Friday, December 30, 2011

Handmade Holiday: Pileated Woodpecker

And, last but not least, I needle-felted this pileated woodpecker for my (ex-step-)mother-in-law. She had mentioned last winter that she wanted a life-sized pileated woodpecker for the top of her Christmas tree (and as we have an elf on the top of our tree, and I grew up with a scarecrow as a tree-topper, this did not strike me as the least bit odd). This one falls just a bit short of full-sized, at 16" long. I hope she won't be too disappointed. He was a lot of fun to make, and my knitting group had a lot of fun watching me needle him, as many of them had not been around the year of the needle-felted flock.


And, like all needle-felted creatures, he didn't feel quite real (in fact he looked most ridiculous) until I put the eye on him. Z has put in a request for life-sized osprey and California condor. I think I'll need to get a multi-needle holder before I embark on anything that ambitious.

Provided all has gone as planned, we should have arrived home from Colorado early this morning (how odd to write that sentence 10 days in advance), and I'll be back next week with a report on our trip and a last post or two before grad school begins in earnest and I become scarce around this space. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, whatever you celebrate (we like to celebrate them all), and a Happy New Year!

9 comments:

  1. Gasp and ooooooh and ahhhhhhhhh! That woodpecker is perfection. Very well done! As always ~ I'm sure she'll love it.

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  2. Wow!! That is beyond awesome! Hope you are back safely by now!

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  3. It is beautiful! You're indeed a multi-tasking, multi-talented wonder. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when all that energy is poured into grad school.

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  4. Wow, I love it! Seriously, you could quit your job and make a living selling felted animals and ornaments on Etsy. I would be your first customer. I hope you had a great trip to see your family!

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  5. Thanks everyone!

    Heather M--that's a great idea! But I'll have to move somewhere with universal healthcare. Do you think Denmark would let me in on a needle-felting work visa? In the meantime, I'd love to make you a bird. What is your favorite species?

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  6. Good God, Andrea. What-beezie-said. Also, you blow my mind.

    Missed you this vacation. I have a plan/plot to get M, at minimum, on a snowboard. Can we catch up in the next few weeks?

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  7. That is the most beautiful tree topper I've ever seen...I've never thought beyond angels or stars before. I love it!!

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