Cute Crocheted Baby Snakes Liven Up Chinese New Year Celebrations

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Products and fashion accessories highlighting red hues and snake motifs are highly sought-after this Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan 29, as they symbolise rebirth, strength and fertility.

This year, the Chinese community will usher in the Year of the Snake, the sixth of the 12-year cycle of animals appearing in the Chinese zodiac.

Taking advantage of the demand for items deemed as auspicious for the coming New Year, entrepreneur Chin Zhi Xian, 25, is creating and selling adorable crocheted baby snake amigurumi plushies. (Amigurumi is a Japanese art form that involves crocheting small, stuffed creatures using yarn.)

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He said it is not exactly easy to create “cute-looking snakes” given that the venomous reptile is feared by most people. So, steering away from focusing solely on red hues, he skillfully combines colours such as green, white and yellow when crocheting the plushies, with the completed products appearing in cheerful tones, reflecting the joy of the Chinese New Year celebrations.

“In the Chinese zodiac calendar, the Year of the Snake is particularly meaningful to the Chinese community. It carries profound significance in life, representing wisdom and fertility, and marking a more meaningful start for everyone,” Chin told Bernama.

The former audit executive’s crocheted baby snakes come in lengths of 10 centimetres (cm) and 16 cm.

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To add a touch of uniqueness and charm to his creations, each of his snakes wears a hat crocheted by him. Explaining this, Chin said hats carry deep significance in Chinese culture as they symbolise luck, good health, wealth and perfect romantic relationships.

He added that the idea of crocheting baby snake plushies came after seeing his younger sibling crochet dolls for a graduation ceremony last November.

Fascinated by the uniqueness and neatness of the crocheted dolls, Chin decided to learn the art of crocheting and managed to master the skill in less than a month.

“I then decided to create snake-themed crocheted items for Chinese New Year and started selling them online two weeks ago,” he said.

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Another entrepreneur Niki Loo, 20, also seized the opportunity to create and sell crocheted snake plushies but hers come in red bags.

“This year’s zodiac is the snake, and a bag with a snake inside is considered good luck in Chinese. culture. Combining the two makes a beautiful decorative piece for Chinese New Year as the bag can be hanged or placed inside flower pots,” she said, adding each snake plushie weighs about 120 grammes and takes at least two to three hours to complete.

-- BERNAMA