Crocheted ‘elf on shelf’ captured in sticky situations brings festive joy

A crocheted “elf on the shelf” has been spreading festive joy and raising money for charity by being captured in several compromising situations across December.

The yarn creation – affectionately called Pat the topper elf as he spends the majority of his time atop a Yorkshire postbox – was made by Ali Davis, a teacher who runs a craft group called Brough Yarn Bombers.

From December 1-24, she has photographed Pat in several sticky situations including becoming stuck in a chimney, “elfnapped” by penguins and crushed by a snowball when Storm Darragh was lashing the UK.

In his last appearance on the postbox, the elf has been joined by crocheted versions of Charles and Camilla in preparation for the King’s Speech.

“He’s got into little accidents or scenarios every day and in the last couple of days, he actually made it over to a tree that was by his box and then he got caught by a spider,” Miss Davis, who is 39 and lives in Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, told the PA news agency.

“My favourite one was when he was frozen – I put him in a freezer in a ball and froze him to imply he caught a cold.

“I’ve been trying to give him a little story every day.”

The 24-day project drew inspiration from an avid crocheter called Elaine Fallais who undertook a similar endeavour last year.

Miss Davis said there are in fact three Pats – which all have shocked looks on their faces – and she used them interchangeably when creating the different scenes each day.

“I’ve usually got one topper ready to go out and there’s always one on the box and then there’s another in reserve,” she said.

“I try and get the toppers out before lunchtime but one time I put a topper out really late when Pat was decorating a tree with lights as he needed the darkness for that.”

The initiative has a charitable aim – to raise money for Martin House Children’s Hospice, which supports children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families.

“Over £600 has been raised so far and that is just from art changing every day on a postbox,” Miss Davis said.

“I think that kind of shows the measure of how much the community and others really like them.”

Miss Davis has shared pictures of Pat each day on Facebook which has been met with positive interactions.

“We get such nice comments, it really is such a feel-good thing,” she added.