#SydOnAShelf: The Costume

Last year Dane was deployed for Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day. When I moved to Kansas, right before he came home, I decided to recreate each of the holidays that he had missed. (Some day I should really do a post on that very fun hybrid holiday). The only problem was that I’d moved there in February and it is absolutely impossible to get stockings in February. So… I taught myself to crochet.I bought tons of this chunky red yarn and made both of us giant stockings, which I hung on the bar I’d transformed into a construction paper fireplace.

Construction Paper Fireplace– Christmas 2013

A year later, I still have plenty of red yarn, so when he got sent on a trip to Guam at the beginning of December, I decided to break out my winter hobby box to crochet a little Christmas cheer for myself.

My instagram feed has been full of the clever ways that my friends hide their Elf on a Shelf to entertain their kids. I do not have kids, or an Elf, but I do have a very small (semi-tolerant) dog and I love to entertain myself. Thus my brilliant (maybe slightly bored) idea of #SydOnAShelf was born.

#SydOnAShelf

I’ve loved taking my little elf along with me every day to tour the Christmas hot spots of Okinawa. It’s also been a huge hit with the camera-happy locals. Sydney, however, remains less than enthusiastic about the whole experience and is looking very forward to 2015.

Making Your Own Crocheted Elf on a Shelf Dog Costume?

Here is the pattern that I based it (loosely) off of, along with a picture tutorial for the stitches I used to change it. However, the key to pulling the whole thing together was the free “Santa Hats” app by Appdicted. They have a dozen free santa hats that can be shifted and sized to fit just about any little elf head!

I loosely followed a pattern I’d found on pinterest for an easy XS Dog Sweater. The whole pattern is mostly made up of HDC (half double crochets) so it’s quick and very easy. The only problem was that although the pattern says it should fit a 6lb dog, my five pound yorkie was SWIMMING in it, even after I reduced the number of stitches it called from 36 to 30 to make up for using chunky yarn. I also ended up joining the rounds after four rounds, rather than continuing as the pattern calls for to make it smaller.

Because I wanted the sweater to resemble the classic “Elf on a Shelf” costume, I added sleeves, by simply adding two rounds of DC’s (double crochets) to each of the arm holes.

I finished it off with a round of single crochet in white around the edges of the arm holes.

For the collar I wanted a pointed edge, (again similar to the original elf on the shelf doll) so I finished it up with a triangular edging stitch. You can see below that I started by adding a white SC (single crochet) to the perimeter. For round two, you will SC in the first stitch, SK2 (Skip 2), then in the next stitch 3DC , CH3, 3DC (3 double crochets, chain 3, 3 more double crochets) all in the same stitch. This is what forms the point. Then skip 2 more stitches and do another SC in the third and fourth stitches. Skip two more stitches after those two SC’s and continue the 3DC, CH3, 3DC pattern. This will give you the triangular edging shown around the neckline of the elf on a shelf dog costume.