed away... so it's been a time of great emotional upheaval in the Goldfish household. To top it all off, my eldest child now knows the truth about Santa. And I know it sounds weird, but I feel like a part of me is grieving for the loss of the fantasy of Christmas. Or something like that, anyway.
I thought that working on a Christmas project might help me to boost my holiday enthusiasm...
And it did!
How can you look at this little guy and NOT smile???
Mind you... the pattern nearly did my head in. I couldn't work out what was going on. I was following the instructions exactly as written, but at the end my crochet piece looked like this, and I couldn't figure out how it would become a snowman:
The pattern is called Crochet Bird Seed Snowman. The theory is that you fill him with sunflower seeds, and then leave him outdoors on Christmas Day... for the birds to feast on. I've never heard of anything like this before. It seems such a bizarre concept to me. Is it just that we don't have that 'kind of thing' here in Australia??? Or does it seem unusual to all of you? Is this bird feeder like anything you have seen before?
I wanted a more permanent decoration (plus, I couldn't stand the idea of putting him outside to get pecked at by the birds) so I have filled him with a regular polyfill stuffing instead.
9 comments:
this made me laugh. it doesn't seem like such a strange concept to me. we do have things like that, i think. i remember making contraptions with bird seed and peanut butter left out for the birdies on christmas day...but if i think about it logically, it is strange.
He made me smile too. And its original purpose as a bird feeder is not something I have heard of before - seems it would be a bit of a challenge for the birds to get the seeds! Your making him a harbinger of the joy of the season seems very appropriate.
I made this snowman also Sharon and you're right, once you get him crocheted he doesn't look like anything that would be considered a snowman but didn't he turn out cute? I love yours, what a great job you did!
Cute:)
I think he is cute and in the States that is not an unusual thing but I have not heard it done with yarn as a container and have heard that yarn is bad for birds that it gets caught in their intestines or something like that. So it is good that you fluffed him up with fiberfil and will let him cheer you up.
We do have bags of food that you can put in the trees for the birds. But I have never heard of someone making one for themselves, especially not one so pretty. But I do think the weight of the bird seed might make Frosty stand differently. Anyhow, he looks great. That nose button is even very carrot-like. Nice work.
Snowman (or, should I say, snowperson :)) being savaged by birds on Christmas Day? No, that's unheard of!
Sounds like a tough year, hope you've been looking after yourself. It's nice to hear from you whenever you can manage it:)
I've got an owl bird feeder hanging in the tree outside my window - but he is made of metal and has a metal mesh tube to hold the seed in. But if I think about it, the idea is a bit weird since the small birds are eating things from a preditor's stomach.
In the UK you are told to take the thread net off the fat balls you can buy to feed the feeds because the birds beaks can get stuck in the threads. So I'm not convinced that a crocheted snowman would be a good idea - unless you did him again in some recycled wire.
On the other hand in the UK we are told not do all sorts of things just in case something terrible happens. How I ever managed to reach my ripe old age when I indulge in such dangerous pursuits as licking the cake bowl (raw eggs=salmonella), eating cheese (listeria) or rice salad (can't even remember what illness that causes).
I'm rambling on because I'm so pleased to see you back again. Love Frosty. Love the blog.
And now back to making a Christmas wreath out of old milk bottles.
Jill
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