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

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

I’m a little behind in sharing my gnomes, so today’s post is all about my September gnome: if you missed the previous eight gnomes in this series, you can find them all here.

The prompt for September was ‘Mod Along’: the suggestion was that you adapt an existing gnome pattern, mix and match different gnome elements, or just embrace random gnome chaos in general to make something new and exciting! Because of this, today’s Year of Gnomes post will be a little different…

Table of Contents

• Introducing: The Gniederegger Gnomes Project
• The Yarn
• September’s Gnome: The First (Official) Gniederegger Gnome Prototype
• Changes/Adaptations for Future Gniederegger Gnomes
• Prototype #1 as part of my Year of Gnomes
• The Future of the Gniederegger Gnome Project

Introducing: The Gniederegger Gnomes Project

Okay, so sometimes (read: every 5 minutes) I have these crazy, ridiculous ideas for projects. 99% of them get left in the graveyard of my Notes app, but every now and then, there’s one that I just can’t forget about. The Gniederegger Gnomes Project fits into the latter category.

Let me take you wayyyyy back to my Gnew Baby project, where I made a trio of gnomes for my cousin, his fiancée and their new baby (because, of course, right?). When I was trialling patterns for the baby gnome (a.k.a. Mini Gnarley), I made a 75% size Gnarley with a striped hat and… it was one of the cutest things I’ve EVER seen.

It occurred to me that, if left unstuffed, 75% Gnarley‘s hat was the perfect size to hold a small, sweet treat (I tend to think in crafts and sweet treats, so this was pretty on brand for me). From there, I realised that if I made 24 x 75% Gnarleys with unstuffed hats, I’d have the CUTEST advent calendar. From there, I realised the only real sweet treat that could possibly be used for this project was one of my favourites: a mini Niederegger Marzipan Loaf.

Thus, my Gniederegger Gnome, advent calendar project was born: 24, mini Gnarley gnomes with open hats, perfect for housing a single marzipan loaf, one for each day of advent. The plan is to use the same colour palette for each gnome, but mess around with the placement (more on that in a sec!). I’d also like to switch up the beard styles to add a bit of whimsy and intrigue: Schira has so many different beard patterns, it would be great to incorporate lots of them!

The Yarn

I decided to use one of my favourite Christmas films, Klaus (remember my December bullet journal setup from a couple of years ago?), as the colour inspiration for this project: I absolutely love the folk-y, festive but not too festive colour palette of the Sami people in the film. I decided to use that same colour palette for my Gniederegger Gnomes, so I ended up with 4 colours:

• Red
• Navy
• Gold
• White

The red and the navy will be the main colours for the gnomes’ hats & bodies, the white will be for the noses & beards and the gold will be an accent colour: I’m thinking of using it in one, small area on each gnome, for a pop of fun and festivity!

With my colour palette decided, I started looking into yarns. I needed a fingering weight yarn for this project, and I wanted to use one made with natural fibres (just to really roll with the whole more-sustainable advent calendar alternative). Finally, I didn’t want anything too expensive, because I feel like I’ll need quite a bit of yarn to make 24 gnomes, especially when working with 4 different colours!

In the end, I settled on DROPS Flora, a 65% wool/35% alpaca blend. I chose the colours Red (18), Indigo (10), Caramel (25) and Off White (01).

September’s Gnome: The First (Official) Gniederegger Gnome Prototype

Finally, onto my September gnome for the Year of Gnomes! This gnome doesn’t have a name, but he is the first official prototype for this project, so I guess that’s something. The charts/instructions referenced here are all from the ‘Gnarley‘ pattern in Schira’s book, ‘The Gnomes of Grimblewood‘.

To keep the hat open, there needs to be a solid ‘shelf’ at the base of the hat. This keeps the stuffing in the body and leaves the hat free to be filled with marzipan!. I tried a few different methods for this, but found that the majority of them tended to suck the gnome in too much, making it look very skinny and… slightly deformed?

In the end, I found that knitting the hat and body as two separate pieces was the best method: you start the body with a pinhole cast-on (6 sts) and knit a flat circle (which ends up being the ‘shelf’ in question), as follows:

R1: (kfb around) – 12 sts 
R2: (k1, kfb) around – 18 sts 
R3: (k2, kfb) around – 24 sts 
R4: (k3, kfb) around – 30 sts 
R5: (k4, kfb) around – 36 sts 
R6: (k5, kfb) around – 42 sts 
R7: (k6, kfb) around – 48 sts 

Then, you work a purl round, followed by a knit round (to make a nice, clean edge) before jumping back into the body instructions (working from the start of Chart 2 onwards). I used navy for the body, then switched to red from the first row after finishing Chart 4 onwards, so that the base is a different colour, which I think adds a bit of extra fun!). I also added a circle of cardboard to the top of the body before stuffing it, to ensure the ‘shelf’ stays flat, even and the right diameter. With that, the body was done!

I knitted the hat as instructed, using a slightly smaller stitch count than the one in the pattern (42 sts). I knitted the hat in 2 row-stripes, alternating between red and navy. I used the gold shade for the brim of the hat. Instead of using a three-needle bind-off to finish off the hat, I used a 3-stitch i-cord bind-off. This makes a super neat, clean edge, even when the hat is left open (as it is here).

Once the body is made, stuffed and finished off, the hat is sewn onto the purl round of the body, right around the brim, along the stitch line on the hat that is marked with a stitch marker earlier on in the pattern instructions. This, along with the cardboard circle at the top of the body, prevents too much ‘sucking in’ and keeps the gnome looking nice and proportional, while also helping with the advent calendar function!

For this prototype, I made the beard from Here We Gnome Again, which is one of my all-time favourites of Schira’s beard patterns (and, handily, happens to have a built-in nose!). It’s a pretty small beard, so I didn’t have to scale it down, but other beards will definitely require a bit of reconfiguring! I did forget to size up my needle before knitting the beard, so mine is even smaller than it should be, but that is easily remedied in future iterations.

To finish off the gnome, I used some navy sewing thread to attach a metal snap fastening to the top of the hat, positioning it in the middle, just below the i-cord bind-off. This means that the hat can be ‘closed’ and ‘opened’: when open, it can be filled with a marzipan loaf and, when closed, it has a more authentic, gnome-y shape.

Changes/Adaptations for Future Gniederegger Gnomes

The first time I tried to replicate the original pattern that I used for my 75% Gnarley, it just didn’t quite work out: I made a few changes that had a significant (negative) impact that really scared me off (most notably, omitting the zig-zag rib pattern, which made the gnome super skinny and deformed— an unpleasant vibe that was only exaggerated by the fact I had not yet solved my shelf conundrum!). For this prototype, then, I went a little too far the other way, so my gnome ended up the right height, but a little too pear-shaped and wide for my liking (nothing against curvy gnomes— just not what I was going for here!).

Naturally, I think my initial pattern (sans ill-advised changes) was the best, so I think my next trial will combine that original pattern with everything I’ve learned about inserting that inner shelf.

So, here’s what I plan to do for Prototype #2 (and, hopefully, if all goes well, the 24 official Gniederegger Gnomes!):

• Try working charts 1-3 instead of 2-4 for a slightly slimmer shape.
• Stick two layers of cardboard together at the top of body to keep the shelf extra firm (my cardboard did end up bending a little when I stuffed the body).
• Add another few rounds at the top of body (so maybe, just before starting the chart work: 1 round of k all, 1 round of p all, 1 round of k all, then sew hat onto the purl row here (i.e. not the initial purl row marking the edge of the shelf) to keep the shape better).
• Make the hat slightly taller: perhaps add another 2-row stripe?
• Secure cardboard in place at the top of the hat, maybe by sewing some long stitches underneath it, right across the diameter? I really want the cardboard to sit perfectly within the initial purl round to keep everything neat and even.
• Leave a long end at the start of the hat for sewing it onto body.
• Use the right-sized needle for beard!

Prototype #1 as part of my Year of Gnomes

Despite being part of something bigger, Prototype #1 is still my September gnome for my 2025 Year of Gnomes, so here’s how he fits in with the rest of the gnome crew…

Obviously, Prototype #1 has a pretty festive vibe, just like Gneville (left) and Gnolan (right). In general, gnomes feel inherently festive to me, so I love making them in Christmassy colour palettes!

Sizewise, Prototype #1 is most similar to Gneville (so, not very big!). For reference, the gnome on the right is a full-size, fingering weight Gnarley, so you can see how much smaller the prototype is.

Anddddd here’s the whole crew (plus a lil’ marzipan, for good measure) together!

The Future of the Gniederegger Gnome Project

Let’s be real, making 24 gnomes is no small undertaking and I want this to be a project that I can enjoy, rather than one I’m trying to ‘get done’. At the moment, I’m leaning towards not participating in the Year of Gnomes next year (if there is one) and instead getting my gnome-y fix by working on my own, year-long gnome project: my Gniederegger Gnomes. 24 mini gnomes over the course of a year doesn’t sound too unmanageable and I think, this way, I’ll be able to enjoy the process a lot more!

Long story short, stay tuned for more Gniederegger Gnomes!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post! I know it’s a little different to my other Year of Gnomes posts, but I’m super excited about this project and I can’t wait to work on it some more next year!

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

Today’s post, though, is all about my July gnome!

Introducing… Gneville the First!

Gneville the First is a tremendously festive fellow: if it were up to him, Christmas really would be every day. The rest of the year, though, Gneville works as a beard-dresser for the other gnomes. He’s especially talented at braiding and is very particular about beard maintenance: he believes that a beard is a gnome’s most important feature. Perhaps as a result of this, he has a deep-rooted fear of goatees (and, honestly, who can blame him?).

Table of Contents

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

Choosing July’s Gnome

This month had a special prompt: ‘Gnome for the Holidays‘, where you knit a gnome with some seasonal spirit (whatever holiday you may be celebrating/planning to celebrate!).

About 6 years ago, my mum made a couple of Gneville gnomes, using the Here We Gnome Again pattern by Schira, as Christmas presents/decorations and I fell in LOVE with them. This was long before my own gnome-knitting days (those particular gnomes are actually what inspired me to start gnome-ing!), so the idea of making my own Gneville, with his complex cables and fiddly little features seemed far too outlandish and I was forced to just admire them from afar.

Tragedy struck a couple of Christmases ago when (yarn-lovers, turn away now!), the original Gneville gnomes were felled by some moths, who flew undetected past our (copious) defences. Safe to say, I was heartbroken and we, as a family, were left Gneville-less (and with renewed vigour in our crusade against the moths of the world).

When I saw the prompt for July, then, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to brave making a festive, replacement Gneville myself (with all of my new, gnome-ing expertise and (admittedly still very minimal) cabling experience)!

The Yarn

In an effort to make my Gneville as similar to his predecessor as possible, I actually used the exact same wool that my mum did (Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the shade Tart)! She (very kindly) went stash-diving in the ‘special’ section of her collection (i.e. the section that I am forbidden from going through willy-nilly in my ploys to create general gnome havoc) and found this perfect, Christmas red fingering weight yarn for me, just like OG Gneville. How magical!

I paired the red with a slightly mottled cream shade, which I used for the hands, nose/beard and pompom. I’ve been using this particular shade quite a lot for my gnomes recently: I used it for Gnoddy‘s beard/nose/hands, as well as some of the colourwork detail on Professor Fungi. the mottled shade does make the beards look a little dirty, but I think it gives the gnomes a sort of rustic charm!

As I was using fingering weight yarn (and thus making a Gneville, rather than a Gnancy, I believe?), I used the recommend 2.5mm and 2.75mm needles for that weight. These are slightly larger needles than Schira’s gnomes typically call for, which I assume is because of the cables and seemed to work out fine!

Thoughts on the Pattern

This was my second attempt at venturing away from the gnomes in the Gnomes of Grimblewood book (not including Professor Fungi, who was a mystery gnome) and I am definitely noticing that the individual gnome patterns are significantly more challenging than those in the book. If you’re new to the world of gnome-ing, I would definitely recommend starting with a book gnome, not an individual gnome, because of this.

My main issue with Gneville is his stability: he’s got quite a skinny base (and a very large hat), so, even though his body is fully stuffed with weighted stuffing, he just isn’t quite as stable as my other gnomes and does have a tendency to fall over if not positioned just so. I’m not sure how to go about fixing this for future iterations of Gneville: perhaps stuffing him more densely with the weighted stuffing? Perhaps a cardboard circle at his base? It’s hard to know!

The hat, body and beard all feature some combination of cables and twisted rib (I had some previous experience working cables, none at all working twisted rib!). The instructions for these parts are given in both a written and charted format. Typically, I tend to follow written patterns (charts always seem so overwhelming and, anyway, I am excellent at blindly following clear instructions). However, I’ve decided that I want to start learning how to understand knitting charts, so I challenged myself to use only the charts in this pattern. It took a little bit of getting used to, but it worked out and I felt so much more confident with chart-reading by the end of the project. I did find that charts were particularly helpful with the complex cable patterns because it clearly shows you which way the cables are going, so I think this was a really good pattern to work on my chart-reading abilities with!

Changes/Adaptations

I didn’t make any changes to this pattern this time around: the only thing I did do that might be of note is that I used the beard/hand colour for the pompom on the hat. The pattern doesn’t specify a particular colour for the pompom, but the gnomes pictured use a) a different colour altogether and b) a two-tone blend of the body and beard colours. I really wanted to embrace the Father Christmas-y vibes with my Gneville, so I used the cream beard colour for mine.

I also worked really hard to make a super fluffy pompom! Homemade pompoms are kind of… the bane of my life? They never seem to be as fluffy, dense and secure as I want/expect them to be, which always drives me mad. To make this pompom, I used the 1-inch pompom maker from Clover (the purple one in this pack). I wound the yarn so that the maker was pretty full (I aim for a semi-circle shape of yarn on each side, rather than a macaroni shape, if that makes sense), tied it off super tightly with a double knot, then used a sharp sewing needle to push the two ends back and forth through the centre of the pompom, to help secure it. I then went through an aggressive cycle of trimming and rolling the pompom between the palms of my hands, continuing on until I was pretty happy. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best I’ve managed to achieve so far, so I’m taking that as a win!

Things I Loved!

I already knew I’d love Gneville, due to his special backstory and festive place in my heart, but there were a few things about him that made me extra happy:

• Beard

I am obsessed with the twisted rib detail in Gneville‘s beard: I think it makes him look SO fancy, but also kind of rustic/folksy? I just love it— I think this might be my favourite gnome beard yet!

• ‘Bobble in Beard’ Nose

As if this beard needed any extra points in its favour: the nose is literally knit into the beard?! That means less sewing, less casting on, less time and LESS EFFORT! I’m obsessed with this method.

• Pompom

The pompom may have been a trial to make, but that’s just me and my pompom trauma talking. I think, here, the pompom really adds to Gneville‘s overall vibe: it definitely makes him feel extra Father Christmas-y, but it also gives a lovely finish to his hat!

• Cable pattern (particularly on the hat!)

This is definitely the most complicated series of cables I’ve ever worked and, while I don’t love working cables, I am absolutely obsessed with how they look on the hat: they’re just so beautiful and festive and cosy-looking! I’m not quite as in love with the honeycomb-style cable pattern on the body, but it’s still pretty cute!

• Colour

Red & cream Gneville is just SO FESTIVE and Santa-coded: I love it.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

• Working the cable pattern

Okay, okay. I love how the cables look (I actually love how all cables look!), but I just… don’t like working cables?! Is that, like, a blasphemous thing to say in the knitting community? Regular, simple cables are bad enough but… my goodness, there’s a lot of complex cabling in this little gnome and, as a result, the whole knitting process for Gneville is very, very slow. That hat? It felt endless. He definitely required the longest amount of knitting hours of all my gnomes, and the process wasn’t the most enjoyable, but I still love him and I’m still stupidly tempted to make a Gneville the Second, so make of that what you will.

• The hat brim

I feel like there’s something funny going on with Gneville‘s brim, and I thought it was just on my Gneville, but, on closer inspection, I think it’s on the Gneville (and Gnancy) in the pattern too! The brim is worked in alternating rows of knit/purl, to give a mock garter stitch effect. When you pick up the stitches for the body (much lower down on the brim than for other gnomes, interestingly!), I find it really pulls the brim and exposes the knit stitches (as opposed to the purl bumps) more than I would like. I’m not sure how I’d go about addressing that, or whether it’s a design feature in itself (thought I find that it’s the one place where my hat stuffing pokes through a little, which bothers me no end): maybe a slightly larger brim/slightly higher location for the body pick-up might help?

• Stuffing the hat

I love the look of a floppy gnome hat, but I really do not enjoy stuffing the hat with the ‘firm ball of stuffing’ that Schira talks about to get that partially-stuffed effect. It feels like a lot of pressure to get the right size/shape/firmness of the stuffing, I’m not entirely sure what I’m aiming for AND the stuffing can move at any moment once Gneville‘s sewn up, all of which make me slightly anxious and uncomfortable. I wish I could get to grips with this technique (in fairness, it’s only the second time I’ve done it!), but, currently, it plagues me.

• Gneville‘s stability (or lack thereof…)

I mentioned this earlier, but Gneville is definitely the least stable of my gnomes, despite his whole body being filled with weighted stuffing. As I said, I think it must have something to do with the relative skinniness of his body (or perhaps I didn’t stuff him enough?) but he sits perfectly well on my palm, then immediately flops over backwards when I set him on a flat surface (unless I spend a little while carefully positioning him). He can stand upright, he just needs a little arranging (but all my other gnomes seem to fare perfectly well, so this is definitely a Gneville problem!).

Final Thoughts

Gneville isn’t perfect, but he’s exactly what I wanted from this month’s gnome: he’s a tribute to the reason I started gnome-ing, he’s festive and Christmassy and fun and he makes a lovely addition to my ever-growing gnome collection.

It was really fun getting to grips with reading knitting charts with this project: I’m fine following colourwork charts, but I’ve never taken the time to understand cable charts and this felt like the perfect, low-stakes opportunity for that. I definitely feel much more comfortable with the process now and, even though I know I’d still have to double-check the symbols, I think I could work from a chart again in the future without too much bother!

Also, I know I’ve said it before, but Gneville‘s beard might just be my favourite thing I’ve ever made. I’m in love with it (and him), and that’s my main takeaway from this project!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this month’s gnome! I’m still deciding which gnome to knit next month… probably something without cables…

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Here We Gnome Again on Ravelry here.

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

Gemma

xxx

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

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

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

And, after making my first ever gnome, I can tell you: boy, was I right!

Let me introduce you, then, to my January gnome: Gnorri the First.

Gnorri the First has perpetually chilly hands, so his pockets come in, well, handy. He can be a little grumpy and prefers gnot to speak too much (he’s more of a grunter), but you’ll see his wild side if you ever take him line dancing— he loves a good ol’ hoedown throwdown!

Table of Contents

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

Choosing January’s Gnome

For my January gnome, I wanted to keep things relatively simple. I have the The Gnomes of Grimblewood book (or the Gnome Bible, as I like to think of it), which is written by Sarah Schira (the mastermind behind Imagined Landscapes) and features 8 different gnome patterns (though the elements of the gnomes can be mixed and matched to your heart’s content!), so I decided to pick a gnome from the book to make this month.

At first, I planned to make Gnolan the Swirly Gnome, because I very much enjoy his Santa Claus/wizard-esque vibe, but, ultimately, I decided to start with something a little more straightforward, just to ease myself into the gnome-making process. Enter: Gnorri the Pocket-Beard Gnome. I think the beard pockets are SO cute and Gnorri‘s basic, gnome body seemed pretty simple, so he felt like the perfect starting point.

The Yarn

After many years of knitting, my mum has acquired a multitude of leftover yarn, particularly in the fingering weight category. I’m viewing this Year of Gnomes as a stash-busting project for those yarn scraps, so I won’t be buying any new yarns for this knitalong (she says, hopefully). Unfortunately, that does mean I have no idea what brands/shades any of the yarns are, but I guess that’s just part of the fun?

So, I went yarn-diving, hoping to find the perfect combination of yarns for Gnorri the First. After much deliberation, I settled on a slightly moody, autumnal colour palette: a auburn-y, coppery brown for the hat/pockets, a variegated charcoal grey for the body and a plain ol’, natural, cream-y white shade for the beard, nose and hands.

I used the recommended needle sizes for my fingering weight yarn (2.25mm and 2.50mm). I opted to make this gnome using the magic loop method, so I used circular needles (as opposed to DPNs) for most of the pieces. I did, however, use DPNs for the I-cord arms (and one extra DPN needle for the 3-needle bind-off, though a regular, straight needle would have worked too).

Thoughts on the Pattern

I… LOVED working from this pattern. I’m someone who likes to be walked through every step of a project super clearly, which is fine, but a lot of knitting patterns tend to assume a lot of knowledge/aren’t necessarily catered to the less confident, so I always find myself getting frustrated (and making completely incorrect assumptions, which seem very logical to me, but are apparently completely nonsensical). This pattern, on the other hand, is SO clearly explained, SO nicely written and SO detailed (especially when it comes to the sewing up instructions, which I particularly appreciated), without being overly wordy. Exact stitch placements are given! Every step is noted, even briefly! And the best part? It’s all done in a way that is brief and chilled, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming, but is still super clear and easy to follow. It’s a HUGE thumbs up from me!

I’ve mentioned on here before that I think the sign of a good knitted/crocheted toy pattern is that the finished product looks good. I always get a little panicky just before sewing up any yarn-y toy, because there’s always a chance it could end up looking a bit… cursed? However, the instructions for sewing up this gnome were so clear, it really took the stress out of the whole process. Plus, even when you don’t follow those instructions perfectly (I, for example, believe I attached the feet a little too far out from the centre of the beard, somehow), the gnome still looks SUPER CUTE. I’m so proud of my first gnome, which I think is a huge testament to the pattern.

Changes/Adaptations

Aside from the aforementioned, unintentionally far-apart feet, I didn’t make any changes to this pattern as I worked it up. This was partly because this was my first ever gnome, so I had no idea what it was going to look like, how it was going to go or what I would even like to adapt, but it was also partly because I just really wanted to follow the pattern exactly. I spend a lot of time thinking of new ideas, trying to put fun twists on things and be creative, but sometimes it’s really nice to let someone else be creative for you, while you just enjoy the process of making the item.

Gnorri the First, then, is exactly as Gnorri the Pocket-Bearded Gnome should be!

Things I Loved!

• The pockets! I’m obsessed with the pockets!
• The 3-needle bind off on the feet— I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually done a 3-needle bind off before (I had to google how to do it…), but I love the effect it gives and it was so simple to do!
• How absolutely adorable this gnome is and how perfect he looks even though I know he isn’t actually perfect, which almost makes him more perfect.

Things I Didn’t Quite Love…

• Sewing the gnose onto the body (it wasn’t even that tricky, but it was the hardest bit of the whole process, so it felt very irritating at the time).
• Stuffing the gnome (WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG?! I think I got into the swing of it with the fluffy stuffing by the end, particularly after getting through the tricky, skinny bit at the top of the hat. However, putting in the little weighted stuffing pellets was a bit fiddly and vaguely infuriating, so that made me miffed all over again…)
• I’d like to do a better job of hiding the threads inside the I-cord arms: I feel there’s a few places where the hand colour pokes through in the sleeve, which isn’t quite the vibe.

(Sorry, Gnorri).

Final Thoughts

In case you hadn’t quite figured it out yet, I’m obsessed with Gnorri the First, I’m obsessed with the Gnome-Making World and I’m obsessed with Imagined Landscapes (aka Sarah Schira) and all of her iconic, gnome puns. Truly, I think I would knit any of her patterns, as long as there is a silent ‘g’ in the title.

I think Gnorri the First was a great, first gnome for me to make. I also like how he’s ever so slightly dreary, but also has a bit of fun to him— I think it pretty accurately reflects the general vibe of January, so he was a the perfect pick for my January gnome!

Here’s to more gnoming over the next 11 months!

If you're interested...

You can buy The Gnomes of Grimblewood on Amazon here.

You can find the pattern for Gnorri the Pocket-Bearded Gnome on Ravelry here.

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

Gemma

xxx