The 2022 Poncetastic Christmas Thread

[VivaJen]

Welcome to the 2022 Poncetastic thread. With a nod to Fellatio (wherever she may be) at the stroke of midnight, let the poncing commence.

"OK, first of all, I know it's still September by we need to start this thread now because as you all know, having a truly Poncetastic Christmas involves precision planning, strategy, bravery, heroics, and frequently martyrdom.

So, if you, like me, actually want to make the next twelve weeks of your life a misery by hand-crafting your cards, finding a huge bucket for Nigella's turkey in brine, pickling pears, shrivelling oranges in a low oven for those rustic au naturel decorations, dragging half a holly bush back from the woods, and just generally being a smug annoying jobs worth ponce, join me on this thread.

Feel free to post photos of previous tree-trimming, cake icing or table centrepiece triumphs, discuss this year's bauble colour themes, debate the merits of Delia versus Gordon, road-test a selection of canapés and cocktails, (all in the line of duty) and link to lovely inspirational photos/craft ideas for a truly Poncetastic Christmas.

Warning: If your idea of a good Christmas involves Pizza, ITV, gravy granules or anything with 'Aunt Bessie’s' on the packet, this is not the thread for you".

Love the wrapping

Smallest dgd loves Polly Pockets so we bought her some and I ordered fabric from Spoonflower and a T-shirt from eBay. She now has a small bag for her Polly bits and an appliquéd T shirt.
I am pleased with todays poncing.
The mermaid is to be a tag on the outside. Fab little kit from The Works for £1.

Really lovely wrapping @TheWoollybacksWife! Have you got a link for the star? I’m planning to make one of those book page Christmas trees and I think that star would look great on top.

@Trumpton that’s adorable! Must make sure not to go into the Works in town or I might find a few kits have accidentally found their way into my basket...

Also very impressed with the bag! That’s proper poncing.🎄

That’s so lovely @Trumpton. And love the wrapping and star @TheWoollybacksWife.

I've never shared an Instagram post so let's see if this works...

www.instagram.com/reel/ClHKmr0OmJF/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

@TheWoollybacksWife
Your link worked!

That's gorgeous @Trumpton Lovely colours

My Christmas gift bags getting ready for another go round.

I love the paper stars; that's another video saved for next year.

Maybe I ought to ponce my way through next year 🤔🎄

I've just bought a different crochet village pattern on Etsy, to make next year. The church for the one I have currently is still frustrating me so I am giving up on that, and will block the other pieces this week. I may, or may not, add a tree or two.

This pattern's a bit more work - need to make forms to block on unless I can work out 'floor plans' to use, but I think it should go nicely. & I have a year to work on it 🤣

What is the issue you are having with the church in your original pattern @lucysmam ?

@TheWoollybacksWife I just can't get the gauge right, even dropping a hook size. It's still over the edges of the blocking guide whereas all the other houses need stretching a little to fit/so you can see the stitches.

@lucysmam have you got any similar coloured lower weight yarn?

Can I show you my Winter Nook, it's definitely assembled rather than made but DS (4 years) has got home from school and loves it

Ah @SpottyBumPony that’s lovely! Your DS will have so much fun/cosiness in there. ❄️❄️⛄️❄️❄️❄️⛄️❄️❄️

@TheSandgroper I love the fabric bags. Definitely very poncetastic!

@CuriousEats it's already done with thread, not sure if I can manage finer than that but will look for some embroidery thread to try.

@SpottyBumPony I think I'd like to hide in there for a while, it looks lovely 🥰

Ooh Spotty that is a lovely nook.
I will store it in my mind for a future small person in my life…

@lucysmam could you go down a hook size? It's so frustrating when something doesn't come out properly. I spent ages knitting a lacy baby cardigan and had to abandon it as the sleeves were far too small for the armholes when I came to sew it up. I've still got the pattern and give it the stink-eye every time I see it 😂

@lucysmam apologies. I was imagining an amigurumi type of village! There's not much lighter than thread unless you go foraging for spider silk

I've tried a hook size down - I'm not sure whether I could manage the 1.25 hook,it's tiny! It could also be that I'm picking the wrong time of day for this one & I'm tired...I spent more time on a weekend on the others whereas I keep trying this on an evening.

Current crochet related plan is grump at the dinosaurs spikes throughout the week I think so I can move him from my table, where he's just staring at me 🤣then start a blanket for me. I'll block the rest of the village, as I said, and then work on other pieces to add throughout the next year. No point stressing myself over not finishing it. I'm super organised this year!

We're off to Sheffield Christmas market in the morning for a browse, and probably a couple of candles from the Yorkshire Candle Co. Probably call in at Meadowhall for a couple of shops on the way home.

The angels on the hill. From the outdoor nativity.

One of you lovely people may know the answer to this - google isn't helping. I'd like to make my own mulled wine at some point this week...

Can I use a cheap-ish red wine? Are the ready made spice bags worth it, or should I buy the individual spices? And, if I don't want to drink all the bottle at once, presumably I need to use smaller quantities depending how much wine there is?

I've never done it before but this whole week is going to be a kitchen adventure, with a spot of crafting, and some cleaning, chucked in too!

We just use the ready made spice bags @lucysmam and a cheapish red wine. We usually make the full bottle but I think you could make half a bottle. Maybe leave the bag in for less time so it’s not so concentrated. If you are near an ikea they do an alcohol free version ready made that might be nice for your girls.

For mulled wine we just use the cheapish ones - generally a new world wine, Shiraz is nice. Personally I’d do the individual spices myself instead of the sachets as you won’t have any idea how old/musty they might be (and also potentially flavourless), unless you don’t have any of them at all and don’t think you’ll use the rest, in which case the sachet would probably be better. If you do any Christmas baking you’ll probably have most of them anyway and might only need to buy one or two. I’d use less spices for less wine, proportionately.