The Background

One of my favorite parts about spring is the return of the migratory birds. I love a sunny spring morning that involves a good cup of tea, a cozy spot on the couch, and watching the cute little Wren family visit my feeder and make their home in the birdhouse outside of my living room window. Nevertheless, my yard is a dirt postage stamp and my little bird friends have to travel across the street to find most of their nesting materials.

As an environmental scientist, I know that “my” birdies are products of nature and fully capeable of taking care of themselves. However, the excessively overplanned/nurturing mama bear side of me feels an extreme need to provide everything the birds will need for a comfortable environment without leaving my postage stamp. To remedy this issue, I did some Amazon searching and found a variety of nesting material holders. Yet, none of them fit exactly what I had in mind… So I chose to do what I do best and decided to make my own instead.

I was very happy with my original design, which is the pattern I have provided for you in the following tutorial and written pattern, but the more I played with the design, the more I thought about other uses for this project. Therefore, I have provided alternative options for sizes and fillers at the end of the tutorial, including feeders and pollinator housing!

But without further adieu… The eco-friendly, delightfully colorful, cost effective, vehicle for nesting materials: The Nest Egg.

The Tutorial

Difficulty

Beginner

Abbreviations

ch - chain
sc - single crochet
sl st - slip stitch
sp - space

Materials

1 spool Hemptique 20lb Cord in Light Blue (Find it from hemtique.com or Amazon!)
- I used hemp for durability purposes, but I think this would be a fun stash buster for any scrap yarn laying around. I would consider this hemp to be a DK, but the pattern is easily manipulated and could work with any sized yarn by increasing or decreasing the number of ch sps and rounds worked.
4mm - G crochet hook
- Or any size hook you feel like works the best. G worked for me.
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Round binder ring, split ring, or D ring (I used these!)
- I’ve found that the clips work better for attaching to trees and the solid rings work better for things like shepherd’s hook hangers. All of mine have gone onto trees and I favor the clips.
Stitch marker (optional)
- Definitely optional because it’s not a pattern that has to be 100% perfect, but in designing, there was far too much counting for me to keep track of which row I was on without one… I know, I’m weak.

The Egg

Round 1: Make a magic ring, ch 1, and sc 8 into the ring. Pull the ring closed.

Round 1

Round 2: Sc into the next st (the first st of the magic ring) and ch 1. *Sc, ch 1* into each of the following 7 sts, resulting in a total of 8 sc and 8 ch sps.

Rounds 3-9: The next seven rounds will be increasing rounds worked the same process, adding an additional ch sp after each sc. Therefore, Round 3 will have a sc into the first sc of the previous round, ch 2. *Sc in next st, ch 2* until reaching the first sc of the round. Round 4 will have 3 ch sps, Round 5 has 4 ch sps, and so on until reaching Round 9 with 8 ch sps.

Rounds 3, 5, and 7

Round 10-18: Repeat Round 9 for the next 9 rounds (oof… that’s a little redundant). This makes the middle of the pouch.

Rounds 19-23: These rounds are going to be decreasing rounds, with each round having one ch sp less between each sc. Therefore, in Round 19, work a sc into the first sc of the previous round, ch 7. *Sc in next st, ch 7* until reaching the first sc of the round. Round 20 will have 6 ch sps, Round 21 has 5 ch sps, and so on until reaching Round 23 with 3 ch sps.

Round 24: Repeat round 23.

Rounds 18 and 24

The Hanger

Row 25: Place a sc in the first sc of the previous round, 3 sc in the ch 3 sp, and sc in the following sc.

Row 26-30: Ch 1 and turn. Sc in each sc across.

Tie off leaving a 6” tail to sew the hanger together.

Row 25 and 30

Assembly:

VERY IMPORTANT! If using a solid ring like a D ring or even a split ring, it is important to place the ring inside the hanger tab before it is sewn shut.
Sew the top row (Row 30) to the bottom row (Row 25).
Weave in and tie off.
Place the binder clip inside the hanger tab.
OPTIONAL Ch about 60-ish, tie off, and knot the ends.
Weave this strand through the top rungs of the egg to create a drawstring.

Sew the hanger tab together, insert the ring, ch 60-ish, and put the drawstring in place.

Options

The Nut Sack (sorry, not sorry)

Color: Earthy
Filler: In-Shell Peanuts
Alterations: No alterations to the original pattern.
Explanation: I have a lot of squirrels that like to terrorize my birds by flinging themselves from the tree and tackling the feeder… What can I say, Wyo squirrels are pretty BA. Regardless, it’s super annoying to me when the squirrels much all the birdseed and scare the feathers off the birds. Therefore, I have placed this feeder away from the bird feeder in hopes that my birds can live in peace.

Ther Pollinator Hotel

Color: Rainbow
Filler: Pinecones, dead leaves, old sunflower stocks, and empty cardboard tubes from the hemp spools.
Alterations: Stop increasing at 5 ch sps between sts and add an additional 7ish rounds in the middle before decreasing.
Explanation: One of my minors in college was entomology and I have a great appreciation for pollinators. They keep this world running smoothly and are definitely a part of the ecosystem regularly overlooked. I wanted to make a space that these creatures can call home and also benefit the vegetation in my garden. I used a bright color to attract the insects and placed the bag in a secluded part of the yard to ensure that it doesn’t become another bird feeder…

Ther Sunflower Buffet

Color: Scraps
Filler: Sunflower Seeds
Alterations: I made a solid circle bottom, starting with 8 sc and woking 5 rounds, resulting in 40 sc around. I then worked a *sc, ch 2* all the way around for about 40 rounds. I used a drawstring closure to ensure they still had to work for their food.
Explanation: My birds can be jerks sometimes, digging through the feeder to get to the sunflower seeds, so I made them a feeder just for sunflower seeds. They love it!

The Original

Color: Party
Filler: Dried grass, feathers, and twigs.
Alterations: No alterations to the original pattern.
Explanation: The original design filled with natural nesting materials. To be honest, I would love to fill one with yarn scrap, however, after some research, I learned that yarn scraps can be dangerous to birds, so I refrained. I have seen robins visiting the two in my yard. I’m hoping that my adorable little wren’s will also partake when they arrive in June.

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The Nest Egg PDF

^^^If you prefer a printable PDF pattern, click the button ^^^