For some people, winter in particular is a time of coziness, which may involve indoor activities such as knitting and sewing. Of course, arts and crafts are something you can engage in all year round. We've looked at fine arts before, but today let's look at German words for various creative hobbies. 

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First of all, we have activities such as knitting, sewing, crochet, and embroidery:

Sie hatte gestrickt und vergessen, ein Mahl zu bereiten.

She had been knitting and had forgotten to prepare a meal.

Caption 14, Janoschs Traumstunde: Der Wettlauf zwischen Hase und Igel

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Er verbrachte seine Tage damit zu nähen.

He spent his days sewing.

Caption 7, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Das tapfere Schneiderlein

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Im Nebenjob sind die Oberkommissare Häkelhelden und häkeln Mützen für den guten Zweck.

In their sideline jobs, the chief commissioners are crochet heroes and crochet caps for a good cause.

Captions 4-5, Häkelhelden: Polizisten im Einsatz

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Sie vertrieben sich die Zeit mit Stickerei, Lesen und Kartenspiel.

They passed the time with embroidery, reading, and card games.

Caption 56, Das Mittelalter im Südwesten: Ritter und Burgen

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Of course, not all creative hobbies involve textiles:

Mittlerweile machen wir eben Schmuck und, äh, es gibt jetzt ein Parfum von Herr von Eden.

In the meantime, we have started making jewellery and, uh, there is now a perfume by Herr von Eden.

Caption 13, Jonathan Johnson: Herr von Eden

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Bauernmalerei, Blaudruckerei, Schmiede, Töpferei, Weberei.

Farm painting, indigo printing, blacksmith's, pottery studio, weaving studio.

Caption 2, Berlin: Domäne Dahlem

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Hier kommen wir nun zum Stand mit der Keramik.

Here we come now to the stand with the ceramics.

Caption 34, Deutsch mit Eylin: Umzug nach Ottensen

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Ach ja, und hier sind natürlich auch noch die Pinsel zum Aquarellkasten.

Oh yes, and here are, of course, the paintbrushes for the watercolor box, too.

Caption 56, Deutsch mit Eylin: Dinge auf meinem Schreibtisch

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The word "hobby" has been adapted into German as das Hobby, though you also might hear people talk about their Lieblingsbeschäftigung. When we speak about crafts in German, we tend to specify with das Kunsthandwerk rather than simply saying die Kunst.

Further Learning

Do you do any handicrafts or have creative hobbies? In addition to looking on Yabla German, you can use an online dictionary like LEO.org to get a translation for your hobbies. 

You are likely already very familiar with the verb kaufen and its antonym verkaufen: 

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Die Leute gehen in den Supermarkt, kaufen etwas und wissen gar nicht, woher es kommt.

People go to the supermarket, buy something and don't even know where it comes from.

Captions 12-13, Bundesregierung - Der Tomatenfisch

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Wir verkaufen Brezeln mit Schokolade.

We sell pretzels with chocolate.

Caption 20, Berlin - Judith und die „Brezel Bar“

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You probably know the verb einkaufen as well: 

Fritzle geht mit seiner Oma einkaufen.

Little Fritz goes shopping with his grandma.

Caption 2, Ivana erzählt Witze - Fritzle und die Oma

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You may, however, be less familiar with the separable verb ankaufen. It is very similar to kaufen ("to buy"), but has a very specific context related to a person or a company that offers to buy items on a regular basis: 

Der Juwelier kauft Gold an.
The jeweler buys gold. 

Der Autohändler kauft Gebrauchtwagen an.
The car dealer buys used cars. 

The separable verb aufkaufen can be used to mean "to buy up" or to buy in large quantities:

Ursprünglich hat er alte Anzüge aufgekauft, so aus den Zwanzigern und so.

Originally, he bought up old suits from the twenties and such.

Caption 6, Jonathan Johnson - Herr von Eden

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The verb aufkaufen is also used when a company takes over or acquires another company: 

Facebook und Amazon wurden von Google aufgekauft.
Facebook and Amazon were acquired by Google.

Please note that the above statement is purely hypothetical and is in no way intended to represent the intention of any companies, real or imagined! 

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Further Learning
Read this excellent article on the four verbs above, and see this list of words that use the root kaufen. You may then go to Yabla German and find examples of the words used in a real world context.