My December gnome was another mystery gnome. The Advent mystery gnomes work a little differently, though: instead of pattern updates every few days, you get an update every day (in this case, from 1st-21st December). Not all of the updates are knitting clues, though— there are also festive recipes, miscellaneous patterns and periodical instalments of the festive story behind the gnome, so the knitting itself isn’t too overwhelming.

I wanted to wait to post my Gnandad until the mystery knitalong was finished to avoid any spoilers for people participating in/following along with it. I meant to post this in January but time just got away from me… No matter, we’re here now, excitingly (albeit belatedly) bringing the curtain down on my Year of Gnomes 2025 experience!

So, finally, I can introduce… Gnandad!

Gnandad is a rather impish gnome: when he’s not having a nap in his chair by the hearth, he can often be found in the local store, pottering around the fruit and veg aisle and plotting to ambush his grandchildren at the next family dinner with the most obscure produce he can find. He’s a morning gnome— he wakes up bright-eyed and bushy-stached before the sun has even risen, but, the minute the sun starts to go down in the evening, you’ll catch his eyes (and moustache) beginning to droop.

Table of Contents

• Choosing December’s Gnome
• Updated MKAL Thoughts
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing December’s Gnome

While you didn’t have to participate in the Gnandad MKAL (mystery knitalong) as part of the Year of Gnomes (you can make any gnome you want!), I thought it would be a nice way to finish off the experience, so I decided to go for it, despite not loving the mystery format in my previous two attempts (I’m a girl who likes to plan ahead, what can I say?). Plus, Gnandad felt like he was going to be very festive, which is an easy way to convince me to give something a go (I, like Mariah Carey, defrost for Christmas), so I was sold!

Updated MKAL Thoughts

This was my third time participating in a Mystery Knitalong (MKAL), so I thought I’d give you my updated thoughts on the general experience of knitting with absolutely no idea where you’re heading.

Overall… I’m still not obsessed with MKAL gnomes. I think I just prefer knowing what I’m getting myself into, so that I can be really intentional about the colours I pick. I also like seeing the gnome as it gradually comes together, which I feel you miss out on a little bit with an MKAL?

I was actually super late to the party this time around: I fully intended to start my gnome on 1st December butttttt…. I ended up starting it on 19th December instead. Because I was so late, I actually spoiled the surprise for myself on purpose and looked at other people’s progress photos. Honestly, I just didn’t feel like I had the energy to enjoy the mystery of it all and trust the process, which I know isn’t really in the MKAL spirit, but it definitely helped me this time around (so, I guess this was really just a KAL for me, then?).

However, I do think MKALs can be fun: it’s kind of exciting to see everyone else’s gnomes evolving in real time and you do feel like you’re part of a gnome-y community!

The Yarn

As with most of my other Year of Gnomes projects, I picked my yarns for Gnandad from my mum’s fingering-weight stash, which mainly comprises of little balls of yarn leftover from making socks. For her sample gnome, Schira used a teal shade for the contrast colour that I really loved, but I couldn’t find anything remotely similar in the stash, so I picked a paler, mint green shade.

Reader, this was a mistake. I started knitting Gnandad‘s hat, then quickly realised that there wasn’t enough contrast between the green and grey shades, which was rendering the colourwork that I was so painstakingly working… absolutely useless. I lived in denial for a few more rows, then realised I needed to go back and start again, so I did, substituting the green with this rich, magenta-y purple. I figured it was a good shade because (most importantly) the contrast was much better, but also because it’s kind of festive, but in a classic, casual, not red-and-green kind of way, if you get what I mean?

I was a little bit worried when I was knitting with the darker grey shade, because it felt a little thinner than the other yarns and I was concerned that the stuffing would show through (which would be especially noticeable, given the contrast between the dark yarn and the white stuffing!). Luckily, this turned out to be a case of worrying over nothing (my modus operandi) because you truly can’t see any stuffing at all through the fabric! A win for Gnandad!

In the end then, I used the following colours for my Gnandad:

• C1: Purple
• C2: Light Grey
• C3: White
• C4: Dark Grey

Thoughts on the Pattern

As mystery gnomes go, I actually thought Gnandad was pretty simple— often, I find that Schira’s mystery gnomes are much more complex and fancy than her other gnomes, but Gnandad was pretty understated. I think the fun of him is in the unusual techniques used to make him, rather than his overall look at the end. Because of this, there were definitely some new techniques for me in this project: a new type of colourwork (which I believe is called mosaic knitting?), Estonian braids and moustache-making!

One thing I did notice about this pattern is that the needle size you need to use changes around quite a bit (particularly when you’re making the hat!), so I would recommend paying extra attention to that throughout.

Things I Loved!

There are so many cute details on Gnandad that I absolutely love!

• Gnandad’s Moustache

It always amazes me how Schira seems to be able to come up with new & innovative designs every time: the moustache took me by surprise (I’m used to lonely beards), but it’s so cute!

• The Estonian Braid Element

This was my first time working an Estonian Braid and (once I’d actually watched the recommended video, so that I knew what I was doing) it was really simple to do. I really enjoyed learning a new technique and I think it’s a really fitting feature on Gnandad: it looks super cute and it helps to balance out the colours nicely.

• Gnandad‘s Suspenders

I wasn’t entirely convinced by the idea of the suspenders at first— not for any particular reason, I just didn’t know how they’d work? But I love them. My favourite thing about them is that I can tuck Gnandad’s little arms into them like he’s about to settle in for a jolly ‘back in my day…’ kind of story. I think they really make him!

• Gnandad‘s Feet

The return to gnome feet! I can’t tell you how excited I was when I realised Gnandad had feet: I love making them (the three-needle bind off is SO satisfying) and I love how cute they make the gnomes look.

• I-cord Toppers

I’ve made (or attempted to make) these i-cord toppers before on Gnectar, back in August, but… they didn’t end up right. Luckily, with Gnandad, I must have conquered my i-cord demons because they turned out perfectly! I’m so much happier with them.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

As always though, there are a couple of things that I am not so fond of…

• Gnandad‘s Beard

I have a couple of issues with Gnandad‘s beard: firstly, I’m not super happy with the cast-off edge— I think I made it a little too tight because the beard has a slightly odd curve to it. Secondly, and this is entirely a me-problem, the beard is kind of… weirdly long and it just… well, it reminds me of a giraffe tongue and makes me uncomfortable. I guess not all beards are made equal?

• Gnandad‘s Moustache

I know what you’re thinking: ‘But Gemma! You said you loved his moustache!’. I did! And I do! But I think I could execute the ‘stache better: it’s a little smaller than I think it’s meant to be and pretty… diamond-y? Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing when I read the instructions, so I just snipped and hoped for the best? It looks good, but I think it could look great.

• Mosaic Colourwork

I can see the appeal of this technique and yes, it looks great, but honestly, it wasn’t my favourite to work up. I kept feeling frustrated at having to work double the number of rows (I actually missed stranded colourwork!) and it felt like it took forever because of it. I do like the effect, but the process was endless.

• The Shape of Gnandad‘s Hat

The shape of Gnandad‘s hat feels a little less smooth than some of the other gnomes I’ve made from Schira’s patterns that have similar, conical hats. This could be to do with my tension/stuffing skills (or lack thereof), but it just irks me a little.

Final Thoughts

If I’m being completely honest, I was a little underwhelmed by Gnandad at first. I think a big reason for this is that I had made Gnoel just before and he was my absolute favourite gnome I’ve ever made. Really, poor Gnandad, how was he supposed to top that?

However, over time, I’ve grown quite fond of him! His little moustache and suspenders (and, most importantly, the fact that I can tuck his hands into said suspenders) give him such personality! He’s like a slow-burn gnome: he doesn’t immediately draw the eye but, once you’ve spotted him, there are all these little features to admire.

On the whole, he was a pretty quick knit, except for his hat, which felt like it took forever (this is me, formally picking a fight with mosaic knitting). The new, more complex techniques are used sparingly, so there are large sections of just basic knitting, which helped speed things up too.

And that is Gnandad, my December gnome and the final gnome in my Year of Gnomes 2025. 12 months, 12 gnomes, a plethora of new techniques and a whole host of whimsical fun and cosy knitting. While I’m not necessarily in a rush to embark on another year-long knitting challenge any time soon, I did enjoy participating in this extended knitalong: I loved seeing all of the gnomes everybody made and I love my own little 2025 gnome collection.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I have! Year of Gnomes 2025: over and out.

If you're interested...

You can find the pattern for Gnandad on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnandad here.

Gemma

xxx

You can probably tell, but this year has been a really gnome-y one for me! I’m currently working on my December entry for the Year of Gnomes 2025, but it’s another MKAL (mystery knitalong), so I can’t share that one with you this year (I must protect the gnome secrets)! It wouldn’t be right to let the festive season pass by without a nod to my gnome-ing era, though, so I decided to make a different, Christmassy gnome outside of the year-long challenge.

Enter: Gnoel!

Gnoel is in charge of the Grimblewood Carol Singers: he picks the songs, assigns the parts and maps out the route every single year. His favourite carolling pick is The First Noel (for obvious reasons), but he is also partial to We Wish You A Merry Christmas, because, on occasion, the gnomes of Grimblewood have been known to take the lyrics literally and bring the troupe some actual figgy pudding (Gnoel‘s favourite treat!). Some of the members say he rules with an iron fist, but he would say that he rules with a firmly knitted mitten: there’s a difference.

Sarah Schira (a.k.a. Imagined Landscapes), released the pattern for this festive, colourwork gnome back in October (you can purchase it here) and I just loved all of the little details— I mean, just look at the hat bobbles, the fringe beard and the little mittens! Honestly, I think Gnoel might be my favourite gnome I’ve ever made. Scratch that: he is my favourite Gnome I’ve ever made!

Table of Contents

• Yarn Choices
• Thoughts on the Pattern/Gnome-Making Process
• Changes/Adaptations
• Final Thoughts

Yarn Choices

I think my favourite thing about Gnoel is the colours I used for him: I wanted something really festive, but something a little different to the more classic, red/green/white combo from the pattern. I spent a little while looking through other knitters’ projects on Ravelry (you can find my Ravelry profile here!) and saw lots of people using blues and purples, which I thought looked really nice, so I decided to take inspiration from that and make my own, blueish Gnoel.

Just as with my Year of Gnomes knits (or the majority of them, at least), I used scraps of fingering weight yarn for Gnoel. The pattern actually calls for DK weight yarn, but I just used fingering weight and sized my needles down accordingly (more on that later), because I wanted Gnoel to fit in nicely with my other gnomes, size-wise.

Gnoel requires 5 colours (I know, it’s a lot!), so I chose a navy blue; a mid blue; a deep, raspberry red; a slightly variegated gold and a cream. Coincidentally, all of the yarns (bar the gold, which I cannot place), are DROPS Fabel (a sock yarn that is particularly good for colourwork), which made them great choices for this particular project. The cream shade is Off White (100), the navy blue shade is Blue (107), the mid blue shade is Grey Blue (103) and the red shade is Ruby Red (113).

I absolutely LOVE how these five colours work together: it’s a really rich colour palette that, while not inherently Christmassy, still feels very festive and cosy. I did mess around with the arrangements of the colours in the various charts a little, just to get the best out of my specific choices, but it wasn’t anything too crazy!

Thoughts on the Pattern/Gnome-Making Process

I had the time of my LIFE making Gnoel. Actually, let me rephrase that: I had the time of my life making Gnoel’s hat and body (the arms, bobbles and beard… not so much). I was quite nervous going into this project because I knew it was going to be on the bigger side and that there was a lot of colourwork, but I honestly enjoyed the process SO MUCH. I think that’s partly to do with my colour choices (it was such a joy seeing the patterns work up in those beautiful shades!), but also, I just do love knitting colourwork— particularly when it stays nice and even and I don’t run into any problems. I was so glad I used DROPS Fabel for this— the colourwork sections using that yarn worked up so neatly and I definitely noticed a difference when I used the non-Fabel gold shade!

Worked in the fingering weight yarn, my Gnoel is about 24cm high. The shape of both his hat and body are relatively simple (albeit large): the wow factor really comes from the colourwork design and the small features: the fringed beard, the mittened arms and the bobbles on the hat! As much as I LOVE how all those little features look on the finished Gnoel… they were a bit of a pain to make. The beard includes a lot of cutting and re-joining the yarn, the mittens are exactly as fiddly as you might expect them to be and the bobbles… well the bobbles are straightforward, but having to make three of them (including the nose) feels like a bit of a chore. However! You cannot argue with results and boy, does Gnoel look cool. It’s worth a bit of faffing around to make him so absolutely adorable and wintery and warm: I love him.

Changes/Adaptations

I usually don’t make any changes to gnome patterns the first time I make them, but I did end up making a few alterations to Gnoel this time around:

• Fingering weight yarn (and needle sizes)

First of all, as I mentioned, I used fingering weight yarn instead of the DK weight yarn suggested in the pattern. Because of this, I used 2.25mm and 2.5mm needles instead of the 3.25mm and 3.5mm needles called for. As always, I made this gnome on circular needles using the magic loop method, not DPNs.

• Colour positions

I used 5 colours, as called for in the pattern, but I rearranged the positions of them in some of the colourwork charts, just to make sure they fit well together.

• Needle positions

In the body instructions, the pattern suggests not having a needle join at the centre-front, to ensure that the colourwork pattern looks super neat there. I would actually recommend applying this principle to the hat as well, because there is a larger tree motif at the centre-front of the hat that falls right where your needle join would be (particularly if, like me, you’re using the magic loop method). I rearranged my stitches so that my BOR marker was in the centre of one of my needles and the two needle joins were on the left and right-hand side of the hat, respectively, which made my Gnoel look much neater than he otherwise might have! I’m really glad I did this.

• Beard fringe length

I made the fringe on my beard 1.5cm long, which is a little shorter than the pattern calls for, because I think it looks better on my Gnoel this way. I did cut it to the original length to start with, but it just looked a little too long and straggly!

While we’re on the topic of the beard fringe: I found the best way to cut it was to stick a piece of washi tape along one edge of the beard, right on top of the fringing, then hold the whole thing up in the air and trim the fringe right up against the edge of the washi tape, with a small pair of scissors (and, then, of course, repeat that process for the other side). Handily, my washi tape was already 1.5cm wide, so it was a perfect marker, but it also keeps the fringing secure while you trim, so you can hold it up and get a super neat, even cut.

Final Thoughts

I said it earlier and I meant it: I think Gnoel is my favourite of all of the gnomes I have made this year (and I’ve made a lot…). I love the colours I chose, I love the colourwork design, I love his shape and size and general festiveness. I even love those fiddly little mittens, the fringe on his beard and the little bobbles on his hat. He just brings me so much joy to look at, and brought me even more joy to make: long story short, he’s my dream gnome. This was definitely one of my favourite knitting projects of the year!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my festive gnome-ing (and my beloved Gnoel)!

If you're interested...

You can find the pattern for Gnoel on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnoel here.

Gemma

xxx

Today’s post is all about my November gnome… Gnoodles the First!

Gnoodles the First‘s favourite food is spaghetti (she’s not picky about the sauce), but, because she’s so small, she only needs a single spaghetto to fill her up! When she’s not eating pasta, she spends her time working on her potion-brewing and spell-casting skills. She’s hoping that the Guild of Grimblewood Witches will finally accept her application to join if she wows them with her witchy prowess: she already has the perfect hat, right?

Table of Contents

• Choosing November’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing November’s Gnome

Throughout this series, I’ve been slowly but surely working my way through Sarah Schira’s book, The Gnomes of Grimblewood. The book contains 8 individual gnome patterns (plus the ability to mix & match different elements to make your own gnome designs) and, before this month, I’d made 7 of them. There’s another mystery gnome on the horizon for December, so I figured November would be the perfect month to get in the last gnome: Gnoodles!

Gnoodles is also known as ‘Gnoodles the Smallest Gnome’ and boy does she live up to that epithet! She’s a pretty tiny, super quick knit— I whipped her up in 2 days of (very gentle) knitting.

The Yarn

I dipped back into the ol’ yarn scrap stash for Gnoodles and picked out some autumnal shades, because, you know, it’s my last chance!

I chose a dark purple for the hat, a copper-y colour for the body (the same shade I used for Gnorri‘s hat wayyyyyy back in January) and a cream shade for the beard, nose and hands. The dark purple yarn was a little finer than the other two, so I did have a little trouble with the white stuffing showing through, but I just stuffed it lightly, gave it a bit of a squish and it was barely noticeable!

Thoughts on the Pattern

Gnoodles is definitely the simplest pattern of all of the gnomes in the book: she’s made up of a simple, cone-shaped hat (similar to, though obviously significantly smaller than, that of Gnorri (left) and Gnectar (right)), a plain, slightly rounded body, a loopy beard and some tiny i-cord arms. There aren’t any super complicated techniques, colourwork or shaping and, because she’s so small, she works up super quickly!

Gnoodles was exactly what I needed this month (given the fact that the festive season is fast approaching!): a quick, simple knit that didn’t require any faff or inner turmoil: just some good old fashioned gnome-ing.

Changes/Adaptations

Seeing as this was my first time making Gnoodles, I didn’t make any changes to the pattern. In general, I prefer to make the gnomes as intended for my first go and then tell myself I’ll make some adaptations the next time around (even if the next time around is still… very far in the future).

Things I Loved!

There’s so much to love about Gnoodles!

• Her tininess.

Gnoodles is small. ‘Small’ here means the following: a) quick to knit, b) less of a drain on the wool-y resources and c) CUTER than CUTE. I mean, look at her tiny little hat! Her tiny little arms! Her tiny little nose!

• The colour scheme.

I love an autumnal colour scheme and I think this one is so cosy and perfect! It reminds me of hedgehogs and blackberries and witchy, Halloween-y vibes.

• The loopy beard.

The first thing I love about this beard: you don’t have to block it (in fact, you actually can’t block it, or else you’ll end up with a curly beard). The second thing I love about this beard: the fact that it looks like spaghetti (which I’m guessing is what inspired Gnoodles‘s name?). I too love spaghetti, so this feels very fitting.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

There was only one major problem that I ran into with Gnoodles…

• Stuffing Gnoodles (particularly with the weighted stuffing).

Gnoodles is very small (have I mentioned that?) and while that made stuffing her with the fluffy stuffing a little challenging, it made stuffing her with the weighted pellets an absolute ordeal. I’m seriously considering buying myself a funnel for future gnomes because this process? It was painful. Pellets, everywhere! Gnoodles, unstuffed! Me, losing the will to live! If I made Gnoodles again, I would a) use the aforementioned, currently non-existent funnel and b) consider adding the weighted stuffing before Round 37 (as opposed to after), to give myself a little more room to play with.

Final Thoughts

I love Gnoodles. I love her for her tininess, her colour scheme and the fact that, after leaving my recent gnomes right to the wire, I worked her up early on in the month, super quickly and easily and, as a result, saved myself a whole load of stress.

It also makes me feel very at peace that I have now made (at least) one of each of the 8 gnome patterns in The Gnomes of Grimblewood: I feel like I have a solid gnome base now and I can start having even more fun with them!

There’s one post left in this series: I’ll be participating in the December MKAL (mystery knitalong), ‘Gnandad’s Grand Adventure‘ for my December gnome! The December MKALs are daily affairs, so it’ll be a whole new experience for me! I can’t wait to see how Gnandad ends up! Because this is an MKAL, I won’t be able to post about it until January, so keep an eye out for it then.

Fear not, though, because I have another festive gnome up my sleeve that I will be sharing in December, just to bring some gnome-y joy to your festive season. Stay tuned!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnoodles on Ravelry here.

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

Gemma

xxx

Just like my April gnome, my October gnome has the added fun of being a mystery gnome, which I made as part of a separate knitalong, also run by Schira. This knitalong has now finished: the mystery has been unveiled and the full pattern has been released (you can find it here), so you can make the gnome(s) at your leisure!

There were two options for this mystery gnome: Gnumpkin (a pumpkin-inspired gnome) or Gnettle (a witch-inspired gnome). I opted to make Gnumpkin, because I am not fond of spooky witches (I was traumatised by both the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz and the Hag from Snow White as a child), but I am a very big fan of pumpkins. In other words, it was a no-brainer.

Anyway, here is my October gnome… Gnumpkin!

Gnumpkin recently tried to enter himself into the local garden show, in the ‘Best Gourd’ category (obviously). He figured he was a shoo-in for ‘Best in Show’, considering he is both sentient and excellently formed. Alas, he was very miffed to be beaten out by a particularly obnoxious butternut squash. Worse still, he didn’t even place in the competition: his stalk was deemed ‘disproportionate to his body’ and his legs were labelled ‘disturbing’. Instead of coming away with the grand prize (a jar of Gnectar’s homemade blackberry jam), he came away with an unfortunate identity crisis. Poor Gnumpkin.

Table of Contents

• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

The Yarn

Last time I participated in a MKAL (mystery knitalong), I went a little… rogue with my colour choices (which is why I ended up with a blue and red mushroom gnome and discovered that actions do, indeed, have consequences). Don’t get me wrong, I love my Professor Fungi gnome, but I figured I should go more by the book this time around!

Because of this, I opted to stick to a super pumpkin-y colour palette, just as suggested in the pattern. Luckily, I had some fingering weight yarn leftover from my Pumpkin Strange Brew Sweater, in the perfect, gourd-y colours! For my Gnumpkin then, I used the following yarn:

• Orange: Scheepjes Metropolis in the shade Liverpool 65.
• Brown: Yarnsmiths Merino Sock in the shade Rich Brown 2K079.
• Cream: King Cole Anti-Tickle Merino Blend 4ply in the shade Aran 46.

I was really happy with these colour choices (though I did see some AMAZING Gnumpkins made with tweed yarns on Ravelry too, which I’m very tempted to try!). The only problem I ran into was that I did have two instances of the Scheepjes yarn breaking while I was trying to tighten up the indents on the pumpkin body— pretty disastrous, but I managed to fudge my way through it! Nevertheless, I think a slightly stronger yarn would be a better fit for this project.

Thoughts on the Pattern

I’ve mentioned before that I tend to find the patterns from the book, The Gnomes of Grimblewood, significantly easier to follow than Schira’s individual patterns (particularly the ones that start out life as MKALs, i.e. mystery knitalongs). However, I actually found Gnumpkin really straightforward and easy to work up! He’s a deceptively simple design, with just a few specific techniques that work to give such a fun, effective finish. Admittedly, there’s quite a lot of knitting in Gnumpkin, but most of it is pretty plain, so it takes more time than effort, if that makes sense?

Actually, my Pumpkin Patch project from last year set me up really well for this project, because I was already familiar with the process of knitting the purl channels and using the yarn to create the indentations of Gnumpkin‘s pumpkin body.

The technique used in the hat to ‘scrunch’ it up and make it look kind of crumpled and organic was new to me, but Schira’s instructions were so clear and the whole thing worked out really well!

Things I Loved!

There is so much to love about Gnumpkin!

• His pumpkin body.

I mean, this is kind of Gnumpkin‘s whole thing, but his little pumpkin body is just so perfectly pumpkin-y. I love it!

• The fact that his hat is the pumpkin stalk.

I was baffled and bemused while I was knitting this hat: it really felt like a witch’s hat, so I could see how it would work for Gnettle, but not necessarily for Gnumpkin. Once I got a bit further through the clues, things started to make more sense and I was so impressed by Schira’s creativity!

• The ‘pinches’ in the hat.

The hat is intentionally crumpled up a little bit on one side, which gives it a nice curved shape AND makes it look more witchy and organic. The method used for this is so simple and easy to do, but so clever: I really enjoyed it.

• The legs.

The legs were the first pieces that I made (as per the order of the clues) and I realised pretty quickly what they were. I’ve never actually made a gnome with legs before Gnumpkin and I have to say, I was a little worried about it? Not because it was tricky— the legs were actually super straightforward to make— but because I just wasn’t sure how they would look. I have to say though, I absolutely love them: they’re so cute and stripe-y and fun! I think they give Gnumpkin a lot of personality.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

Of course, there were a few things I wasn’t quite so crazy on. As always, these observations are completely personal preference and nothing against the original design! I love Schira’s patterns, but I also love adapting things to make them fit my needs/preferences, which is what the musings in this section are all about!

• The size of Gnumpkin‘s nose.

I feel that Gnumpkin‘s nose is slightly disproportionate to the rest of him: it’s pretty big (especially compared to most of the other gnomes in my ever-growing collection) and I just don’t think it sits right on his little body? I’d like to try using the ‘large nose’ pattern from The Gnomes of Grimblewood and see how that looks!

• Gnumpkin’s beard.

I was SO excited when I saw that this was another beard featuring twisted rib, because that’s a feature of my all-time favourite beard pattern by Schira (the one from Here We Gnome Again). I do like the texture of this beard, but the shape is a bit off for me: it’s quite thin and pointy, which I don’t love paired with Gnumpkin‘s squat, bulbous body. I think I’d maybe prefer one of the wider (maybe even curlier?), beards here?

• The brim of Gnumpkin‘s hat.

This, I know, is very much a me problem, because all of the other Gnumpkins on Ravelry do NOT seem to have this problem, but the brim of my hat refused to lie flat to Gnumpkin‘s body? It was very intent on flipping up, which I thought might be part of the pattern, but, alas, it is not. I’m thinking this probably had something to do with my tension? Nonetheless, I had to stitch it down in a few places around to get it to sit right, so, in the future, I’d like to find a way to get it right first go!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really like Gnumpkin, and I enjoyed participating in this MKAL even more than the Professor Fungi one back in April (perhaps because Gnumpkin‘s a slightly more straightforward pattern? Or maybe because I’m happier with my colour choices? Who knows!). I really like the fact that he won me over when it came to his stripe-y legs, because I was so not on board with them at the start, but I think they really give him a little extra pizzazz.

I’m not entirely won over by the beard + nose combo: if I made Gnumpkin again I’d definitely be tempted to try something a little different in that department. I’d also be tempted to try giving Gnumpkin some arms as well as legs, just because I think that could be fun!

Despite my deep-rooted fear of witches, I have seen some super cute Gnettles on Ravelry, which has very nearly inspired me to make one of those too. Maybe next spooky season? I don’t think I can bring myself to make her nose and beard green though: that would be a step too far.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my October gnome! I really enjoyed making Gnumpkin: he was a perfect, spooky-season project.

If you're interested...

You can find the pattern for Gnumpkin and Gnettle on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnumpkin here.

Gemma

xxx

My August gnome is coming to you a little late (I mean, it is October tomorrow…), but I promise that I did actually knit this one in August! I’m just only getting around to sharing her here now, but she’s been on my Ravelry page for a while now.

Introducing… Gnectar the First!

Gnectar the First’s favourite time of year is when the blackberries are ripe. She likes to go out foraging, stuffing her pocket full of the berries (although this has led to it being tinted a rather deep shade of pink!). She’ll try any blackberry recipe she can get her hands on: jams, jellies, cakes, muffins, crumbles, crisps— you name it! Outside of blackberry season, Gnectar busies herself with perfecting her sticky gingerbread recipe: she’s determined to finally win the award for Best in Loaf at the Grimblewood Fair one day!

Table of Contents

• Choosing August’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing August’s Gnome

Throughout my gnome-making adventures this year, I’ve nearly managed to knit my way through the whole of The Gnomes of Grimblewood— at the start of August, there were just two gnomes I had yet to make: Gnectar the Marbled Gnome and Gnoodles the Smallest Gnome. I’m aiming to knit all of the gnomes from the book at least once by the end of the year, so I decided to tackle one of them for August!

I chose Gnectar (mainly because I figured Gnoodles would be a super quick knit, so I decided to do future Gemma a favour and save him for a busier month!).

The Yarn

Another gnome, another instance of me going off-piste and spontaneously making ill-advised colour choices… I just can’t help it! On the plus side, I’m back to using up scraps of fingering weight yarn with Gnectar (which has been my aim throughout this series— I’ve done it for all but one of my gnomes!).

I was mostly considering the hat when I made my choices, so I picked 3 shades of pink, along with a gingerbread colour to marl with them, to give my Gnectar a vaguely autumnal, pinkish candy corn vibe! I love this in theory, and it does look good close up, but I feel like the lightest and medium pink shades look a little too similar from afar, so I didn’t quite get the defined stripes that I was looking for.

I had initially planned to marl the gingerbread colour with a white yarn for the body, but I suddenly panicked that the white beard/nose/hands would disappear into the body if I did that, so, at the last minute, I decided to use the palest pink colour instead. I definitely feel like I should have followed the pattern suggestion (shocker!) and used a completely different contrast colour in the body, because I think my Gnectar looks a little… same-y? She’s lovely, but I just think she could use a little more definition! A little more contrast! A little more pizazz!

Thoughts on the Pattern

I really enjoyed coming back to a book gnome pattern after a few months of knitalong style patterns: I find that they are a lot clearer and easy to follow, which makes the gnome-making process even more enjoyable for me!

Gnectar is worked with the yarn held double for everything except the beard, which is knitted with a single strand of yarn. This allows you to achieve that marled effect, but it also makes the fabric much firmer (even though you work on larger needles, to compensate for this!). The firmer fabric definitely makes the stuffing process easier, as each of the pieces are more inclined to hold their intended shape. However, I don’t love knitting with the yarn held double: I always seem to drop loops here and there and I do find it quite hard on my fingers! The pattern does mention that a ‘not-so-hidden’ ninth gnome can be made by knitting Gnectar with a single strand of yarn, so I’m tempted to try that instead next time!

Because of the yarn-held-double situation, and the general roundedness of Gnectar‘s body, she is quite a large gnome. She’s just slightly shorted than Gnolan (but quite a bit stouter!). In terms of circumference (so sorry, Gnectar), she’s more comparable to Gnatalia.

Changes/Adaptations

Aside from my aforementioned, ill-advised colour choices, I didn’t make any (intentional) changes to my gnome. This was my first time making Gnectar, so I wanted to make her according to the pattern!

However, I definitely did (completely accidentally) make one of the i-cord toppers on Gnectar‘s hat longer than the others, which I guess is a change, but was not intentional and honestly bugs me A LOT, so I will definitely be making a conscious effort not to do that again the next time I make a Gnectar!

Things I Loved!

There’s always so much to love about Schira’s gnomes, but here are my favourite things about Gnectar:

• The shape of her hat.

I love the perfect cone shape of Gnectar‘s hat (made even more perfect by the more rigid fabric, which makes the hat super easy to stuff and means it keeps its shape much better!). Gnectar‘s hat is very similar to Gnorri‘s hat (my first ever gnome), but it was much easier to stuff!

• The rolled brim on her hat.

I think this is only my second rolled brim (I believe Gnolan was the first!) and I really do like how they look. In fact, I think it looks even better on Gnectar than on Gnolan (sorry, Gnolan) because the fabric is thicker, so it’s a little more defined!

• The colour combo of the hot pink and the gingerbread.

I may have had some issues with my colour choices, but I think the hot pink shade, marled with the gingerbread shade, looks really great! I think it also helps to add a bit of spice to Gnectar, who, otherwise, it’s true— does look a little same-y!

• The contrast of the beard/nose against the body.

I really love how stark the beard/nose look against the marled body: there’s a lot of marbling going on with Gnectar and, while that’s definitely her thing, it’s nice to see a large block of solid colour as well.

• The size of her nose.

The yarn is held double for the nose as well, which makes it extra big and perfectly round. Because Gnectar‘s a pretty big gnome, I think the big nose looks really good on her!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

Naturally though, there are a few parts of Gnectar that I didn’t enjoy quite so much, or just think I could do better next time:

• The colour choices.

I’ve talked about this in depth, so you don’t need to hear it again: I went crazy with my colour choices and I don’t think they quite worked out. Love some of them, love the idea, but don’t love the final result!

• The i-cord hat toppers.

I was so excited for these, because I think they look so good on the sample Gnectars in the book, but I think I just didn’t execute them very well because mine don’t look… right? I think I made them a bit too long, so they’re a little sad and floppy (not to mention uneven, but that was definitely my mistake). I don’t know, I just had such high hopes for these and I’m a bit disappointed in them! I will definitely give them another go though, because I do think they make Gnectar extra special.

• The single pocket.

I think this might be a result of my colour choices, but the single pocket just… isn’t working for me here? The pockets look so good on the sample Gnectars (which makes me think it definitely is my colour choices), but I think my pocket gets a bit lost on the body and just feels quite small in comparison to the very large gnome?

• Sewing in the ends.

Yet another reason to dislike knitting with the yarn held double: twice. as. many. ends. That’s it.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest here, Gnectar isn’t my favourite of the gnomes I’ve made so far for the Year of Gnomes, but I take full responsibility for that, because I’m 99% sure it’s because of my colour choices! I took a risk and it didn’t quite pay off. However! I think there’s definitely potential there: I love the hot pink/gingerbread combo, so maybe if I replaced the pale pink shade with a cream (?) on the hat, to get a proper ombré effect, then used a different contrast colour for the body, I could get my vision to work?

I’d love to make a recreation of the red sample from the book, because I think those colours look great together and really bring out the best in the pattern. Also, I’d love to get the topper right, because it just has so much potential!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnectar on Ravelry here.

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

Gemma

xxx

As part of the Year of Gnomes Knitalong fun, there’s an optional schedule that includes mystery gnomes (like my April gnome) and guided knitalongs. May happened to fall into the latter category, so I decided to take part in the guided knitalong for Gnoddy (a gnome from Schira’s Gnomes of Grimblewood book, from which I’ve been working most of my gnomes up!) this month.

Anyway, enough chitchat: it’s time to introduce…

Gnoddy the First!

Gnoddy the First loves a good musical: her favourite is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and her favourite number from the show is ‘Those Canaan Days’, because she loves a good tango. She also has a soft spot for a chocolate-y interval snack (usually some Maltesers, but her truest chocolate love is a Toble-gnome).

Table of Contents

• My First Guided Knitalong
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

My First Guided Knitalong

The Gnoddy guided knitalong included weekly Zoom meetings, a flexible schedule and a plethora of helpful YouTube videos to help participants through the process of making Gnoddy.

Admittedly, I did not follow the schedule or attend the Zoom meetings, but I did watch the YouTube videos and found them incredibly helpful, so I still kind of participated!

The Yarn

For some reason, I just couldn’t get super excited over the Gnoddy pattern: some of the gnomes from the Gnomes of Grimblewood book really stood out to me, but Gnoddy just… didn’t?

Because of this, I decided to go a little crazy with my colour choices and make a super fun and colourful Gnoddy, to bring a bit more joy to my project. As with all of my Year of Gnomes projects so far, I used scraps of leftover fingering weight yarn for Gnoddy, so I can only give you a rough description of the colours (bar one of them, which I do actually know for sure):

• Dark, raspberry pink (ear flaps/brim, bobble and lower body).
• Speckled cream (nose, beard and hands).
• Multicoloured self-striping: pinks, purples, yellows and teals (jumper).
• DROPS Fabel in the shade Confetti Cake (924) (hat).

These colours were a huge departure from the more muted, autumnal colour palette of my other gnomes and, honestly they were a little outside of my comfort zone! However, I absolutely LOVE how Gnoddy the First turned out! I think going crazy with the colours really helped me enjoy the process and endeared me much more to the final Gnoddy product. Maybe next time, I’ll make a Gnoddy in a more classic colour palette, now that I know I will enjoy the process?

Thoughts on the Pattern

I think I knew that Gnoddy was going to be a little bit more fiddly than some of the other gnomes, which might be what put me off making her initially. I’m so glad that the guided knitalong came along though, because it did encourage me to give her a go anyway.

Gnoddy‘s two main features are her ear-flapped bobble hat and her jumper, which is knitted right into her body (sorry if you get too hot in the summer, Gnoddy, you’re stuck like this). The hat was easy, but did involve a few extra steps to make the ear flaps/bobble. The jumper was slightly more complicated, but still fairly straightforward (and, as with all of Schira’s patterns, was super well-explained!), but quite fiddly— just as a result of the tiny stitch counts and such.

The same pattern is used for the hands and the bobble of the hat, which I thought was very clever and helped to make Gnoddy a slightly simpler pattern. Gnoddy’s also a relatively small gnome, so once the more complex elements were completed, she actually worked up pretty quickly.

Changes/Adaptations

As this was my first Gnoddy, I didn’t make any changes to the pattern. I wanted to keep it simple this time and get used to the new techniques.

One thing I did do, which was more of a change to my own conventions, rather than anything to do with the pattern, was that I used spare yarn, rather than my beloved Barber Cords, to hold the stitches for the arms while I worked up the body of the sweater. I did start using the Barber Cords, but they were just too bulky for this small project, so it was easier to use a small piece of yarn that I could tuck away inside the body while I worked. I’ve never actually done this before, but it worked very well and it was only a little bit fiddly to pick them back up from the yarn before working the sleeves.

Things I Loved!

There are so many things I love about Gnoddy the First (despite my initial misgivings):

• The colours

Picking such bright, busy colours was a big step outside of my comfort zone and… I think it really paid off! My Gnoddy is so cheery and happy, she just brings me so much joy!

• The fact that I didn’t have to block the beard

To keep the beard straight (and not curly, like with Gnicole), you don’t block it before unravelling the rows. Blocking always feels like a very tiresome (though, I admit, necessary) step, so I was thrilled to discover that I actually wasn’t allowed to block this beard!

• Gnoddy‘s little jumper

Was this jumper fiddly to make? Yes, absolutely. Is it the cutest thing in the whole wide world? Also yes, absolutely.

• Gnoddy‘s ear flaps

I wasn’t totally sold on the ear flaps: they’re a little… lumberjack-y? for me and they involve a lot of darning in ends neatly to make a nice finished edge. However, I do really think they give Gnoddy loads of personality, and they fit super well with her jumper, so she doesn’t look too… shoulder-y?

• The hands

I admit, I did sigh a little when I realised I had to knit and attach the hands to the sleeves individually, but I actually think the method used for attaching them was so ingenious and foolproof that halfway through the process I forgot about it being tedious and just marvelled yet again at Schira’s creativity and ingenuity.

• Picking up the stitches for the body

Because Gnoddy contains so many different colours, it’s actually really easy to pick up stitches for the body sections, which is something I struggle with sometimes with these gnomes. The colour changes make it super clear where the rows are, so you can stick to a straight line very easily. I also found Schira’s YouTube video on this super informative and helpful, so I’d definitely recommend checking that out if you’re making any of her gnomes— not just Gnoddy!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

Having said all that, naturally, there were a couple of parts of the process that weren’t quite so much fun:

• Darning in the aforementioned ear flap ends

I found that the edges of the ear flaps were quite untidy, particularly where the yarn was cut/joined, so I had to use the ends to neaten them up a little before I darned them in. That’s fine, but I really dislike darning in ends and this extra step made the process that little bit more tedious.

• Making the fiddly sleeves

Look, making tiny sleeves like this was never going to be fun, but it was definitely very fiddly. It wasn’t hard, just a bit awkward working with so few stitches (and stuffing them later on!). Luckily, the sleeves are so tiny that they go by very quickly, so it’s just a short term discomfort!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really love Gnoddy the First, which was a big surprise to me, because I wasn’t feeling overly inspired when I set out to make her. As I said, I do think the colour choices made a huge difference for me this time around and I can definitely see myself making some more colourful gnomes in the future.

Even though I didn’t quite participate in the guided knitalong to the extent I could have, I’m still glad I participated to some degree: I don’t know if I would have made Gnoddy any time soon without the encouragement and I’m so glad I did! I found the YouTube videos super helpful: I’ll definitely be checking out more of Schira’s videos in the future to help me with my gnome-making endeavours.

So, that’s the rundown on my May gnome for the Year of Gnomes 2025: a colourful and playful Gnoddy the First. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my experience making Gnoddy, half-following along with my first ever guided knitalong and harnessing the power of colour to instil a bit of inspiration!

I’ll be back soon with my June gnome. Until then, happy gnome-ing!

Gemma

xxx

My April gnome had the added fun of being a mystery gnome, which I made as part of a separate KAL, also run by Schira. Because this was an MKAL (mystery knitalong), I didn’t want to post about it in April and potentially ruin the surprise for other knitters, but, naturally, I then promptly forgot to post about it when May rolled around (I guess I was too busy rolling around in a wedding cake-induced coma). So, finally, just in time for… June… here is my April gnome (and a post on my May gnome will be coming very soon too!).

Please welcome, then…

Professor Gortabello Fungi!

Professor Fungi likes to think of himself as one of the ‘cool’ teachers at Undergrowth University. In fact, Gortabello’s favourite mid-lecture digressions often involve him regaling his students with surprising anecdotes from his own time as a student at the university, in which certain… psychedelic ‘shrooms’… feature heavily. Unfortunately, he also has a tendency to fall asleep mid-sentence during lectures, which (paired with his rather troll-like snoring) does rather negate his cool factor…

Table of Contents

• My First Ever MKAL
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

My First Ever MKAL

Professor Fungi was my first foray into the world of mystery knitalongs, so it was a completely new experience for me. At times, I was vaguely (read: very) uncomfortable with the concept of having no idea what I was making, but at other times, I really loved the process and found it super fun and exciting!

For the MKAL, there’s a pre-arranged schedule of pattern ‘drops’, with each one including instructions for various ‘mystery pieces’, which, eventually, come together to form a finished gnome (in this case, Professor Fungi). Having made a few gnomes already by this point, I could tell what some pieces were just from the instructions (the arms, nose, feet and beard in particular), but there were other pieces that kept me in suspense right until the last moment (I was convinced the basket was a mini mushroom situation, but that’s on me…).

The one thing I did struggle with with the MKAL was the colour choices. I definitely like being able to pick my colours much more intentionally ahead of time (but, in this case, it was only a problem because I went rogue and picked a blue shade for a mushroom-inspired gnome like a crazy person).

The Yarn

As I said, I went a little rogue with my colour choices (as in, I realised part of the way through the MKAL that I had completely ignored some of the pre-KAL colour advice… oops?). In my defence, I just happened to hold the red and teal yarns together and fell in LOVE, so, really, I had no choice.

Just like with my other Year of Gnomes projects, I was committed to using up leftover scraps of fingering weight yarns for Professor Fungi, so I don’t know the exact yarns I used. The colours, however, were as follows:

• Yarn A: Teal (the main colour for the body and my rogue choice. As instructed, I also used this for the feet and the arms).
• Yarn B: A speckled cream colour (the contrast shade, which was supposed to be just a little darker than Yarn A… I got a bit confused and convinced myself this would be the shade for the polka dots on the mushroom cap, which, unsurprisingly, it was not AT ALL, so I did have to do a bit of fudging with the colours later… I have to say though, I don’t hate the high-contrast result on the body?!).
• Yarn C: A pale grey (this is quite similar to my contrast shade, but up close you can see the difference!).
• Yarn D: red (it had to be done, right?).

Thoughts on the Pattern

Professor Fungi is definitely the most complicated gnome I’ve made, both in terms of the MKAL process and the actual design. Then again, I have been working exclusively from the Gnomes of Grimblewood book up to this point, which I think makes a special effort to feel approachable and less overwhelming for any beginners. Having said that, no part of Professor Fungi felt overly challenging to make (partly, as always, because, even in MKAL format, Schira’s instructions are so clear and calming— sometimes I think she could talk me through an open heart surgery and I’d be absolutely fine)(I am, of course, joking— you should not trust me and my shaky hands with a scalpel).

I feel like I learned so many new (gnome-related and other) techniques through this MKAL, so I am really glad I participated in it. It was definitely a new experience for me, but, having completed it, I’d definitely be up for another gnome MKAL again (which is good, because I’m pretty sure there’s another two lined up in the schedule for later on this year).

Changes/Adaptations

With this being a mystery gnome, I was in absolutely NO position to be making changes/adaptations, because, to be honest, I had no clue what was going on most of the time.

However, while I followed the pattern exactly, I did make a colour switch (because of the aforementioned colour choice conundrum). In the pattern, it instructs you to use the beard/nose colour to make the spots on the toadstool cap. Because I had, quite literally, picked my Yarn B under the mistaken impression that it would be for the spots, I decided to throw caution to the wind and use Yarn B instead of Yarn C. I have to say, i’m glad I did— my Professor Fungi has a perfect toadstool cap now!

If I were to make Professor Fungi again, though, there are a few little elements I would be tempted to switch up/incorporate…

• The Basket

I don’t love the mottled, two-tone effect of the basket: it feels quite busy (though that is definitely because of my high-contrast yarn choices on the body, which makes the body busier than it should be, thus leaving less room for a busy basket)(go on, Gemma. How many times can you say ‘busy’?). I think if I made Professor Fungi again, I’d be tempted to use two strands of the same yarn to make the basket instead. I also think, that way, you’d be able to see the texture of the basket more, which I think is a bit lost in its current state.

• Glasses

I’ve seen a few Professor Fungis online that have these SUPER cute, tiny little spectacles (see here for an example, which also features a single-colour basket)?! I’m OBSESSED. Where do they come from? Do I make them myself? Is there a tiny-gnome-glasses supplier out there? Perhaps as I make more gnomes, I’ll stumble upon some spectacle-related intel that I can apply to my next Professor Fungi, because he just feels like the kind of gnome that should be bespectacled, right?

• Hat

First let me say that I absolutely LOVE Professor Fungi’s toadstool cap as it is (more on that later), but I did see someone on Ravelry (loisbemis: you can see the project here) who made the caps on their Professor Fungi pointier (a different variety of mushroom, perhaps?) and I’m kind of obsessed with it? I’m not entirely sure how they did it, but I’d LOVE to give it a go!

• Colour Choices

As happy as I ended up being with my… unusual… colour choices, I would still really like to give making Professor Fungi with the intended yarn choices a go! Something with a little less contrast, perhaps more of a realistic mushroom colour palette, you know?

Things I Loved!

Professor Fungi was definitely a slowburn for me: I couldn’t visualise how he was going to turn out (though I feel that is literally the whole point of an MKAL), so I wasn’t sure how I felt about him until he was finished. Now he’s done and sitting on the mantelpiece, though, I can safely say that he has multiple features that I really love:

• His Mushroom Cap

Why is his absolutely MASSIVE mushroom hat so perfect?! I’m so happy I picked red for the hat colour, because it turned out so beautifully toadstool-y, I think it’s truly my favourite thing about Gortabello. Also, the technique for adding the polka dots is so simple and magical, it just made me even more impressed with Schira’s creativity.

• The Pattern on the Body

I know that my Professor Fungi’s body is a bit… unusual, as a result of my high-contrast colour choices, but I really do like how it turned out. There’s something about the colour choices/texture combination that just really works for me (though I’d love to try a lower contrast Fungi and see how I feel about the body when it’s made as intended!).

• The Short Rows

Ah, short rows, my old friends! I love working short rows: I just think they’re so magical and surprisingly easy to work up! I love how they’ve been used in Professor Fungi, to tip the cap back a little and make him more of a mushroom-inspired gnome than a gnome-inspired mushroom. Long live the short rows!

• Cardboard Circles

Professor Fungi incorporates two cardboard circles (one at his base and one at the base of his cap), to help him keep his shape after stuffing. I think this is a really clever way of helping him stay structurally sound (particularly with that humongous hat)!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

• The Cardboard Circles

I know, I know, I just told you how much I loved these and I do! I love the effect they give and they do feel like an unavoidable part of the pattern but they were just… an extra step, you know? Like with any handmade toy, it’s always the assembly that I have to steel myself for and knowing that I had to go find some cardboard, cut out the circles and work with them? It just felt like a lot. I was definitely dreading this stage and, while it wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be, it was still a little bit of extra faff that added to my assembly-induced lethargy.

• The Beard

I tried SO hard to get my beard curly: I even paid special attention to my tension to try and help it along, but, alas, my poor Professor Fungi is a wavy boy, not a curly boy… I was scrolling through the other gnomes on Ravelry and some people have got the CURLIEST beards I’ve ever seen and I’m SO jealous! I’m not sure how to rectify this: perhaps a different yarn would help?

• The Nose

Even as I made the ‘Mystery Piece’ that would eventually become the nose, I could tell it was a nose and I could tell it was significantly bigger than any of the other gnome noses I had made. I get it, some gnomes have bigger noses (and I do think, in this case his big nose helps to keep his hat at the right angle) and I don’t want to be nose-ist, but… it’s just so big? I think, maybe, I need to make another gnome with a larger nose, so Professor Fungi doesn’t stand out quite as much in my collection?

• The Basket

I mentioned this already, but I do think the marled, textured basket is a little busy for my Professor Fungi. I think you lose the basket texture when you use two colours like that, which is a shame, because it’s actually a pretty intricate (though not at all difficult to work up) pattern that gives a lovely, basket-y effect.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m actually really happy with my Professor Fungi. I know he’s a little unusual (whoever heard of a red and teal mushroom?!), but he’s mine and I love him. This was such a new experience for me and it was definitely challenging at parts (not necessarily from a knitting perspective, but more from a ‘I have no idea what this is going to look like and I am uncomfortable‘ perspective, but I feel you really just have to embrace the MKAL, follow the instructions and let Schira take control of your needles. Honestly, it was kind of freeing!

I’d definitely like to make another, more complex gnome soon though, because Gortabello definitely stands out amongst my other three Year of Gnomes projects! Perhaps that’s a sign to challenge myself a little more and branch out into a more intimidating gnome? Hmm…

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my experience making Professor Fungi and participating in my first ever MKAL! I’ll also be posting about my May gnome later soon, so stay tuned for that!

If you’re interested…

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Professor Fungi on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Professor Fungi here.

Gemma

xxx

My brother and his wife (they got married last weekend!) recently moved into their new house and, as a housewarming present, I offered to make them a set of gnomes! They both picked their favourite gnome from my copy of The Gnomes of Grimblewood and, so, I set about making them their very own versions of Gnicole (the cabled gnome) and Gnatalia (the colourwork gnome).

Gnicole is a self-proclaimed instant noodle connoisseur and maintains that spicier noodles are always better. While the curly, ramen-style noodles are her favourite, she does also enjoy some nice spaghetti. In fact, she always carries a stash of dried spaghetti with her, under her hat, in case of emergencies (hence why her hat is so outrageously tall). Of course, she stole that idea from Paddington, but she doesn’t think he’ll mind: imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery.

Gnatalia loves ballroom dancing: she very much enjoys a classic waltz, but her favourite dance is the tango, because she likes the drama. Because she only has feet (no knees), she can’t dance the Argentine tango, which is a source of great sadness to her. Unfortunately, Gnicole is too top-heavy (as a result of her spaghetti-stuffed hat) to be a suitable dance partner, so Gnatalia is in the market for a someone new (her first choice is Anton Du Beke, but she is willing to settle for someone else if necessary).

Table of Contents

• Yarn Choices
• Thoughts on the Patterns/Gnome-Making Process
  • Gnatalia
  • Gnicole
• Changes/Adaptations
• Final Thoughts

Yarn Choices

As with all of the gnomes in my Year of Gnomes undertaking, I made both of these gnomes using leftover fingering weight yarn that I had already had on hand. In general, I tried to stick as closely as possible to the colours in the inspiration photos (both in The Gnomes of Grimblewood book), though, obviously, I did have to make a few changes here and there where I didn’t have exact matches.

Even though the two gnomes are very different from each other, I still wanted them to feel like a set. I opted to use the same colour for both Gnicole‘s hat and one of the accent colours on Gnatalia‘s hat (the brim/horizontal stripe colour). I also gave Gnicole a grey beard (as opposed to a white beard), so that Gnatalia wouldn’t look dirty next to her, with her grey beard and hat. Both gnome designs already had tassels, so I think, along with the colour choices, this version of Gnicole and Gnatalia look like a nice, matching-but-not-too-matchy pair.

Little note here: I’ve never worked with teal yarn before, so I wasn’t expecting this, but MY GOODNESS did my hands look a MESS after knitting Gnicole. The dye on the yarn just seemed determined to get all over me, which did make the experience slightly less enjoyable. Sometimes the dye washed off, sometimes it didn’t, but it definitely turned me off knitting with teal again for the foreseeable future!

Thoughts on the Patterns/Gnome-Making Process

As I’ve mentioned multiple times in my Year of Gnomes series, I absolutely love following Sarah Schira‘s gnome patterns: they’re SO clear and easy to follow and understand, which makes knitting up even the fiddlier parts of the gnomes seem super doable and not at all overwhelming.

This was, however, my first time making both Gnatalia and Gnicole, so I thought I’d share my initial thoughts on those specific patterns here.

Gnatalia

Gnatalia is quite different to the other gnomes I have made: not only does she have the whole folded hat thing going on, she is also a much rounder shape. Furthermore, she has the most complex colourwork I’ve done in a gnome (the only other gnome-based colourwork I’ve tried was Gnolan‘s stripes, which doesn’t really compare at all).

I was dreading the colourwork element of Gnatalia a little bit, but it actually wasn’t too bad! I did end up with a lot of ends to tie off and darn in (though the darning probably wasn’t completely necessary— I could have just left them as stuffing additions), which was sad, but kind of a given with colourwork. My work is pretty neat everywhere except the beginning of the round, where everything gets a little loose and, well, less neat, so that’s definitely something for me to work on next time around.

Weirdly, I was also very nervous about folding over and sewing down the hat, but it was genuinely super simple and easy to do. Yet again, Schira’s instructions make even the overwhelming tasks feel approachable and I am so very grateful for that.

I really enjoyed making the more rounded body shape for Gnatalia, but I did find it a little trickier to stuff than the other gnomes. Gnatalia is quite a stable gnome, so I didn’t find that it was necessary to leave 1/3 of the body for weighted stuffing (I ended up only filling about 1/4 to 1/5 instead).

Gnicole

My first thing to say about Gnicole is that she is MUCH bigger than I expected? I don’t know how, but I was genuinely shocked by the size of her once I’d finished her main body piece. She’s a TALL girl (though, to be honest, it’s mainly hat). Because of her size, there is quite a lot of knitting in her and her hat also features a lot of cables, which adds to the total knitting time too. She wasn’t the most complicated gnome, but she definitely took longer to work up than most of the other gnomes I have made!

This was my first time making a curly beard and I could not, for the life of me, visualise how it was going to work. In the end, I just trusted the process, went for it and got to witness it just, well, happen (I find that’s usually the way with knitting). I love the effect of the curly beard, but I do think the shape of it is a little off— mine just feels a bit wider/more trapezoid-y than ones in the photos? More on that later.

Similarly to Gnatalia, I found stuffing Gnicole quite challenging. The pattern warns you that her hat is super stretchy, so you need to be careful not to over-stuff it. I tried my best, but I still feel she’s a little bit over-stuffed, though this could also be because the brim of the hat is quite tight and pulls Gnicole in where her hat meets her body.

Changes/Adaptations

For Gnicole, I followed the pattern pretty much exactly. The only slight change I made was that I blocked the tassel of the hat, because it was looking pretty limp and sparse when I first made it. Blocking worked wonders though: the tassel looks much thicker and all-round prettier now, so I’ll definitely be carrying that technique forward in my gnome making journey! In fact, I was able to carry it forward almost immediately, because Gnatalia also has a tassel, so it worked out well.

As I mentioned, I’m not 100% happy with Gnicole‘s beard. It’s quite… unruly at the edges— the outer ‘curls’ have a tendency to stick upwards and outwards, which kind of overwhelms Gnicole‘s little body. I folded the outer sections of the beard under the rest of it, then used the arms to hold it in gently in place, and I much prefer it that way. Perhaps next time I’ll try making the beard slightly less wide? But it would still stick out, surely, so I’m not sure…

For Gnatalia, I made two, small changes: firstly, I added feet, which the original pattern does not include, but the worsted weight sample (which I was basing my Gnatalia on) does. The feet are a bit fiddly to make, but they’re so cute and I haven’t made any since Gnorri (my very first gnome!), so I thought it was about time to make some more.

The second change I made was also a result of trying to mimic the style of the worsted weight sample as much as possible: for Chart 2, I used Yarn A in the place of Yarn B (and vice versa). It’s just a little alteration, but I’m pretty sure it’s what’s done in the sample, so I did it too.

I think, if I were making Gnatalia again (maybe even any gnome, given my problems with Gnicole too?), I’d use a stretchier cast-on for the brim of her hat. I’ve been struggling with the brim being too tight on my most recent gnomes and I think a stretchier cast-on would help with that.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m super happy with how Gnicole and Gnatalia turned out and I think they’ll make the perfect Gnomewarming gift for my brother and his wife. I didn’t experiment too much with the colour choices for these two, because I wanted these gnomes to be pretty accurate representations of the ones in the book. Both of these gnomes felt quite different to the gnomes I’ve already made, so it was fun to branch out a little bit and introduce some new techniques to my gnome arsenal.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my Gnomewarming project! I’ll be back next month with 2 (!!) more instalments of my Year of Gnomes series (April and May), so stay tuned for that!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnicole the Cabled Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find the pattern for Gnatalia the Colourwork Gnome on Ravelry here.

You can find my Ravelry project page for Gnomewarming here. 

Gemma

xxx

Gnarley the First!

Gnarley the First is a renowned interior designer, best known for her cutting-edge work with throw pillows and cushions. She’s not a big talker, but no other gnome can furnish a tree the way she can. She tries to cultivate a mysterious persona, in order to establish herself as a true ‘artiste’, but her creative idol is Edna Mode and her favourite song is ‘Raspberry Beret’, so make of that what you will...

Table of Contents

• Choosing March’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing March’s Gnome

After two relatively… pointy gnomes, I was craving a bit of a shape change for this month’s gnome. Gnarley is the only square-hatted gnome in The Gnomes of Grimblewood (the book by Sarah Schira, which contains the patterns for all three of the gnomes I’ve made so far), so he seemed like a good choice! I was also quite excited to try knitting his textured body, which is unlike anything I’d ever knitted before.

The Yarn

For this knitalong, I’m aiming to use up leftover yarn scraps from my mum’s extensive stash (and my own, not quite so extensive stash). While this does mean that I typically won’t be able to identify the specific yarns I’m using, I actually do know what the pink tweed yarn I’ve used here is! It’s Slubby Sock by Ainsworth & Prin, in the shade Mallow. Unfortunately, according to Ravelry, this yarn has been discontinued, which is a shame, because I really liked working with it.

A tweed-y yarn possibly wasn’t the best choice for Gnarley, just because it does obscure the wavy pattern she’s got going on on her body a little bit… You can still see it, but you just have to look a little closer than you would have to with a more basic yarn. I half suspected this going in, but I just really loved the colour and fancied making a pink gnome this month, so I rolled with it anyway.

I wasn’t sure how much yarn Gnarley would use up, because her whole body and hat are made using the same yarn, so I made sure to pick a yarn scrap that I had a good amount of, just in case. I wish I’d weighed it beforehand though, because I don’t think it used as much as I expected! Note to self: start weighing all gnome yarn before gnome-ing.

For Gnarley‘s beard, I really wanted to branch out from the cream colour I used for the past two gnomes, so I decided to use a grey shade, instead. However… I did run into a number of problems with this: Gnarley‘s quite a simple gnome, for one, and the grey shades did leave her looking a little… flat? Also, because the Mallow yarn is quite a deep shade, if I went too dark with the grey Gnarley started looking very ominous and gloomy, which wasn’t quite the vibe I was looking for… Finally, because my other two gnomes have such bright, cream beards, I was a bit worried about Gnarley looking a bit… mucky next to them.

In the end, after many, many, trials of different colours (and even different beard/nose combinations!), I settled on pale, warm-toned grey shade for both the beard and the nose. By herself, Gnarley looks great, but she does look a little drab compared to the other two gnomes in my collection. I’m hoping that, as the year goes on and I make more gnomes with darker/greyer beards, Gnarley will fit right into place!

Thoughts on the Pattern

My love for Sarah Schira’s patterns continues: they’re so clear, concise (without being too brief) and always work up perfectly. This was my first time following the pattern for Gnarley the Wavy Gnome though, so I thought I’d share some more specific thoughts on this pattern in particular.

Overall, I loved making Gnarley. I’d never worked left/right twists before (like, ever!), so this was an entirely new concept to me and, with the help of Schira’s instructions, I slipped right into an easy rhythm with it. Gnarley worked up SO quickly: in part because of the simplicity of the shape (that square hat was a dream after the struggle that was Gnolan‘s hat last month!), but also because there was something strangely addictive about knitting the textured body— there must just be the perfect amount of rows between the increases and the twists, because it really flew off my needles!

Much like with Gnolan, Gnarley has very few additional elements that need to be sewn onto the main body (in fact, Gnarley has even fewer: just a beard and a nose— no arms in sight!), which made knitting her even quicker and easier. Long story short, I had a lot of fun making my Gnarley!

Changes/Adaptations

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m still getting to grips with the whole gnome-making process, so, much like with the previous two gnomes, I opted to keep things simple and follow the pattern for Gnarley to the letter, instead of trying to make any of my own adaptations.

I do think, however, that if I made Gnarley again, I would make the brim on the hat ever so slightly longer, just to help it sit better over the beard/nose, and differentiate between the hat and the body a little more. Does this mean I’m finally building up the courage to start adding my own little touches to my gnomes?!

Things I Loved!

There are a lot of things I loved about making Gnarley:

• I loved the simplicity of the hat. Both of the previous two gnome hats I have made have been conical (or, at least, vaguely conical), which I love the effect of, but does include a little more shaping and faffery to create. Gnarley’s hat was SO straightforward, making it just felt like a little treat to myself.
• I loved working the twisted stitches. As I mentioned, this is a technique I’ve never used/encountered before, but it was so simple and easy to do, I found myself really enjoying the process!
• I loved the effect of the three-needle bind off on Gnarley‘s hat. I love a three-needle bind off and I think it is just the perfect finish for the top of the square hat!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

There were, however, a couple parts of the Gnarley-making process that I wasn’t quite so keen on…

• As I mentioned, I feel like the brim of Gnarley‘s hat is a little too short. This is very possibly due to my stitch-picking up inabilities (more on that in a sec), but I do think I’d consider increasing the length of the rib by 1-2 rows if I made Gnarley again!
• I do not enjoy picking up stitches from 3×3 rib. Why is it so much harder to stay in a straight line?! Not a fun time (but also, why did I find 3×3 rib so much harder to pick up from than the 1×1 rib on Gnorri‘s hat?! I don’t understand…).

Final Thoughts

I loved making Gnarley (especially if we ignore the aforementioned rib-picking-up-struggles)— I definitely think she was the most enjoyable of the three gnomes to make, but I do feel like the other two gnomes (Gnorri and Gnolan), just have a little more presence about them? Gnarley is quite one-dimensional in comparison and, while part of that is my fault for using a tweed yarn and giving her a grey beard/nose, I do think it will take a few more gnomes for her to feel at home in my collection. Truly, though, she was so much fun to make— I can see myself making many more Gnarleys, just for the fun of the process.

So that’s all the intel on Gnarley the First, my March entry for the Year of Gnomes 2025! Next month, I’m planning to follow along with the April mystery gnome, Professor Fungi, so I won’t be posting that one on here until the knitalong has completely finished in May (to preserve the fun of the mystery gnome!). Soooo, there’ll be two instalments of my Year of Gnomes 2025 series in May, and none in April (sad face, but not too sad face because I’m still hoping to get a bit of gnome-ing into the blog next month anyway…!).

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnarley the Wavy Gnome on Ravelry here.

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

Gemma

xxx

Let me introduce you to… Gnolan the First!

Gnolan the First has long dreamed of being the next Santa Claus, delivering toys to children and soaring over the seas in his sleigh. However, the Council of Legendary Figures has repeatedly informed Gnolan that he is not nearly portly enough for the job, so Gnolan has been on a strict, self-imposed diet of sugar cookies and mince pies, in a desperate attempt to plump out his tum…

Table of Contents

• Choosing February’s Gnome
• The Yarn
• Thoughts on the Pattern
• Changes/Adaptations
• Things I Loved!
• Things I Didn’t Quite Love…
• Final Thoughts

Choosing February’s Gnome

I mentioned in my last Year of Gnomes post that I had initially planned to make Gnolan the Swirly Gnome first, since he was my favourite gnome from the Gnome Bible (i.e. The Gnomes of Grimblewood, Schira’s book). However, in the end, I opted to go for a slightly more straightforward gnome for January (Gnorri the Pocket-Bearded Gnome, to be exact), just to ease myself into the gnome-making process a little.

This month, I decided I was ready for the slightly more challenging Gnolan. With his twirly, swirly hat and beard, I have been enamoured with Gnolan since I first saw him, so he felt like a fitting gnome for February (after all, it is the month of love!).

The Yarn

For this knitalong, I’m aiming to use up leftover yarn scraps from my mum’s extensive stash (and my own, not quite so extensive stash). While this does mean that I typically won’t be able to identify the specific yarns I’m using, I actually can identify two of the yarns I’ve used for Gnolan the First! They are:

• Drops Baby Merino, in the shade Peanut (55).
• Drops Fabel, in the shade Ruby Red (113).

I also used the same, plain, cream-y/white shade for Gnolan’s nose, beard & hands that I used for Gnorri the First (though, unfortunately, I’m not quite sure on the provenance of that yarn).

I was absolutely set on making Gnolan the First in a similar, red-and-gold colour scheme to the sample Gnolan in the book (for maximum Santa Claus vibes). I realise that means I’ve made both of my gnomes in very similar colour ways to the ones suggested inbythe book, so I’m hoping to expand my shade horizons over the next few months and try out some new, gnome-y colour combos!

Thoughts on the Pattern

I waxed lyrical in my last Year of Gnomes post about how much I love Sarah Schira’s patterns— they’re just so clear and easy to follow! Anyhow, I won’t bore you with that spiel again (just know that all of my previous thoughts and statements still stand). This time, I’ll focus a little more on the Gnolan pattern specifically…

I have to say, I am glad that I made a slightly simpler gnome before making this one— while Gnolan is by no means tricky to make, he does have a few extra techniques and elements that make him slightly more challenging than Gnorri. The shaping of his hat/beard, as well as the i-cord elements, both paired with the striped colourwork details just make Gnolan a little more complex than Gnorri, and, while all of the techniques are super clearly explained, I definitely noticed that added layer of complexity while making him.

Luckily, Gnolan has very few additional elements that need to be attached to his gnome-self after knitting (for reference, Gnorri had 8 separate elements (1 nose, 1 beard, 2 arms, 2 pockets and 2 feet), while Gnolan has only 4 (1 nose, 1 beard and 2 arms), so the increased complexity of his body is balanced out (a little) by his minimal sewing-up requirements. You win some and you lose some, I guess.

Changes/Adaptations

I’m still getting to grips with the whole gnome-making process, so, much like with Gnorri the First, I opted to keep things simple and follow the pattern for Gnolan to the letter. I’m looking forward to switching things up a little and making my own, gnome adaptations in the future, but, for now, I think I need to focus on just getting used to the gnome-y techniques!

Things I Loved!

• This is weird, but I love the shape of Gnolan‘s body? He’s a tall gnome, and the subtle striped pattern, paired with the rich red and gold colour scheme just make him look so regal. Such an elegant gnome.
• The lack of feet. This was a surprise to me, because I was actually quite disappointed not to be making more lil’ feet this time around (and practising the three needle bind-off that I’m suddenly obsessed with). However, without feet, Gnolan looks like he’s kind of gliding around, which makes him feel extra wizard-y and robe-y, so I kind of love it.

• Gnolan‘s arms. I think I did a neater job of the arms this time around, and, because Gnolan is so tall, they’re much longer arms than the ones I made for Gnorri, so I think they look very smooth and elegant.

• The shape of Gnolan‘s hat. I didn’t love the process of this (so. much. slipping. of. stitches.) but the curve is giving me definite Grinch-y, Christmas tree vibes, so I kind of love it. Also, how clever is the pattern to create that shape? I’m obsessed.

• The fact that Gnolan‘s base is worked in the contrast colour. I was a bit surprised when I saw this, but I just think it adds a lil’ something something (even though you can’t even see it when he’s upright…).

• The way you can tuck Gnolan’s hand into the little loop of his beard so he can carry it around. Like… how did Schira think of that and why is it the best thing in the whole wide world?!

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

• The. Striped. I-cord. That last bit of the hat was ridiculously infuriating and I’m not entirely happy even now with how it’s sitting (even after blocking!)…
• The aforementioned slip-stitch process to shape the hat. It wasn’t the worst, but it also wasn’t crazy fun, so I’m putting it here.

• Gnolan‘s beard. Don’t get me wrong— I LOVE the whole hat-swirling-one-way, beard-swirling-the-other-way vibe Gnolan‘s got going on (it scratches an itch in my BRAIN), but I feel I could have knitted the beard a little more… neatly? I love the method used in the pattern to give the beard a clean edge, but I think maybe I didn’t execute it very well, because mine looks a lot messier than the sample Gnolans from the book? Maybe that’s something to work on with Gnolan the Second?

• The jog. I know, I know, jog is kind of inevitable when you’re knitting colourwork in the round, but it still kind of… upsets me?

Final Thoughts

I admit, while I was making Gnolan, I started to have some doubts… I think I was just so excited about the prospect of making him that, when he was a little more challenging than my previous gnome, I panicked and worried that he wouldn’t quite live up to my expectations. However, the second that I finished sewing on his final details, I set him on the mantelpiece next to Gnorri the First and realised… he’s pretty darn cool.

I do think I could improve the beard, but I’m optimistic that with a little more gnome-making practise, that is a perfectly attainable goal for the future. Overall, I’m really happy with Gnolan the First. He’s not perfect, but he’s pretty close for a first attempt! Also, I love how festive he looks— I think he’s going to be the perfect, Christmastime decoration (and Christmastime decorations are my favourite decorations, so it all works out).

Make sure to check back in next month for my March Gnome! I can’t WAIT to make another one.

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnolan the Swirly Gnome on Ravelry here.

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

Gemma

xxx