Introducing… Gnemo the First!

Gnemo the First is a budding perfumier (or, I suppose, you could also call him a gnose). His current aroma goal is to bottle the woodsy scent of Grimblewood after an early summer storm, which he plans to sell at his market stall: ‘Gnemo’s Scentos‘. When he’s not working in his perfume laboratory, Gnemo can usually be found snoozing (I mean, with a nightcap like that, who can blame him?).

Table of Contents

• The Yarn
• Choosing June’s Gnome
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Søstrene Grene Alpaca Yarn: Mini Review
• Final Thoughts

The Yarn

Throughout my Year of Gnomes 2025 undertaking, I’ve been limiting myself to using up the scraps of fingering weight yarn already lingering around my house. However, I received some new yarn for my birthday last month that I had never tried before and I realised that a gnome would be the perfect project to get a feel for it: see how it knits up, how it blocks, how it works etc. As a result, June’s gnome features a momentary hiatus from my stash-busting attempts!

The new yarn in question is the Alpaca Yarn from Søstrene Grene. Søstrene Grene is a company that I first came across towards the end of last year (it made for some very enjoyable online Christmas shopping!), but I went to one of their in-person stores for the first time last month and had the absolute time of my life looking at all the little trinkets and knick-knacks. It’s not a dedicated yarn store— in fact, it sells a massive range of products, from kitchenware to craft supplies to furniture, but I was very excited to see a whole section full of yarn there, so, of course, I had to try it out!

The Alpaca Yarn is a 90% alpaca, 10% acrylic blend that comes in 25g balls. I’m not entirely sure what weight you would classify it as: the yardage is 75m/25g, which I think is about Sport weight, but this is an alpaca yarn, and, based on the recommended needle size (2.5-3mm), it’s probably closer to fingering weight, which is what I used it as for my gnome. In fact, the pattern specifically called for 2.5mm and 3mm needles, so it all worked out.

There were three colours to choose from (Smokey Blue, Warm Grey and Camel) and I got one of each ball. I do think that the names are misleading: Smokey Blue is actually quite a vivid mid/baby blue, Warm Grey is a pretty standard brown shade with the barest hint of grey and Camel is much more of a grey-toned oatmeal.

Choosing June’s Gnome

I really wanted to use all three of the yarn shades in my June gnome, because I loved how they looked together in their balls, so I decided to make a gnome with a strong colourwork component. I’ve been working pretty exclusively (bar my April gnome!) from the Gnomes of Grimblewood book for my Year of Gnomes, but I decided to branch out this month and purchase one of Schira’s one-off gnome patterns on Ravelry. This pattern is called Gnome is Where You Hang Your Hat and there’s plenty of colourwork in it (it’s like, 10% gnome, 90% colourwork), so it was a perfect choice for this project!

Gnemo (the name of the gnome itself) is a more complicated gnome than the gnomes in the book, because he was first released as a mystery knitalong. He has an extraordinarily tall hat (no, seriously, it’s huge), ear flaps, a super curly beard AND a removable jumper, so he’s got a lot going for him!

Thoughts on the Pattern

I’ve waxed lyrical about Schira’s patterns multiple times throughout this series, but I have to admit, I found this pattern a little more challenging and less clearly explained than the other ones I’ve used from her. It is a slightly older pattern, so I think it’s probably just a case of getting even better at pattern-writing over time and getting to know what the panic-gnome-knitters (like me) need in terms of hand-holding (answer: lots) and guidance (answer: also lots).

I have to say though, If you’re new to the world of gnome-knitting, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend starting with Gnemo. I definitely found it helpful to have a general understanding of the gnome-making process to fall back on when I was confused/unsure about what was going on in the pattern. Actually, there are quite a few similarities between Gnemo and Gnoddy (the gnome I made last month!), so it was especially helpful to have made Gnoddy beforehand and already have a good understanding of the earflap/sweater construction!

Changes/Adaptations

Despite this being my first time making a Gnemo, I did make a few changes/adaptations to the pattern as I went along. I try not to do this the first time I make a new gnome, because I want to get to grips with the pattern and knit them as intended, but I branched out a little with Gnemo in several places:

• Colour layout

This one really frustrated me: I’m pretty sure that the sample gnome featured in the pattern uses a different colour layout to the ones laid out in the pattern instructions, which was unfortunate, because I really wanted to make a gnome that was similar to the gnome in the photo. I messed around with the colour orders/arrangements a little bit to try and mimic the inspiration photo (and switched it up elsewhere, where I thought it would look better with my colour choices, e.g. the hat brim). Honestly, this required a surprising amount of consideration and time, so I did find myself getting a bit exasperated with it every now and then.

• Cast-on

The pattern lists two types of cast-ons: the knitted cast-on and the cable cast-on. I gave the knitted cast-on a go but didn’t love it, so I ripped back and just used the cable cast-on for every cast-on stage.

• One-colour arms

This isn’t really a change/adaptation, but there are two arm styles listed in the pattern: one with one colour (aptly named ‘one-colour arms’, and what I chose to use) and the other with two colours (again, aptly named ‘two-colour arms’). There wasn’t an explanation for the two arm offerings in the pattern, so I guess it’s just personal preference! My body colour was the same as my hand colour, so I opted to go for the one-colour arms.

• Worked 2 extra rows for sleeves of jumper

The pattern instructs you to work the sleeves for a certain number of rows OR until the underarm is a certain length, and I did find that I needed to add a couple of extra rows to the suggested count to reach that length. I’m glad I did, because my sleeves were still too short for my arms, even though I measured them (though it is entirely possible that my measuring was… less than accurate). If I made Gnemo again, I’d either make these sleeves longer or make the arms shorter, so they fit better with each other.

• Added the optional tassel

The tassel on the end of Gnemo‘s hat is an optional extra, but I really think it adds to his overall vibe, so I decided to make one and sew it on. I’ve made a couple of these tassels before (see my Gnomewarming post), so I knew what to do!

Things I Loved!

There are lots of things I love about Gnemo:

• The fact his sweater is actually REMOVABLE

I was a little disappointed when I made Gnoddy that his sweater was a kind of… ‘faux’ sweater that couldn’t actually be removed/taken off so I was thrilled that Gnemo‘s sweater was a separate piece to the rest of his gnome-self!

• His curly beard

If you remember back in April when I made Professor Fungi, I really struggled to get any curls in his beard, despite being super intentional with my tension. I made a point of knitting Gnemo‘s beard extra tightly this time around to see if I could get proper curls and… it worked! I do also think the yarn I used had something to do with it: perhaps alpaca wool is just very good at holding a curl?

• The colourwork pattern at the bottom of his body

The cute little ‘xoxo’ pattern around the bottom of Gnemo‘s body might just be my favourite of his colourwork elements! I think it really helps to add a bit of decoration to the otherwise pretty plain body.

• The use of a different colour for Gnemo‘s base

This is such a simple design feature, but I think it’s really effective!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

Naturally, though, there are a few things I wasn’t quite so keen on…

• Blocking. Gnemo‘s. Hat.

This was the WORST! Gnemo‘s hat is so skinny, particularly at the end, and SO long that it makes it such a nightmare to block. This was especially unfortunate, given that the hat featured SO MUCH colourwork. and I really feel that I could have got a smoother edge if I’d found a way to properly block the hat. I did get some puckering on each edge of the hat (I used the magic loop technique to knit Gnemo, which might be the cause of this!) and it does make me a little sad that I didn’t manage to smooth that out…

• Gnemo‘s nose.

Gnemo‘s nose is a folded-over-i-cord situation, which was easier to make than the more spherical noses Schira often uses for her gnomes, but I do think it’s a little harder to make it look neat when attaching it. Honestly, if I made Gnemo again, I’d be tempted to follow the instructions for the ‘Large Nose’ in the Gnomes of Grimblewood and use that instead.

• The sweater/arm length/placement issues

As I mentioned earlier, these length issues were probably a result of my own poor measuring skills, but it’s definitely something I’ll need to keep in mind if I ever make Gnemo again, because it does have a significant impact on the finished gnome (if I pull the arms right through, Gnemo has terrifyingly long and slender hands, but if I don’t, his shoulders become very 80s, shoulder pad-esque, which also isn’t the vibe, but is probably preferable to the alternative).

I would also pay closer attention to where I’m attaching the arms: I followed the instructions in the pattern, but found that they didn’t quite sit right with the jumper when placed there. If I made Gnemo again, I’d do what I usually do with knitted toys (but was too lazy to do here) and put the sweater on the body, then use removable stitch markers to mark where the arms need to go relative to the sweater, to ensure everything fits perfectly.

Søstrene Grene Alpaca Yarn: Mini Review

Time for a few thoughts on the Alpaca Yarn from Søstrene Grene!

I really enjoyed working with this yarn: it’s super soft, which I LOVED (also, it weirdly absorbed the smell of my mum’s fancy wool wash incredibly well, so Gnemo is the most beautiful smelling gnome on the whole planet). It is, however (though I’m told that this is the case with all alpaca yarns), rather hairy, so Gnemo has a definite fuzzy look about him.

From what I can tell, this yarn only comes in the three shades I got, which is odd, but not wholly unexpected, given that Søstrene Grene is not a yarn shop. Weirdly, when knitted up, I felt that the blue yarn looked a little more highlighter-y and bright than it did in the ball, but that’s a minor thing (and not something I can offer any explanation for…).

All in all, I’m not entirely sure what else I’d use this yarn for (other than gnome-ing, of course) but I had a lot of fun trying it out!

Final Thoughts

I have to say, I found Gnemo quite challenging to make. He wasn’t a difficult knit, per se, (though he was definitely more complex than some of the other gnomes I have made), but I did find the instructions a little less clear/easy to follow than Schira’s more recent gnome patterns.

The blocking of the hat caused me no end of grief: I’d love to think of a way to block such a tall, thin cone effectively, because I do think it would make a huge difference to the finish of the colourwork. The arms also caused me some problems, but I think that’s an easier fix: just a little bit more care when knitting/positioning/attaching!

Having said all that, there are a couple of elements of Gnemo that I really love & enjoyed the process of: specifically, the removable jumper (a dream!) and the beard (finally! A successful curl!). I think with a few tweaks (and maybe some blocking magic for the hat?) I could really grow to love this pattern, even if I’m not quite there yet.

Anddddd that’s everything there is to know about Gnemo the First, my June gnome! This one was definitely a challenge, but he’s still a very cute addition to my gnome collection (even if he stands out a little with his bright, light colour scheme: perhaps I need to move even further away from my typically autumnal palette and make him an even brighter, lighter friend next month?).

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnome is Where You Hang Your Hat on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnemo the First here.

Gemma

xxx