Gnome Sweet Gnome

Hi Knitters,
Meet the newest addition to our little family. I finished this Alan Dart Yuletide Gnome early this morning after receiving the beard yarn yesterday afternoon. The pattern is from the Simply Knitting's Big Book of Family Knits.

It was a fun knit and pretty quick but it is all of that seaming that gets you in the end. I think I will make another gnome or two but I will be making these in the round from now on. It just seems like there is so much work to do after the knitting when you knit flat like that.

I made the gnome in Cascade 220. I used a very light shade of pink for the face and nose.

The beard is made from Foxy by Sirdar. The gnome is knit on US size 3 needles and the beard is knit on US size 10 needles. Boy, is that fur stuff not fun to knit with. Yucky but worth it

The hat is the best. To make it take the squiggly shape at the top you pin it into the form you like and then you spray it with hairspray. I put a towel over a pillow and pinned down the point and then I let loose with the Aquanet. That was pretty fun and a new experience. I waited until it was completely dry before taking out the pins.

See, you always learn something new with every project, even when you have been knitting forever. I never would have thought of the hairspray trick but now I am thinking about how I am going to use that Aquanet in future projects.

Alan Dart has many toy designs, not just gnomes. It is worth checking out his patterns if you get the chance. I googled him to see if he has a website of his own but I couldn't find anything. If you know of one please let me know.

He's as cute from back as from the front. I hate it when my beard gets stuck on bark like that.

The beard and hat I attached with needle and thread.

I love that there are no eyes. Perfect. The beard is really too good. I had to spend some time picking out the strands for the beard to look right. That yarn is tough I tell you. I put the purl side facing out. I thought the strands showed better on the purl side.

Lovin' the gnome!

This morning I read the article about the Old Guard in the 25th anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting. I loved this article so much I can't even tell you. Trisha Malcolm interviewed Kaffe Fassett, Alice Starmore, Meg Swansen and Mari Lynn Patrick and it was wonderful. I admire these knitters/authors/designers/artists. They have such rich knitting history and experience to draw from. Can you imagine the completed projects between this group? Mind blowing. Their take on knitting issues old and new is so interesting to read. If you get a chance take a look at this article. We don't get to hear from these people enough. There is also an article on the New Guard, Vickie Howell, Shannon Oakey, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and Deb Stoller. That's fun to read too. What a great edition of VK!

best,

susie