Nativity scene

When I was a kid, I knitted up this nativity scene:

Photo by sallybarrett

It was probably the biggest knitting project I'd ever undertaken at that point in my young life. And it didn't look too good. Evidence of that can be seen in the fact that my mother stopped putting it out once I move out the house (I know you still love me, Mom!).

Since switching to crocheting, I've always wanted to crochet myself a nativity scene. I've got one made out of led that I don't like much, and one made in a tiny wooden carving gifted to me by a friend which I love, but I want to crochet one.

So I trawled through Ravelry and Pinterest, hunting for patterns. None of them came very close, so I think I'll make a mixture of them.

I like the figures in the one shown below, but it's missing some animals. The pattern is to the accessories; the figures are made from this pattern. I'm a bit worried about the stability of the figures. The designer said she put plastic pellets in her's to weigh them down, but I don't know where to find those in the stores. The Baby Jesus face is a little strange to me, I might modify that.

I thought to make the animals from this other nativity scene. They might be too big, but that might be charming. I don't like the figures much, perhaps they'd be better with some eyes. The figures do look more stable though, so I might just switch to this one if the first figure doesn't work out. I like this Baby Jesus better too.

I love this case. If I'm feeling ambitious at the end of the year I'll make a similar one - this one will be too small I suspect.

Of course Ravelry and Pinterest are loaded with more inspiration and gorgeous (pricey) patterns. If you'd like to do a CAL (crochet-along), let me know which pattern you choose in the comments. I'll be posting progress on my nativity scene throughout the year.

Merry Christmas!