A little under 4 years ago I started a project that I thought would be a lot of fun and an heirloom for my family. I wanted to do something different, and a project that I could work on every once in a while. I didn’t know what to do but settled upon an idea that reminded me of my childhood. I decided to make a holiday diorama. I fondly remember seeing elementry and middle school kids carrying these down the hallways for their class projects. As I have gotten older I can’t remember if it is because it was something I always wanted to do or if it was something that I really enjoyed.
In the preliminary stages I thought I could use stop motion and make a little video. I was really inspired by Anna Hrachovec and her amiguri; so I started knitting some gnomes and a Santa (this is when I realized how long this project could actually take, because I don’t enjoy knitting with double pointed needles). I also realized that the stop cation video would take a loooooong time ( I shelved that idea).
Once I had knitted Santa, a reindeer, and a gnome I decided that you can’t have Santa without all nine reindeer ( oh lord, they took a long time to make), you know Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and the most famous reindeer of all Rudolph. It kind of snow balled from there… on what “had” to be added to the scene. It also made me realize that this project would be frequently need to be on “time out” because I would want to be committed to an asylum, if I was monogamous to this project.
I recently left my job I had a bit more time on my hands, so it was the perfect time to pick this project back up(while it wouldn’t be ready for the holidays I went ahead and finished it).
All of the patterns were purchased on Ravelry with the exception of the snowballs and Santa’s sleigh which I designed and knit myself. The Santa can be removed from the sleigh and so he can climb out of the chimney if the occasion warrants it;)
Happy holidays ( yeah, it is eleven months early but Seattle has recently received some snow so I don’t think it is too far of a stretch to say this)