Holiday Calendar

January 5th

1 day till 3 Kings Day

Oranges are in season this time of year, thanks to the Florida orange groves. I always pick up at least one case of them. If your compost pile is getting full of orange peels, try making these tiny wreaths instead.



Free Tutorial on How to Make Wreaths from Oranges
Instructions provided by Mette.

Mette is the owner of the Etsy store Knitting Mette. It is a store where you can find small cute items and patterns!


This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 29th

3 days till the New Year
8 days till 3 Kings Day

Around this time every year is when I start shopping for next year's Christmas decorations, gift wrapping paper, and cards. I started this policy several years ago when I was wooed by the word 'Sale' everywhere. I continue it not for the sales, because I'm quite sure I never saved a lot, but because it keeps me from running around like a chicken with my head cut off during the Christmas season.

To keep us out of the retail madness, here is a tutorial on how to make your own Holiday cards.

Free Tutorial on How to Make Crocheted Christmas Cards
Instructions provided by Mette.

Mette is the owner of the Etsy store Knitting Mette. It is a store where you can find small cute items and patterns!

This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 25th

Merry Christmas!

Learn more about the history of Christmas Day here.

7 days till the New Year
12 days till 3 Kings Day

Christmas pudding is always on the dessert table in Mett'e family. Even her recipe instructions specifically tell the chef to steam the pudding Christmas morning.

I've never had Christmas pudding, but I've always wanted to try it. Finally, here's my chance to follow an old family recipe, which has been taste-tested through the years (the best recipes to get, if you can).

Aunt Marcia's Christmas Pudding
Contributed by Mette Buchreitz

Q. What could be better than 1 pudding recipe?
A. 2 pudding recipes!

Mother Hilary's Christmas Pudding
Contributed by Mette Buchreitz

Mette is the owner of the Etsy store Knitting Mette. She told me "I love to create small, funny, easy-to-knit items and I'm happy when somebody else likes them too! In my Etsy-shop you'll find my patterns and items knitted using my own patterns. Enjoy knitting toys or funny things!"




This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 23rd

2 days till Christmas
8 days till the New Year
14 days till 3 Kings Day

I loved to play with Play-Doh when I was young. So, it is no surprise that it is my favorite activity in the Cranium game. Yet, it wasn't until recently that I learned you could make your own play dough at home.



From this play dough, you can make Christmas ornaments.



Free Tutorial on How to Make Homemade Craft Dough and Craft Dough Ornaments
Instructions contributed by Nikki.

Nikki is the owner of two Etsy stores: My 7 Kids and Heart Felt Fun.

My7kids store sells high-end fiber yarns from recycled sweaters, which are then hand-dyed.

The HeartFeltFun store sells hand knitted items, and felted items made from the sweaters that can't be unraveled for yarn for whatever reason (already felted, bad seams, etc.)



This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 18th

4 days till Hanukkah
7 days till Christmas
13 days till the New Year
19 days till 3 Kings Day

Is your Christmas tree looking a bit sparse these days? (Note that anything less than two ornaments per branch is considered sparse in my book). Bubolina to the rescue with her cute and fuzzy ornaments!



Multicolor Soft Ball Ornament
Designed by Tatjana

The ornaments are approximately 4"- 4.5" in diameter. The entire ornament is hand made and hand knitted. Of course, they would look spectacular on your Christmas tree. They could be used elsewhere as home decor or given to a small child to play with. For purchases of 2 or more ornaments, take 25% off on any additional ball.

Tatjana is the owner of two Etsy stores: Bubolina and Bublico.

Bubolina specializes in stunning knitted jewelry among other accessories.

Bublico is geared towards the wee ones, focusing on children handmade knitted items.


Below Tatjana told me a little bit about the history of these ball ornaments.

I've been making homemade play toys for my little son since he's been born and this was one of his first toy balls. The ball is soft and light and almost like a stuffed animal. He loves the texture of these balls. Last year we took the Christmas tree out. Since we always make the ornaments, my mother kindly suggested that we hang one of my son's ball as an ornament. She was right; they looked great on the tree!





This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 16th

6 days till Hanukkah
9 days till Christmas
15 days till the New Year
21 days till 3 Kings Day

May I humbly present to you a knitting pattern for a Christmas Tree Skirt, designed by yours truly.



Stats:
Design: My own, titled O Tannenbaum Tree Skirt
Start knitting: October 2007
Finished knitting: August 2008
2,500 yards of wool knit into this skirt (15 skeins of Wool of the Andes and 700 yards from Naturally Spun)

My 'real' name is Marie Haigh and I am the voice behind this blog and my own Etsy store Knitted Gems. The store features my entire collection of knitting patterns for the hobby knitter. All the patterns are my original designs. They are provided in a line-by-line written format. Knitting charts are also provided on some of the Easy and Intermediate patterns. Knitted items that were created during the testing of each pattern are also available for sale.

Below I answer my own questions to lend you a little more insight into the making of this tree skirt.

Q. What was your inspiration?
A. O Tannenbaum Skirt was inspired collectively by Naturally Spun's yarn, a man's tie, and a spruce tree. May it bring inspiration and joy to your holiday season!

Q. How long did it take you to make it?
A. A year

Q. Did you use any new techniques in the making of it?
A. I-cord as embellishment and crocheted edging

Q. What made you choose the color(s) for it?
A. As mentioned above, I was inspired by the Christmas colors (red and green) in Naturally Spun's yarn. I opted to use white as the secondary color because it represents the color snow and it did not contrast with the red/green colors.

Q. Do you plan to make any more items similar to this one?
A. No. It took me a long time to complete this project. I am not brave enough to dedicate another year to making a 2nd one.

Q. Did you enjoy making it? Why or why not?
A. Yes. It was fun to watch the tree skirt come together.





This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 13th

9 days till Hanukkah
12 days till Christmas
18 days till the New Year
24 days till 3 Kings Day

Happy Santa Lucia's Day!

The silver star shines on the sea,
The waves are calm, the wind is favorable
Come to my quick little boat!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

With this west wind so gentle,
Oh, how wonderful it is to be at sea!
Come passengers, come away!
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

Oh sweet Naples, oh blessed sun,
where creation wished to smile!
You are the command of harmony!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

Now why do you delay? The evening is beautiful
A cool and light wind is blowing
Come to my quick little boat!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

Graciously translated by Mette.

To read about the history of this day, please go here.

Have you finished writing, addressing, and mailing all your Holiday cards out? I just finished up last night. It's a joint effort in our household. I handle all the writing and addressing. My husband handles the signing of his name, the licking of the envelopes (yuck!) and the sticking of the stamps.

If you haven't finished yours, fret not. I bring you another free tutorial on how to make your Holiday cards by hand.



Free Tutorial on How to Make Yarn Tree Cards
Instructions provided by Mette.

Mette is the owner of the Etsy store Knitting Mette. It is a store where you can find small cute items and patterns!


This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Holiday Calendar

December 10th

12 days till Hanukkah
15 days till Christmas
21 days till the New Year
27 days till 3 Kings Day

If you have some scraps of fabric laying around (old shirts count) and a beer bottle, then you can churn out these fun ornaments by the dozen. They'll look great on your tree. If you still haven't figured out what to get Aunt Sue, why not give her 5 or 6, saving the rest for yourself, of course.



Free Tutorial on How to Make Yo-Yo ornaments.
Instructions contributed by Desiree.
Yes, she clearly mentions that the beer bottle isn't necessary, but it IS more festive.

Desiree is the owner of the Etsy store Hamncheezr. Her store specializes in quilted tote bags for the knitter, quilter, or bag-lover in your life.

This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Day 5 of the Holiday Calendar

December 5th

17 days till Hanukkah
20 days till Christmas
26 days till the New Year
32 days till 3 Kings Day

Some of my fondest childhood Holiday memories are of baking with my family. So, I was thrilled to see a Holiday recipe designed especially for baking with children. If you don't have any children of your own, borrow a relative or your neighbor's children.



Kid-Friendly Gingerbread Houses
Instructions contributed by Nikki.


Nikki is the owner of two Etsy stores: My 7 Kids and Heart Felt Fun.

My7kids store sells high-end fiber yarns from recycled sweaters, which are then hand-dyed.

The HeartFeltFun store sells hand knitted items, and felted items made from the sweaters that can't be unraveled for yarn for whatever reason (already felted, bad seams, etc.)


This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.

Day 2 of the Holiday Calendar

December 2nd

20 days till Hanukkah

23 days till Christmas
29 days till the New Year
35 days till 3 Kings Day

Keep your neck warm during the Holiday season with this handmade scarf.

This Christmas scarf is hand-knit with white mohair and gold tones lame yarn. The little mistletoe applique is hand-crocheted with bedspread weight cotton thread. The entire scarf is very soft, perfect for wrapping next to your skin.

If one mistletoe isn't enough embellishment for your taste, you may want to pin a few wreaths to it as well.

These Christmas wreaths are hand-crocheted. They make great appliques for scarves, hats, shirts, and purses. They would also look fantastic hanging from a Christmas tree.



Both items were hand knit and/or hand crocheted by Diane, owner of The High Plains Knitter store on Etsy. Diane told me that she enjoyed making them both. "I love knitting and crocheting", she said.


Stop by Diane's store today and enjoy the store-wide sale.

Day 1 of the Holiday Calendar

December 1st

21 days till Hanukkah
24 days till Christmas

30 days till the New Year

36 days till 3 Kings Day

How to Make a Christmas Ball Ornament with Sparklers

Instructions can be found here.

Instructions were graciously provided by Mette. She is the owner of the Etsy store Knitting Mette. It is a store where you can find small cute items and patterns!

Learn more about Mette on her website.

This Holiday Calendar is sponsored by the Etsy Knitters Team.
To find out more about the group, please visit our team page.

Etsy Knitters Team's Holiday Calendar will run through 3 Kings Day, January 6th. Join us as we count down the days till Hanukkah, Christmas, the New Year and 3 Kings Day. Each day will feature one of the following: a link to a free knitting pattern, a link to a free tutorial on making handmade Holiday decorations, a free holiday recipe, or a picture of a holiday item for sale.