December: Christmas Elf Thread with Photos

Update:
In December there will only be busy Christmas elves and none of the usual activities.
Starting in January, things will get going again with the titles and UFO Week, etc.
Have fun, everyone.


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Dear users, dear authors,
there is room here in this thread for all December projects.

UFO Week was actually planned for [Update: UFO Week not again until January 2019] .
Do you have time for UFOs this month?
In December, Christmas projects tend to take center stage after all. Would you like to work on the usual titles (Reste-Beste, Ribbelmonster, Shopping-Queen, etc. )?
Tell me a bit about it.

Hello,

I don't think I'll be able to finish a UFO.

I'm working flat out on the Christmas gifts.
Once again, things aren't going as planned, because something keeps
getting added.

I'm still working on my Procrastination Buster title.

Best, Heike

So. This month, I’ll probably just be working on the baby blanket for my friend. Wednesday is the due date. Let’s see when the baby arrives. Then I can really carry on properly. 

Maybe having the titles and the awards ceremony right before Christmas isn’t the best idea. How about an awards ceremony in January? Or do you want to be done hearing about Christmas stuff by January?
Or should we just leave December to the Christmas elves, restart all the activities in early January, and then carry on as usual?

Please let me know your thoughts; otherwise, I’ll have to make this decision on my own. So far, I get the impression that you’re all very busy right now before Christmas, and we should probably kick things off again in January with fresh energy. Then, of course, we’ll have a spring-fresh yarn diet from January through Easter—that’ll be great.

Hello Josefa,

we can all make a fresh start in January.

I’m in.

Maybe we’ll hear from the others again.
I miss some of the people here who were always so active.

Best regards, Heike

I think starting fresh in January is a good idea.
Personally, I’ll be happy if I can finish my coat and wind up the 20 skeins of yarn for the next project. Then some of my family and friends would also like a window elf… That really surprised me, but of course I’m happy about it. I can’t say yet how much I’ll actually be able to get done, though, and I think December is already pretty short on time…
I think a separate Christmas elf thread with pictures would be better.

 You can already tell that things have gotten quieter here, so the Christmas elf thread is more than enough. 

I’m already looking forward to the fresh start in January and will definitely join in again.

Okay, great.
Thanks for your comments.
Then let’s just use this thread for all our Christmas Secret Santa projects and start fresh in January with all the usual titles, UFO Week, and the Yarn Diet.
I hope you all have fun.

I also think it makes sense to start fresh in January with renewed energy.

I ended up whipping up a quick Christmas decoration after all. My husband came up with the idea, and I made it happen :-)))

I just noticed this thread exists. I’m happy about it, of course, and I’d love to join in. Today my husband had an idea—or rather, a request—for me… something he wants me to crochet. Well, well… he’s already caught the bug. :)

I’m knitting a sweater for my granddaughter out of sock yarn—I’m working on it diligently. I also have the project for the color challenge on my needles. It’s looking great already. It was actually just supposed to be a swatch…

I’ll probably carry the UFO bear over into January and then give it as a birthday present in March.

As soon as I have something to show, I’ll take some photos.

How are your Secret Santa projects coming along?

Somehow, time is flying by and there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Luckily, UFOs and award ceremonies won’t be back until January. I’d be completely overwhelmed by that right now.

But we’re welcome to show off our creations here in between. That said, I’m actually creating new UFOs right now instead of finishing anything. I’ll probably show them off just before Christmas.

Wishing you all a lovely, cozy Advent season!

Warm regards
Monika

I’ve only managed to finish a few small things—this month, I’m in the same boat as Monika.

I’m supposed to knit some socks for a friend. Somehow, I’m not really in the mood for it yet. 

Oh, how lovely, Marion! That looks great—really festive and colorful.
It goes well with our shared Christmas story...
You could use it to continue telling that story... The needles have already made quite a few things. Maybe something like that too?
Here’s the link to the thread:
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/forum/topic/96609/es-weihnachtet-sehr-machst-du-mit

Yes, and your new decoration also goes wonderfully with our jointly decorated Christmas room. Would you like to join in? Here’s the link:
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/forum/topic/97796/wir-schmuecken-gemeinsam-die-weihnachtsstube

(For me, actively participating there is always a relaxing and joyful little break. :)

Warm regards to everyone, and happy crafting! :)
Monika

I’d also be happy if the coat were finally finished—I’m slowly losing my enthusiasm for it... but since I’m not one of those people who keep piling up UFOs, I guess I’ll just have to stick with it...
Right now, I’m tinkering a bit with the fillable acrylic baubles. Pictures will follow later.

Mel, I’m looking forward to seeing your pictures. Once I get the photos of the St. Nicholas gift for my husband from him, I’ll show it to you all...

Now I can show you the St. Nicholas Day gift I made for my husband. He wanted new ear pads for his headphones made of wool. So I just crocheted them for him. Here’s what they look like:



Oh, and I also have the following on my needles:

This will be a cozy, warm bottle cover for our thermos (also my husband’s idea) :)



And this will be the sweater for my granddaughter:

Monika,
so you are getting something done after all. Your husband already has some ideas. I think the headphones are great. 

Thanks, Marion! :)
I think they’re great too, and I’m going to crochet some myself. In any case, we don’t need to buy plastic ones anymore—the wool ones are much more comfortable.

I think the idea with the headphones is great!

Monika; your husband has some really good ideas :-)))

I’m not one of the Christmas elves this month—I’ve got baby fever instead. :-)

I’ve been working on a baby blanket since July; the baby arrived on Thursday, and now I can finally keep going.

In the meantime, I made a rattle for a friend (her baby is due at the end of December).

The head rattles, the wings crinkle.

And starting tomorrow, I’ll get back to the blanket. :-)

Sandra, your crackling, rattling butterfly turned out really cute. It’s sure to bring joy.

Hi,

here are a few photos of my Christmas gifts. More will follow. 








Best, Heike

I’ve escaped the Christmas hustle and bustle and finally finished a UFO—a summer lace scarf and matching bonnet.


I’m glad to have finally finished this UFO, which has been lying around since June or so, and I’m currently dreaming of the South Seas to escape the hectic Christmas rush.

I’m almost done!!! And everyone’s getting something homemade…

Udo is going to a friend who’s been a fan for ages.

Now there are just a few little things left—for example, a few bird feeder roofs are still drying—and I’m also going to fill some containers with suet—my father-in-law loves that for his garden.

But most of the packages are already packed…
Tomorrow, the bulk of them will go to the post office. There’s something homemade in each one, so a whole lot of heart and soul is on its way to dear people…

I crocheted the fir trees, cast the houses from concrete, and worked on the boards. I had 8 of them; I’ve already sent a few. Of course, something sweet is always part of it too...

I made lots of cards with ornaments made from modeling clay. The ornaments can then be tied on as a tag with the narrow strip of paper.

Hopefully this will be something for the little princess; her mother got the actual toy for us, but something homemade has to be included here too.

A dear friend is getting a concrete village I cast myself—she’s not really into “crochet stuff...”


Claudia, you’ve been so busy and made some beautiful gifts! I especially love Udo!

Here are my filled Christmas tree ornaments
I painted some of them halfway with acrylic paint and hung a snowflake inside; some have glitter confetti, and a few are filled with small gifts and a snow cloud. I’ll add a few more if time allows.

You’ve all been especially creative.

There are some really great pieces here—awesome!!!

Oh wowwwww... you guys have been so busy!! Your creations are beautiful. I feel like it’s Christmas Eve in here right now.

I especially think the little snowmen are absolutely adorable.

I’m not quite done with the sweater for my granddaughter yet. But it should be finished by Wednesday at the latest and ready to be sent off. Basically, all that’s left is the collar and the buttons.

Meanwhile, I’ve crocheted some cozy ear pads for my headphones and even wrote up the pattern. Here’s what they look like in light gray:



Time for the final push! :)

Love, Monika

Thanks, Ruth.

Do you also find it so nice to make surprise gifts for others? I, for one, end up thinking a lot about the recipient… it brings back so many wonderful memories.
I really love that…

After all, there are quite a few people who give their loved ones pretty handmade gifts…

Yes, Claudia, I feel exactly the same way. I always know in advance how my gift will be received—or at least I have a hunch...

Best regards, Monika

Now the gift for my granddaughter is finished—the sweater made from sock yarn.
From now on, it’s time to relax… with plenty of time for everything that brings joy.



I wish you all happy, relaxed, and enjoyable days filled with many moments of happiness!

Monika

The sweater is super cute 

Oh great. I still need 18 rows for the baby blanket. I have one more skein left. One skein will get me 15 rows. So I’ll probably break my diet and place an order. 

Thanks, Sandra! :) By the way, I knitted the button placket for a boy’s sweater—with the left side on top. Oh well, that doesn’t matter either. Maybe a little brother will come along in the summer, and he can wear it later.

That’s really frustrating, Sandra. I’ve had problems like that before, but I’ve always managed to find a solution using the yarn I had on hand. Is there really no other solution for the baby blanket? Especially since it’s just the reverse side...

This is the front. The little one arrived last week, and I’m now fully into it. But I think having the last 3 rows in a different color is kind of silly. The front will be white and the back will be green.

I just ordered some yarn. I needed one skein, but ended up with 14. Ordering just one is kind of silly. And my New Year’s resolution is a six-month yarn diet. It’s much easier to keep track of that starting in January. :-)

Since I want to write a pattern for this, I’ve decided to tackle this crochet dress again:

Monika, your sweater turned out really nice—the colors are great, too. Your granddaughter is sure to love it.

Sandra, you’ll definitely show us your blanket once it’s finished, right?

Thanks, Marion! Right now, it’s mostly the parents who are happy. But surely Linja is too. By now she knows that woolly things always come from Grandma. It’s quite funny ... because by now she applies that to everything that’s woolly. ;-)

@CreatOwl
The dress looks really great. It’s definitely worth writing up the pattern for it again. It’s a great summer project.

Yes, Sandra, that’s true. From January on, it’ll be easier to keep track again. I’m sticking with the yarn diet now too. There’s quite a bit to work through. I’m already excited to see what your blanket looks like when it’s finished.

Right now I’m still working on the project for the color challenge. It’s already looking good, but it won’t be shown until the color challenge. ;-)

And yesterday I started knitting leg warmers. They’re for me this time.

Wishing all of you lots of joy today on the 4th Advent - whatever you have planned.

Best, Monika

Of course, I’ll post a photo once it’s finished. Let’s see when the yarn arrives. For now, I’m continuing to crochet the back. Once I’m done with that, I’ll stick to small projects for a while. After that, I won’t feel like making blankets for a while.

But I’ve already seen so many patterns that I absolutely want to make, and I also have some ideas of my own. I definitely won’t get bored. 

CreatOwl: I really like the dress

Mowi: I really like the sweater, and I’m curious to hear what your granddaughter thinks of it.
Arni: I’m really looking forward to seeing the blanket.
CreatOwl: I think the dress is absolutely fantastic.

Yesterday I finished making three different liqueurs to give as Christmas gifts, wrapped all the presents today, and now I’m all set. Bring on Christmas!

Thank you so much, dear Sofi :)

Your projects have all turned out soooo great! I’m thrilled.
I’ve finished my coat and have since knitted two more hats for my husband. Now it’s time for a break, and after Christmas I’d like to try my hand at knitting socks...
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones!

You’ve all whipped up some amazing things! There were lots of lovely and hardworking Christmas elves at work! With that, Christmas is bound to be a success!

Mel, I’m really looking forward to seeing your coat. Great that it’s finished!
Now all that’s missing is the photo.

I just finished knitting one of my new leg warmers—with a cable pattern.
I’ll finish the second one over Christmas.

Now I wish you all lots of joy with your loved ones and hope your gifts are received with delight. And of course, I hope you get something nice, too.

Christmas greetings
Monika